At times, on a dark and lonely night, travelers on mountain slopes far from civilization will hear a woman's haunting cry echo through the air. Most dismiss it as a mirage, for those who hear the cry are typically so exhausted that they will see mirages as surely as if it were the desert, but some, desperate for shelter, food, or signs of human life, will investigate further.
They will typically believe what they discover to be a human woman, short enough to be called a midget or dwarf, although few use those words in their presence. Their faces are black; not the dark brown bordering on black seen so frequently in African peoples, but a black tinted with purple which bears no resemblance to any on Earth. They will not speak, appearing to be mute, but gesture and draw a message and lure the travelers to their caves with a promise they will provide for them a place to stay for the night, but this night shall come at a horrible cost.
While they sleep, the Jynx (for the woman is no human at all) will plant a strange kiss on their lips, and if they make it down the mountain, they will be dogged with bad luck for the rest of their lives. It is from this curse that the term jynx or jinx (as the spelling of the term has been standardized in a way which hides its etymology) derives, for when a Jynx kisses a human, they suck out their good fortune and live with great luck for the rest of their days.