Legends claim that this demon was powerful enough to take control of a person’s mind, being able to subjugate their will completely, which lead to the victim’s eventual insanity. This is where the word “zbiesiony” comes from, as the person that was under the influence of Bies was referred to as “zbiesiony”. At this time in history, it was common to attribute all mental disorders to an unnatural cause and being possessed by Bies was an easy explanation.
One of his other skills was an ability to cause blindness.
Ever so often, Biesy (the plural form of Bies) could be found at remote crossroads, where they were waiting, taking the form a common animal, to ambush clueless travellers. If one happend to stumble upon an animal on a crossroads which happend to produce unusual sounds, like a dog meowing or a cat crowing, the best course of action would be to turn on ones heels and run away, as this would be a clue that the animal in question was in actuality a ferocious demon.
Biesy were said to live in prehistoric forests, deep in caves or swamps far away from human settlements. There are also sources that claim the favourite habitat of these devils were deep, abyssal canyons. If one happened to get lost and ventured too close to the demon’s domain, chilling shrieks and malicious giggles would be ones last warning before a certain and horrific death.
Biesy were also said to guard riches underground and even to this day, some old castle treasures are rumored to be guarded by these long-serving devils.