Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Cry of the Wendigo

Hunters and woodsmen in northern countries whisper fearful tales, and move closer to their campfires, when the night is strangely quiet and the snows are deep. It’s as true in Borea, the cold land far the north of the City, as it is in our world, and perhaps others...

The wendigo is a magical creature out of Native legend; a being born of a crime, and a horrible curse. When a human resorts to cannibalism (for whatever reason) in the wild places of the north, they open themselves to possession by a ravenous demonic entity from the outer dark. An entity with a hunger that can never be satiated.

It should be noted that some thaumatological scholars discount the “demon hypothesis” as primitive superstition. They suggest that those under the wendigo curse are the victims of a magical contagion, possibly from another world or plane. Some have suggested that ghouls (and perhaps ogres) have adapted over generations to a similar malady, but as with all such speculation, it only serves to irritate ghouls.

Whatever its origins, the wendigo curse transforms the victim into a large and powerful humanoid creature, covered with white fur. It's afflicted by a terrible hunger, and it will attempt to devour any living thing it encounters, but it particularly has an appetite for (and will actually hunt) humans.

A wendigo is immune to cold and regenerates rapidly from wounds. It moves surprisingly fast for its size. The curse on a wendigo may be removed, but doing so leads to the death of the one so cursed, which is the only true release the afflicted individual can find.

No. Enc.: 1
Movement: 150’ (50’)
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 6
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, bite)
Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d10
Save: F6
Morale: 11
Special Abilities: immune to cold; Wendigo regenerate like trolls, except that that they are not vulnerable acid, but fire damage is not regenerated. They are not able to reattach severed liimbs, but instead regrow them if they survive.

1 comment:

Jim said...

Very nice. Enjoy Alaska!