Kushtaka

Kushtaka (from Dzaachxiinee(Tlingit) kooshdakhaa, roughly meaning "land-otter man"), also called Baykok (or bakaak from a Wapimaskwan language), Keelut (from Vingavi), Wayob (from Tzak'an T'àan (Yucatec Maya)), [XXX] (From Vosqod meaning ["XXX"]) are a species of fey-ascendant kith (meaning beings of kith origin which are turned to fey through supernatural means) originating in the Wapimaskwan region of Ivskia.
Though the exact nature of the relation is unknown, kushtaka share a very strong similarity to the Skinwalker beings which originated in the Central Plains. The two primary theories among Eletherean scholars are that kushtaka were either originally created by a skinwalker attempting to "convert" a mortal kith into beings of of its domain or spawned when a mortal kith failed to properly meld themselves with the stolen fey-soul, though neither of these hypotheses are as of yet verifiable in any manner. The creatures are often viewed as demonic or religiously spiritual in many of the Ivskian cultures where they have traditionally found their homes.
The mind of a kushtaka is half-animal, half-kith, and thus constantly warring with itself. This makes the creatures particularly difficult to predict, as tales of encounters have ranged from depicting them as outright deadly and hostile to more curious and prone to stalking and even, on rare occasions, helpful. One particular story in Wapimaskwan oral tradition, for instance, tells of a kushtaka who plucked a young girl from the undercurrent of a deadly river and lead her home safely to her parents in the cover of night. A vaguely similar story from Kwayeixi, however, has a slightly older woman who is promptly shredded to bits and devoured after being lured to a riverbed by a nearby kushtaka mimicking a baby's cry. Whether one, both, or neither of the tales bear any truth is impossible to know, but their conflicting portrayals seem appropriate when faced with the variance found in kushtaka behavior.
Kushtaka desplay a host of abilities ranging from the physical to supernatural...
Though 'kushtaka' is the name by which they are most well-known to outsiders of the Ivskian continent, it is also technically a misnomer. In Kwayeixi, kooshdakhaa refers instead to a mythological trickster creature which scholars believe may have spawned through early contact with sirens. Regardless, the ability of these mythological beings to shift in shape alongside the stories of their unsettling cries and ability to mimic kith voice equated the creatures with these ascendant-fey.

by dadgumdevil‌

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Nymph