Wendigo

He seems so hungry
He seems so hungry, like me
I would like to know, to know how hungry he is
I bet he eats
and eats
and eats
and eats
and eats
I bet he eats like me

I am so hungry

— translated segment of a journal recovered from an abandoned town deep in the Wapimaskwan forests

The wendigo (wiindigoo, wīhtikōw) is a lesser fey creature which most likely originated somewhere around the Wapimaskwan territories in northern Ivskia. Theorized to have originally been spawned as the result of a dryad's curse placed upon one who had disrupted its home woods, the creation of these creatures is now spread through a disease-like curse of supernatural origin in a similar manner to various species of ghoul.
Said similarities lead to the former classification of wendigo as undead, though this classification has been rejected by more recent scholars throughout both Ivskian and Eletherean places of study most often due to both the lack of any observable disease-carrying bodies within the blood systems of those infected and the odd triage of physical, social, and cognitive manners through which the disease - often referred to as "wendigo fever" - is spread.
As their age and affliction progresses, the appearance and mind of a wendigo will degrade further away from their kithlike origins and more similar to that of a strange and malformed beast, arms elongating and twisting while their back hunches forwards and they begin to exude the sickening sense of a rotting corpse left to bloat in the sun, their breath coming in strange, loud wheezes. Unlike many ghouls, however, wendigo are seemingly likely to keep a hold of their sapience, though this becomes as unrecognizable and horrific to behold as their external appearance quick enough. Northern Ivskian fables will often tell of wendigo who employ what scarce remainders of fey magic they possess to artificially extend the lives of kith prey which they drag back to their abodes and slowly consume over weeks or months, and others who take sadistic satisfaction in stalking those who pass through the woods they inhabit, inflicting terrible nightmares and dreamlike visions in the minds of their victims before finally capturing them at the height of their terror.

Wendigo Fever

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the affliction by which one becomes a wendigo is that it is strongly associated with social, cultural, and cognitive aspects; one cannot become a wendigo unless they are aware of the creature's existence. It is for this reason, then, that the Einaseran Empire and many other Ivskian kingdoms or territories have done their best to root out any cultural mythology surrounding the creatures - Einasera in particular has even attempted, in decades past, to quell tribal religions and traditions regarding wendigo by sending hostile armies far into Wapimaskwan territory, though such attempts have been abandoned in recent years.
There is, then, no single way by which wendigo fever is spread. Most if not all methods concern cannibalism in some fashion - it is often attested that the original wendigo was cursed for killing and eating peaceful denizens of a nymph's forest - but a high amount of variance exists as to the nature of what, exactly, must be done for someone to become afflicted with the disease. The largest two systems of belief state that either any who indulge in cannibalism bear the risk of transformation, or that the craving for kith flesh is itself only brought on by the presence of a fully-fledged wendigo nearby. Regardless of belief of origin, the consensus for the aftermath is always the same: one cannot be cured from this state once the transformation into a wendigo has begun.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A wendigo will progressively degrade as its condition worsens...
Despite their sickly appearance, wendigo maintain a surprising level of strength and speed common among supernatural creatures. Hunting logs from Wapimaskwan territories attest to particularly old, hungry, or powerful entities able to fell smaller trees with a swipe of their clawed hands and outrun horses in their unnatural, bobbing gaits.

Dietary Needs and Habits

As a fey creature, wendigo do not need to consume food in order to sustain themselves, though the curse-like nature of their macabre transformation condemns them to an eternity of unending hunger all the same. Wendigo endlessly strive for the taste of living flesh, and become particularly interested in the meat of kithlike races such as human, elf, and orc.

Civilization and Culture

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Some tribal regions across the world worship nearby wendigo as others might a dryad or Skinwalker. Unlike the nymphs, these creatures are much less appreciative of the praise, and often simply devour their followers after a time.

by Brynn Metheney

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Nymph