Wendigo

"*The Wendigo. The whisper in the darkness. The voice in the night. He's the storm that shakes the forest, the thunder in the blizzard, the lightning flash that follows. The Wendigo is death.*"
―Kane Bolton telling an expedition group the story of the Wendigo.[src]

The **Wendigo** is said to have once been a god once called Odawa, who after murdering his sister, Dezba, was cursed to haunt the wilderness of Kelmarth without a body, forever hungry.

It is said that if an innocent woman is murdered, you can use dark magic to place the Curse of the Wendigo upon the murderer. This gives the Wendigo permission to possess them and use their body to momentarily walk Kelmarth as a man.

## Physical Description

When the Wendigo manifests, it's told that it has a large, lanky, skeletal body that looks covered in bloody flesh and tainted fur. It's hands and feet have large razor-sharp claws, sharp enough to cut a man in to with a single swipe. A deer skull adorns it's head with faint blood red eyes that peer through the dark holes. Jagged, broken teeth stick out from underneath the skull and blood and muscle hangs from its mouth and hands.

## Backstory

### Ancient Origin

No-ones knows the Wendigo's origin for certain, but the following is most commonly believed.

*Ages ago, long before any race even resided on Kelmarth, there were the gods. The gods ruled over the forests, the plains, the sea, the sky from whence they came. They were cruel and cold-hearted. They loved pain, and each of them were filled with hate. But slowly, some of them changed. They created life for the world. One of these gods was Obed-Hai. Obed-Hai loved the world the gods had created and he cared and nurtured for every part of it, people, animals, plants.*

*Eventually Obed-Hai became father to more gods, and loved them all, but he loved one above all others, a daughter, Dezba. Dezba was as beautiful, kind and perfect. One of Obed-Hai's youngest sons, Odawa, wanted to be loved by his father as much as his sister was, but the love he so craved was never given to him. Hate grew inside of Odawa, so much hate that one day he murdered his own sister, Dezba, in a jealous frenzy. Obed-Hai was heart-broken. Odawa was brought before his father to face justice. But Odawa was not killed. No. Instead he was stripped of his authority and power over Kelmarth, stripped even of his name. "You shall be known as Wendigo," his father roared. "You shall walk this world alone. Off it you shall gain no sustenance. You shall eat none of the plants nor beasts of the world. Pain will be all that you know."*

*And so the Wendigo was banished from the gods, and in pain and darkness he traveled the land, his skin stretched tight over his bones, his hunger burning as bright as his hate. Forever the Wendigo would remain. However, there was one creature that Obed-Hai had forgotten to abstain the Wendigo from…. Man. Since then, the Wendigo has haunted wilderness in Kelmarth, devouring whomever he finds as prey. From his prey, the Wendigo takes knowledge and skill, but never gains sustenance, never fills his hunger, never quenches his hate.*

### The Wendigo's Curse

Legends say that if an innocent woman is murdered, you may call upon the Wendigo to possess the murderer using dark magics. This act has become known as the Curse of the Wendigo. Many stories have circulated about victims to the Wendigo's curse, one of the most infamous became known as The Winter's Peak Massacre.

No accounts of the Wendigo have ever been proven however, and many still just believe the 'Curse of the Wendigo' to be a story made up to explain people's sudden insanity and cannibalism while lost in the wilderness.

Recently there have been numerous reports of cult-like groups conducting various rituals and sacrifices for Odawa.

## Session Appearances

 Poor Bobby
 Fey Choices