Wendigos

Wendigos

"Heard the howling last night. Three miles away, maybe four. Come morning, we found Jensen's tent torn open and empty. Just blood in the snow and those massive tracks heading north into the mountains."

What Are They?

Winter in the northern territories is beautiful. It's also merciless, unforgiving, and hungry. When the snows come early and deep, when the game disappears and the supplies run out, when starvation gnaws at your belly like a living thing—that's when some folks make a choice that damns them forever.

Wendigos are the twisted, cursed spirits of those who resorted to cannibalism to survive the brutal winters of the Great Northwest and the high mountain passes. Once human, they've been transformed into towering, fur-covered abominations driven by an insatiable hunger for the one thing that created them: human flesh.

The transformation isn't instant. It creeps up on the cannibal slowly, starting with the first bite of forbidden meat. Maybe you tell yourself it's survival—that the dead don't need their flesh anymore, that God will understand, that you'll repent later when you're safe. But every bite changes you a little more. Your teeth sharpen. Your fingers curve into claws. The hunger grows until it consumes everything else you were.

Eventually, there's nothing left of the person you used to be. Just a eight-foot-tall mountain of muscle, fur, claws, and teeth that prowls the frozen wilderness looking for its next meal. The Reckoners claimed another soul, and the wendigo was born.

Appearance

Wendigos are nightmares made flesh, standing eight feet tall and built like mountains given life. They're vaguely humanoid in shape—two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head—but that's where any resemblance to humanity ends.

The creatures are covered in thick fur that varies in color depending on what type of wendigo they are. Standard wendigos have black fur, though some variations sport white or even gray coats. Every inch of that fur is matted and stained with old blood—layers upon layers of it from countless victims. The stench alone can make a strong man gag: old meat, wet fur, and the copper tang of fresh blood mixed with something worse, something fundamentally wrong.

Their eyes are the worst part for most folks. Pure white, without pupils or iris, they gleam with predatory intelligence and endless hunger. When a wendigo looks at you, those terrible eyes don't see a person—they see meat. And they're always, always hungry.

The mouth is a horror show of jagged teeth, each one sharp as a knife and longer than a man's thumb. The jaws can open impossibly wide, wide enough to bite a man's head clean off. Between the teeth you can usually see scraps of flesh from the last meal, and the breath that comes out reeks of decay and carnage.

The hands end in massive claws, each one capable of tearing through leather, wood, even thin metal with ease. These claws are weapons honed by endless hunting, and they're wickedly effective at both killing prey and climbing the rocky terrain where wendigos make their homes.

Types of Wendigos

Not all cannibalism is equal in the eyes of the Reckoners, and not all wendigos are the same. The nature of the sin determines what kind of monster you become.

Standard Wendigos (Black)

These are the "common" variety, if such a word can be applied to these abominations. Created when someone consumes human flesh out of desperation or simple starvation, black wendigos prowl the northern forests and mountain passes hunting for prey. They're covered in black or dark grey fur, stand about eight feet tall, and possess terrifying strength and speed.

Don't let the word "standard" fool you—even a regular wendigo can tear apart a hunting party with ease. They're cunning trackers with supernatural endurance and an insatiable hunger that drives them to hunt relentlessly.

White Wendigos

Some sins are worse than others. When someone consumes the flesh of close friends or family members—people they loved, people who trusted them—the transformation is even more complete. White wendigos are larger, stronger, and more vicious than their black-furred cousins.

These monsters stand even taller, their muscles more pronounced, their claws sharper, their fury more terrible. They wear white or pale grey fur like a mockery of purity, a visible marker of the deepest betrayal. Fighting a white wendigo isn't just dangerous—it's nearly suicidal. They possess all the abilities of standard wendigos but magnified, along with thicker natural armor that turns aside all but the most powerful blows.

Flying Wendigos

Then there are the rarest and perhaps most terrifying variant: the flying wendigo. These creatures are born from a specific and particularly cruel form of evil—food hoarders who let their companions starve to death while secretly maintaining their own supplies.

Flying wendigos have massive bat-like wings instead of arms, pure white fur, and elongated legs ending in wicked talons. They swoop down from the sky like eagles hunting rabbits, snatch their victims in those powerful claws, and then drag them into the frigid air at impossible speeds. The victim literally begins to burn from the friction of moving so fast through the frozen atmosphere—a fitting punishment for those who hoarded warmth and sustenance while others froze and starved.

Where You'll Find Them

Wendigos haunt the coldest, most remote regions of North America:

• The Great Northwest—northern reaches of Washington, Oregon, and the territories beyond
• Canadian border states—Montana, Dakota Territory, Minnesota, anywhere the winters are long and brutal
• High mountain passes—the Rocky Mountains, especially isolated trails where travelers get stranded
• Remote winter camps—trapping stations, mining camps, anywhere people might be cut off by snow
• Deep wilderness—areas far from civilization where rescue is impossible

They prefer cold climates and are most active during winter months. As temperatures warm, wendigos retreat north, following the cold like salmon swimming upstream. But during particularly harsh winters, they've been known to range as far south as Colorado or even northern New Mexico, following the freezing temperatures and desperate prey.

Wendigos are solitary hunters. They don't form packs or cooperate with each other—the hunger is too all-consuming, too personal. Each one claims a territory and defends it savagely against other wendigos. If you hear multiple wendigo howls in one area, they're not hunting together. They're fighting over hunting grounds, and you're caught in the middle.

Hunting Behavior

Wendigos are patient, intelligent predators who understand that prey in the wilderness has limited options. They don't rush—they stalk, they wait, and they strike when their victim is weakest.

The Howl

That's usually your first warning: the howl. It echoes across frozen valleys and through mountain passes, a sound like wind through a canyon mixed with a wolf's cry and something far worse. The howl serves multiple purposes—it marks territory, it intimidates prey, and most importantly, it drives victims into making mistakes.

Wendigos know that the howl terrifies people. They know that frightened people run, make poor decisions, waste precious energy fleeing in the wrong direction. The creature might howl from three miles away, then circle around and wait for you to stumble directly into its path while fleeing the sound.

Tracking

With a tracking skill of 5d12, wendigos are among the best trackers in the Weird West. They can follow a trail through blizzards, across frozen lakes, over rocky terrain where most creatures would lose the scent. Once a wendigo has your trail, shaking it is nearly impossible.

They can also see perfectly in near-total darkness thanks to their night vision. That means they hunt by night as easily as by day, and they prefer to attack when their prey is exhausted, cold, and desperate for rest.

The Kill

When a wendigo finally attacks, it's devastatingly effective. With a Pace of 12, they can run down fleeing prey with ease. Their climbing skill of 4d12 means they can pursue you up cliffs, into trees, anywhere you might think you're safe.

The creature typically opens with those massive claws, dealing Strength +2d6 damage per successful hit. With a base Strength of 3d12+6, that's catastrophic damage to anyone caught in melee range. If the claws don't finish you, the bite will—1d12+2d6 damage as those jagged teeth tear through flesh and bone.

And they don't stop until you're dead and at least partially consumed. The hunger won't let them.

Combat Capabilities

Fighting a wendigo is one of the most dangerous encounters you can face in the Weird West. These things are built to kill.

Overwhelming Physical Power

Strength 3d12+6. Let that sink in. That's enough raw power to snap a horse's neck, tear apart a log cabin, or throw a grown man thirty feet. They have a fightin': brawlin' skill of 6d12, meaning they're as skilled with those claws as a master swordsman is with a blade.

Size 10 means they can take tremendous punishment before going down. Combined with natural Armor 1 (or Armor 2 for white wendigos), regular bullets barely slow them down. You need serious firepower to even wound one of these things.

Supernatural Speed and Agility

Despite their massive size, wendigos move with terrifying speed and grace. Nimbleness 2d12 means they can dodge, weave, and navigate difficult terrain as easily as a mountain goat. That Pace of 12 is faster than a running horse. You cannot outrun a wendigo. Don't even try.

Their sneak skill of 2d12 means these eight-foot monsters can move through forests and across snow with barely a sound when they want to. You might not know a wendigo is stalking you until it's already too close to escape.

Fearless and Relentless

Wendigos never make guts checks. They don't know fear. They don't retreat. They don't stop hunting because you wounded them or killed their pack (they don't have packs anyway). The only thing that stops a wendigo is death—true, permanent death.

With an overawe skill of 7d12, they can break the will of even hardened frontiersmen. When that eight-foot horror comes charging out of the darkness with blood on its fur and hunger in those white eyes, staying calm enough to fight effectively requires iron nerves.

Perfect Night Hunter

Night vision means darkness is no protection. The wendigo hunts just as effectively at midnight as at noon. In fact, it prefers the night—prey is tired, cold, harder to organize, easier to pick off one by one.

How to Kill Them

Wendigos are tough, but they're not invincible. If you're smart, well-armed, and very lucky, you might survive an encounter. You might even win.

Conventional Weapons

Bullets, blades, and other normal weapons CAN harm wendigos, unlike some supernatural creatures. The problem is they're incredibly tough and can take massive amounts of damage before going down.

Your best bets:

• Heavy rifles—Sharps rifles, buffalo guns, anything with serious stopping power
• Shotguns at close range—Devastating if you can get the shot off before it closes to melee
• Dynamite—If you can rig a trap or catch one in a confined space
• Fire—They don't have a specific weakness to it, but fire can slow them down and create barriers
• Multiple shooters—Concentrated fire from several people can bring one down

Focus fire on vital areas—head and torso. With enough damage, you can kill them conventionally, but you need serious firepower and the willpower to stand your ground when a howling monster is charging at you.

Tactics That Work

1. Don't Fight Alone: A single person has almost no chance against a wendigo. You need multiple armed fighters working together.

2. Use Terrain: Wendigos are powerful but not invincible. Force them to fight in confined spaces where their size works against them. Doorways, narrow canyons, anywhere their reach is limited.

3. Prepare the Battlefield: If you know a wendigo is in the area, set traps. Pit falls, deadfalls, bear traps (though you'll need massive ones), anything that can slow or wound it before the fight begins.

4. Fire and Light: Keep fires burning at night. Wendigos don't fear fire, but they prefer darkness and stealth. Bright fires limit their tactical options.

5. Never Run: Running just triggers their chase instinct and you can't outrun them anyway. Stand and fight or find defensible ground and hold it.

6. Aim for the Head: Head shots do extra damage and, with enough trauma, will drop even a wendigo eventually.

The Tallow Method

If you're determined to use the tallow kill method, here's how experienced hunters do it:

• Prepare in advance: Have the tallow rendered and ready to heat. Bear fat, elk fat, any large animal works.
• Set a trap: Heavy net, deep pit, or iron chains secured to trees. Something that can hold an eight-foot monster temporarily.
• Bait the trap: Fresh blood, screams, whatever draws the wendigo in.
• Work fast: Once trapped, you have maybe minutes before it breaks free. Heat the tallow, pour it down the throat, and get clear.
• Have backup: Shooters ready to kill it conventionally if the tallow method fails.

Becoming a Wendigo

This is Marshal-level information, but it's important to know: anyone can become a wendigo. All it takes is consuming human flesh in the northern territories or high mountains.

It doesn't happen instantly. The transformation is gradual, insidious. The first time you eat human flesh, you might feel sick, guilty, horrified. But the hunger grows. Each time you feed, the corruption spreads. Your humanity erodes bit by bit until one day there's nothing left but the hunger and the monster.

The transformation is more likely during winter (+2 to the corruption roll) and speeds up each time you feed on a new victim. If you eat the flesh of close friends or family, the corruption is even worse—you become a white wendigo, larger and more terrible than the standard variety.

There's no coming back from this. Once the transformation is complete, the person you were is gone forever. The wendigo might retain some memories, some echo of who it used to be, but the hunger has consumed everything else.

Survivor Accounts

From the journal of Thomas Harker, trapper:

"February 3rd, 1875. Three weeks since we got snowed in at the line camp. Supplies ran out five days ago. Game is scarce—haven't seen so much as a rabbit in weeks. Miller died yesterday, froze in his sleep. Jacobson suggested we... I can't even write it. The others are looking at Miller's body different now. Looking at it like it's not a man anymore. Just meat. God help us, I think we're going to do it. Better to starve, I told them. Better to die human. But they're not listening. The hunger is too strong. I'm writing this because I want someone to know—if you find this camp and we're gone, if you find something else here instead, just burn it all. Burn it and don't look back. Some choices you can't come back from."

Official report from Pinkerton agent Sarah Chen:

"Investigation of missing persons in the Bitterroot Mountains, Montana Territory. Six trappers failed to return from their winter camp. Found the camp three weeks later—structure intact but signs of violence everywhere. Blood on the walls, claw marks too large to be bear or mountain lion. No bodies recovered, but we found... pieces. Bones gnawed clean, stripped of every scrap of meat. And the tracks—massive, humanoid but wrong. Eight feet tall at least, stride suggesting incredible speed. Followed the tracks north for two days before losing the trail in a blizzard. Local Salish guides refused to go further, said the area was 'wendigo territory.' They told stories about trappers who went cannibal during harsh winters, how they changed into something not human anymore. I've encountered many abominations in service to the Agency, but the idea of humans transforming into these things through starvation and desperation is particularly disturbing. Recommend all Agency personnel operating in northern territories carry rendered tallow and basic trap equipment. Also recommend avoiding winter operations in remote areas when possible—the risks are simply too high."

Troubleshooter Tips

1. Avoid Remote Winter Travel: If you must travel through wendigo country in winter, do it in large, well-armed groups with abundant supplies.

2. Carry Tallow: Rendered animal fat kept in sealed containers. If you encounter a wendigo, it's your best chance at a quick kill.

3. Listen for the Howl: That's your early warning. When you hear it, find defensible ground immediately and prepare for combat.

4. Never Eat Human Flesh: No matter how desperate, no matter how close to starvation, do not cross that line. Death is preferable to what comes after.

5. Keep Fires Burning: Wendigos don't fear fire, but they prefer darkness. Bright fires give you visual range and comfort—both valuable when monsters hunt nearby.

6. Watch Your Companions: If someone in your party starts talking about cannibalism, even jokingly, watch them carefully. The hunger can take hold faster than you think.

7. Heavy Weapons: Don't go into wendigo country with a pocket pistol. Bring your biggest guns and plenty of ammunition.

8. Know the Escape Routes: Before making camp, identify multiple ways out. Never let yourself get cornered with no retreat.

9. Trust Indian Warnings: If local tribes say an area is wendigo territory, believe them. They've been dealing with these things far longer than white settlers.

10. Don't Hunt Them Alone: Wendigo hunting requires a well-armed posse with heavy weapons, traps, and preferably someone who's fought them before and lived to tell about it.

"The hunger never stops. It never sleeps. And once it takes hold, you're not human anymore."