Wendigo
Wendigoes are the otherworldly abominations that threaten the existence of Altairus and of all magic in the universe. Coming from the Flipside, these beings are caught in an endlessly empty and unhappy existence. Their only purpose and joy in this life is devouring and draining the essence of worlds not their own, consuming them until there is nothing left. It is up to all the creatures of Altairus to recognize and fight this evil wherever it decides to show its ugly face.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Wendigoes do not have one constant form. Indeed, they have to borrow the bodies and powers of those they possess. When they do show themselves, they appear as formless, pitch-black masses of Null magic whose appearance constantly shifts, glowing eyes, razor-fanged mouths, and spindly clawed limbs appearing and disappearing into their foul being.
When a wendigo is not attached to a host, it can attack by using its stolen Anima to imitate the appearance and abilities of the beings it has stolen Anima from, much like how Null magic imitates the abilities of legitimate Anima magic. Even when it does this, however, it retains its pitch-black body and smoldering eyes.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Wendigoes only have one food source, one that they constantly consume but are never satisfied with: magic. Only by consuming Anima can they gain power and feel some modicum of happiness for a brief moment.
Behaviour
When a wendigo comes into this world, it has no power. It instead latches itself onto a vulnerable and unsuspecting being and begins to feed off of their magic. As the wendigo feeds, it becomes stronger and more intelligent, beginning to manipulate its host psychologically. It exploit its host's insecurities, convincing them that they are alone in the world and that Null magic is the solution to the problems they are facing. The Null magic spells that the host casts in turn feed the wendigo, strengthening it more. Eventually, the wendigo reaches a point where it does not need the host's cooperation to feed on the world around it, and the host will undergo a total possession, becoming trapped in their own bodies as the wendigo takes over.
Wendigoes that are smart enough to have some insight into their situation often come to despise themselves and their nature as perpetually miserable, magic-devouring monsters. Many times, this is because they will latch onto a host that is particularly happy with one's life and they will read the host's memories. They then realize that they want a life where they can share valuable things with others rather than just steal them. These wendigoes deliberately seek out great heroes to challenge in hopes that those heroes will use Heaven's Transformation on them, which will turn them into a fenghuang and relieve them of their constant hunger and misery. Since many heroes do not know about this spell, however, most of the time they just end up banished back to the Flipside. If they are lucky, they may meet a hero who knows the incantation and is pure enough of heart to use Heaven's Transformation.
Weaknesses
Wendigoes have a few well-known weaknesses that can stop a wendigo possession before it happens. If wendigo possession is in the early stages, the host can stop it by not giving into the wendigo's demands, particularly its admonitions to use Null magic. If the wendigo is not getting what it wants, it may very likely leave and seek more gullible hosts. This can be difficult, as wendigoes are good at imitating their hosts' inner voices. The key is not to trust any thoughts that tell you to isolate yourself from the world or to use Null magic to solve your problems. Those are classic wendigo manipulations, and by ignoring them, you take the wendigo's power away.
Interestingly but perhaps not surprisingly, wendigoes also hate music. This is because music, like Undifferentiated Anima, is repulsive to them and weakens them. If a wendigo hears music, it will reel back in pain and shriek, and perhaps even try to destroy the source of the music. This is a good way to identify victims of wendigo possession and to weaken wendigoes so that they can be banished.
Lastly, as mentioned above, Undifferentiated Anima is highly repulsive to wendigoes. The main reason for this is that Undifferentiated Anima is powered by all of the elements coming together; i.e. it is powered by friendship, something that wendigoes can neither understand nor appreciate, and something that they are fundamentally in opposition to. If they so much as touch Undifferentiated Anima, they are ripped apart piece by piece and stripped of their power. To increase the power of Undifferentiated Anima, Altairian societies will generally be very close-knit; this also prevents individuals from becoming isolated and thus falling to wendigoes' influence.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Wendigoes with a lot of stolen power are able to command lower-powered wendigoes. They tend to be smarter and better at blending in and strategizing than their low-powered counterparts.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Wendigoes cannot be tamed or bent to one's will, yet many have foolishly tried to use Null magic for their own gain. This always ends badly, as the wendigo gains power over the one who is trying to control them and instead uses them as a puppet towards its end of consuming the world's magic.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Wendigoes come from the Flipside, although they are able to travel through rifts to other worlds. These rifts are created by the use of Null magic.
Average Intelligence
Wendigoes emerge from rifts powerless and with only rudimentary intellect. As they attach to a magic user and consume more and more magic, both from the user and from the world around them, they grow in power and intelligence, using more sophisticated manipulations to convince their hosts to use Null magic as their power grows.
Null
Origin
Otherworldly, the Flipside
Low-powered wendigoes simply look like black blobs. As they gain more power, they gain the ability to change their form into whatever beings they have stolen Anima from. High-powered, high-ranking wendigoes may have one form that they prefer being in.
Wendigoes' bodies are entirely made of pitch-black Null magic. When they are expelled from their hosts' bodies, this Null magic takes the form of a black fluid-like substance, which their host vomits as the wendigo is expelled from their body. This substance has the color and consistency of motor oil and is entirely odorless and tasteless.
The color of a wendigo's eyes tends to depend on how much Anima they have consumed. Wendigoes that have consumed very little Anima have white eyes, and as they consume more Anima, their eyes turn yellow, then red. At this stage, their eyes may change colors depending on what kind of Anima power they are imitating.
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