Giljabi Tokkaebi (kiʎd͡ʑa̠bi toʊˈkeɪbi)

The waters around the Daemado Islands are notoriously dangerous to navigate. Waterspouts, whirlpools, and rogue waves appear at random throughout the archipelago, and there are also numerous accounts of tsunami fog, cheonjeyeon (a strange light that discharges from points on the ship), and geosukseon (mirages that appear and disappear near the horizon). Sometimes, holes simply open in the water, as giant bubbles of gas rise up from the ocean floor, dropping ships up to half a mile below the surface. At other times, the weather suddenly shifts, causing cold snaps, hurricanes, or destructive thunderstorms.

According to the Imugi who live in these islands, the cause of this is the Tokkaebi, a family of malicious spirits that enjoy creating chaos. They will toy with ships passing through for their own amusement, and it is a rare vessel that survives their attentions unassisted. When the Chilseongsin who would form the Imugi first fled the invasion of the Seom Islands by the Empire of Wamato, most of their ships were destroyed by the Tokkaebi and it was only with the creation of the Giljabi Tokkaebi that they were able to sail in and out of the archipelago safely.

A Giljabi Tokkaebi is a wooden statue mounted on a ship, sometimes as a figurehead and other times near the mast. The statue is inhabited by one of the Tokkaebi who the Imugi have made a bargain with for protection. The Giljabi Tokkaebi are blood-drinkers, and have agreed to shield the ships of the Imugi from their cousins in exchange for a frequent supply of fresh blood from sentient beings. The Imugi usually acquire this sacrifice from the Wamatoan vessels they prey upon, preferring to sacrifice any Yanjin they capture to the demon's appetite. They see this as a necessary evil, as without it they would be unable to pursue their quest to reclaim the Seom Islands and free the Chilseongsin kept in slavery by the Empire.

When properly fed with fresh blood, the Giljabi Tokkaebi provides the ship it inhabits with a number of benefits. First and foremost, it prevents other Tokkaebi from targeting it directly, and warns the crew of any incoming conditions that may endanger them. It can also turn the ship invisible, divert naturally occurring bad weather, or summon sea creatures such as fish to the surface where they are easily caught. Requesting that the Giljabi Tokkaebi use any of these other powers will typically incur a debt with the demon that must be paid with additional sacrifices above and beyond the normal payment for its protection. Refusal to pay the Giljabi Tokkaebi what it demands will infuriate the demon, who will then leave the statue is bound to and wreak havoc across the ship, ripping it and the crew apart.

The major limitation of the Giljabi Tokkaebi is that they are bound to the waters around the Daemado and Seom Islands. While the Imugi ships can range further than that, they lose access to the powers and protections granted by the statue when they do. Upon returning to the waters where the Tokkaebi can exist, the Giljabi Tokkaebi will reinhabit the statue and typically demand an immediate blood sacrifice before resuming to protect the ship.