Waif

It was a frigid night, and I was well near freezing to death when I caught a lump of gray out of the corner of my eye as I crossed Common Street. Imagine my surprise when I pulled it from the snow, and found it to be a warm, woolen scarf! Now again imagine my surprise when after I had wrapped it around my neck it pulled out a knife and demanded my wallet!

— An unfortunate Tremontainer

The Waif is a curious creature. Part child, part object, all mischief, these wild children roam the streets of not only Tremontaine, but almost every large city on Pariah's Tides, forming gangs, causing mayhem, and slipping into their own little niches in society. Waifs are as much a part of life in a major city as navigating the ever-changing, mazelike streets, or accidentally wandering into last week's farmers' market. They are both a boon and a menace, infinitely variable in their form and abilities, defined only by their youth, their unusual capabilities, and their unabashed penchant for deviltry.

Onomatological Objects

A Waif is created when a human child is left without a name. This does not happen immediately, but instead occurs around the age a child achieves a certain degree of self-awareness, which generally happens within the first handful of years of their life. If that child has not yet been assigned a name by a parent or parental figure by then, they will take on a name of their own accord. This name is drawn from an object that possesses a name in written form, typically one with which the child has a strong emotional connection. This object now becomes what will be referred to as the Waif's 'namesake.' The item can be anything: A street, a handheld object, a building, an article of clothing, et cetera. As long as the item possesses some form of text, the child is connected to it, and the child spends a great deal of time in its company, it can become a namesake.
Once the child is connected to the namesake, they well and truly become a Waif. What occurs next can only be explained as a fusion between Waif and namesake. The exact result of this largely depends on the namesake, but generally the two become physically bound. Inseperable. There is no longer a distinguishable point where the waif ends and the object begins. In some cases, the two entirely suffuse each others' beings, becoming a single entity. When they do remain largely separate, however, the Waif often adopts some traits of the namesake, and vice versa. A waif with a coat namesake might have soft, almost fabric-like skin, while the coat fuses with that skin, obtaining its own blood supply and even growing alongside the waif.
Notably, Waifs do not age the same way that humans do. Once they fully become Waifs, their aging is drastically slowed, both emotionally and physically. They are capable of obtaining and retaining new information, but only so much as their young minds are capable of handling. Thus, while a Waif's intellectual progression, relative to their physical age, is incredibly advanced, their emotional progression is still stunted, and they are, ultimately, still children. Children who know a lot of things, yes, but still children. While their aging process is slowed, it is not halted, and a Waif is capable of aging out of the condition, a process which is just now happening to many of Tremontaine's oldest Waifs. When a Waif reaches adulthood, their body rejects their namesake, a process which is often fatal for unlucky Waifs, and merely extremely painful for others. Some Waifs might lose a hand as their knife-namesake is rejected, while others may be fully torn asunder as their doll-namesake is rejected, or have the majority of the skin on their body removed as a coat-namesake is rejected. Needless to say, it is an unpleasant process dreaded by most Waifs, especially those who know that their fates are sealed as a result of their particular enhancements.

Homophonic Hecticity

There are several generally-accepted types of Waif, with certain abilities that Waifs of their type generally possess. The three main types are as follows: Wear-Waifs, those Waifs who have articles of clothing as namesakes, Ware-Waifs, those Waifs who have handheld items as namesakes, and Where-Waifs, those Waifs who have places as namesakes. There are also other less-common subtypes of Waif, such as Were-Waifs, those Waifs who have lost their namesakes, and We're-Waifs, those Waifs who have taken the name of another living being, sometimes referred to as Werewaifs if the namesake is an animal.
Wear-Waifs generally adopt abilities associated with their article of clothing. For example, a Wear-Waif with a cloth namesake might adopt a clothlike aspect, their bodies being soft, light, and flexible, whereas one with a leather namesake might gain tough, leathery skin and a matching attitude. Additionally, Ware-Waifs generally have the ability to "disappear" into their namesake, masquerading as a discarded article of clothing until they leap out. This is the reason why newcomers to the Pariah's Tides are often warned against picking clothing up off of the street, no matter how cold it may be, since it may be a Wear-Waif waiting in ambush.

Property Properties

Ware-Waifs are the most broad category among the big three, and also the least common. After all, the number of handheld objects in the world is quite staggering, whereas the number of small children capable of holding onto a single object for an extended period of time is rather limited. Generally, items like blankets, dolls, or perhaps even small tools or weapons are the most common Ware-Waif namesakes. The amount of fusion between Waif and namesake also varies greatly, as sometimes the object will merely fuse to a hand, as is often the case with a tool or weapon, or sometimes it will fully merge with the Waif, as often happens with dolls. Regardless, Ware-Waif abilities more or less follow the same line as Wear-Waifs, though sometimes the more metaphorical aspects of a handheld object manifest themselves, such as a lucky coin bringing the Waif in question great fortune, or sometimes worse misfortune.
Where-Waifs are perhaps the most common variety of Waif, as they have the highest survival rates, and it's easier to have a child stick around a certain area for an extended period of time, rather than a certain object. A Where-Waif is physically bound to the building street, or sometimes even ship which they call their home. They cannot under any circumstances leave the area, nor can they ever have fewer than one point of contact with the area. Where-Waifs have perhaps the most unique abilities among the different types of Waifs. They are capable of walking through the walls and floor of their namesake as if they were air, capable of navigating through the place with barely a thought. More impressively, however, when many get together they are actually capable of somewhat controlling the chaotic flow of Tidal street geography, willing their building or street to a certain location. This is an ability mastered by the Waifs of Bridge Street in Tremontaine, who provide a service ferrying paying customers across the city without the hassle of navigating the winding streets.
Were-waifs don't actually have any special abilities, and are merely just depressing creatures, nameless and aimless. Meanwhile, We're Waifs commonly adopt whatever properties or abilities the creature they received the name from had, sometimes even gaining control over creatures of its species if they are a Werewaif, though it depends on the circumstances.

Scientific Name

Homo Perniciosa