Inuit Monsters of the Frozen North for Dungeon World (In Honor of AMC’s The Terror)
ADLET
Group, Intelligent
Talons (d8 damage) 6 HP 0 armor
Close
Adlet are a race of people in Inuit legends usually said to have the lower body of dogs and the upper body of humans. Typically, they’re believed to be the offspring of an Inuit woman and a dog, brought about through an unnatural mating. The Adlet are typically portrayed as aggressive savages who will attack men when they cross paths.
Instinct: Devours
• Hunts Humans
INUIT
Group, Intelligent
Spear (d8 damage) 6 HP 0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Tribal Hunter-Gathers
Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions. The Inuit have traditionally been fishers and hunters. For the Inuit there was a set way of doing things: Maligait refers to what has to be followed, Piqujait refers to what has to be done, and the Tirigusuusiit refers to what has to be avoided. If an individual’s actions went against the Tirigusuusiit, Maligait or Piqujait, the shaman might have to intervene, lest the consequences be dire to the individual or the community.
Instinct: Hunt
• Survive
• Guard Community
• Welcome peaceful strangers
QALUPALIK
Group, Stealthy
Claws (d8 damage) 6 HP 0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Aquatic, Immune to cold
Qalupalik is an Inuit mythological creature. It is a human-sized marine goblin-demon that lives at the bottom of the sea, with long hair, green skin, and long fingernails. The myth is that qalupaliks wear an amautiit (a form of pouch that Inuit parents wear to carry their children) so they can take babies and children away who disobey their parents to become qalupaliks. The story was used to prevent children from wandering off alone, lest the qalupalik take those children in her amautik underwater and keep them forever. Qalupaliks are said to make a distinctive humming sound; therefore, they can be heard before they appear. Instinct: Steal Children
• Lives in the Inuit marine Underworld
• Charms children
• Make a distinctive humming sound
MAHAHA
Solitary, Planar
Nails (d10 damage 1 piercing) 16 HP 0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Immune to Cold, Immune to non-magical weapons
Mahaha is a maniacal Inuit demon that terrorized parts of the arctic. This creature is described as a thin sinewy being, ice blue in colour and cold to the touch. Mahaha’s eyes are white and they peer through the long stringy hair that hangs in its face. This demon is always smiling and giggling. It is strong, very strong and it is always barefoot. Mahaha is usually seen with almost no clothing on yet it never seems to be bothered by the cold. This cold demon takes pleasure in tickling its victims to death with sharp vicious nails attached to its long bony fingers. Many elders have remarked on the expression of the dead victims Mahaha leaves behind. It seems all of the victim have a similar expression on their dead faces – a twisted frozen smile. Although this demon is twisted and evil, Mahaha is easily fooled. Most of the stories told about Mahaha end with it being fooled. Usually Mahaha is tricked into leaning over a water hole to take a drink and is pushed into the open water and swept away by the currents.
Instinct: Tortures
• Haunts
• Beguiles
• Murders
SAUMEN KARS (TORNITS)
Solitary, Large
Claws (d10 damage) 16 HP 0 armor
Special Qualities: Immune to cold
The Inuit Yeti or Bigfoot; these solitary creatures are nomadic, roaming the wastes to settle temporarily where they are lucky enough to find food, shelter, or both. They are omnivorous, but the climate dictates that the lion’s share of their diet is meat, and Saumen Kars consumes the flesh of any creature but their own kind.
Instinct: Devour
• Hunts Humans
SEDNA AVATAR
Solitary, Divine, Magical, Planar
Skeleton talons (d10+2 damage 1 piercing) 25 HP 0 armor
Close
Special Qualities: Divine, Primary Inuit goddess, Does not suffer fools, Aquatic, Immune to magic, Immune to non-magical weapons, Commands dead spirits
Sedna is the Inuit Goddess of the Underworld and the Ocean. The Inuit believe the afterlife to be located at the bottom of the sea; which Sedna rules. Sedna started existence as a simple Inuit girl. Sedna was killed by her father. Varying legends each give different rationales for Sedna’s murder. Yet, in each version, her father takes her to sea in his kayak, chopping off her fingers and throwing her into the sea. In each version she sinks to the bottom of the sea; to be worshiped by hunters who depend on her goodwill to supply marine sea creatures to hunt. She is generally considered a vengeful goddess, and hunters must placate and pray to her to release the sea animals from the ocean depths for their hunt. She is often depicted with a fish tail, like a mermaid. Inuit souls are sent to her for a year after death before they are reincarnated back into their tribe.
Instinct: Punishes
• Rules Inuit underworld and oceans
• Commands sea creatures and the dead
• Inuit Goddess; appears as an arctic mermaid with skeleton talons
SIXAM IEUA
Solitary, Divine
Arctic curse (w[2d10+2] damage) 12 HP 0 armor
Close, Far
Special Qualities: Heal travellers, Bless weapons to hit demons, Mute
A rare type of Inunit guardian shaman found in Dan Simmons’ novel “The Terror”. The shaman of a community of Inuit was not the leader, but rather a sort of healer and psychotherapist, who tended wounds and offered advice, as well as invoking the spirits to assist people in their lives. His or her role was to see, interpret and exhort the subtle and unseen. The Tuunbaq can be pacified by the throat singing of an otherwise mute Sixam ieua (special Inuit shaman), rendering it as close to docile as it can be made. This entire shaman group has had their tongues removed to gain their special powers and usually refrain from all forms of physical violence against human beings.(Inspired by Dan Simmons’ novel “The Terror”‘)
Instinct: Protect
• Guide
• Heal
• Bless
TIZHERUK
Horde, Large
Bite (d6 damage 1 piercing) 7 HP 0 armor
Near
Special Qualities: Aquatic
In Inuit mythology, the Tizheruk are large, snake-like sea creatures that are believed to roam Alaska’s waters. They are described as having a head 7 feet long with a tail ending in a flipper, for a total of 12 to 15 feet long. Tizheruk were said to snatch people from docks and piers.
Instinct: Snatch prey
• Consume
• Ambush
• Return to the deep
TUUNBAQ
Solitary, Large, Planar
Bite (b[2d12] damage) 20 HP 1 armor
Near
Special Qualities: Impervious to non-magical weapons, Demon, Immune to cold
The Tuunbaq is an Inuit Demon, a devourer of souls and eater of flesh. The Tuunbaq is encountered as a large polar bear with an extended if not elongated neck, and is impervious to non-magical weapons. The Tuunbaq can be pacified by the throat singing of a Sixam Ieua (special Inuit shamans), rendering it as close to docile as it can be made. The Tuunbaq was created by the Inuit Goddess Sedna to murder the other Inuit pagan gods, when it failed she exiled it to the far north and taught special shamans how to confine it there. Instinct: Consumes souls (Inspired by Dan Simmons novel)
• Haunts
• Ancient Demon of Frozen Wastes
• Players killed by Tuunbaq may not be restored unless it is destroyed
