InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "It's wicked dark down here"

Sam Winchester (tallerthanthou) wrote in marinanova,
@ 2013-05-12 13:43:00

Entry tags:

:class, :mingle, artemis crock, bonnie bennett, buffy summers, dawn summers, elena gilbert, jack harkness, kitty pryde (aoa), klara guildsen, laura kinney, martha jones, peggy carter, piper halliwell, puck, saitou yakumo, sam winchester, spencer reid, tear grants, xander harris, yuuki kuran, zero kiryuu

Class 002 : Day 218 : Wendigo [action]
Welcome or welcome back to Paranormal Studies.

[Sam starts off with another disclaimer-type comment for the new students as he did at the beginning of his last class about how this isn't a class on hunting.]

Topic: Wendigo

Today, we're talking about wendigos. The name means "evil that devours" and it's a pretty good description. They were actually human once, but something happened to them. Something extreme. Maybe long, cold winters without enough supplies. Whatever the case, they find themselves turning to cannibalism to survive. Obviously, not every cannibal becomes a wendigo, but some do. It changes them. The get taller, leaner, faster, stronger, vicious and always hungry. [Sometimes this class sounds like a scary story, doesn't it? He should teach around a campfire.]

They often hibernate for long periods of time, storing live food. Meaning they abduct and hold people, eating them slowly, stripping off pieces of skin and keeping them alive as they do it as long as possible.

It's the perfect hunter. It has all the power it needs for any prey and the intelligence too. It can stalk you without you knowing it's there, biding it's time to take out a full traveling party. It can also imitate human voices to lure you out.

[ WENDIGO ]

Case Study: Black Water Ridge, Colorado

We—Dean and I—were sent coordinates to Black Water Ridge, Colorado, where we discovered a Tommy Collins had gone missing on a hike. With some research I found people had been going missing in that area in 23-year cycles. We needed better information of what we were up against, so we found a survivor of a "bear" attack. [He actually uses the finger quotes, yes.] It's not unusual for people to come up with neat labels for things that don't make any sense to them, so it's important to look through all records for anything that doesn't seem to fit. Sometimes it's swamp gas or unusual diseases or animal attacks. This time it was a bear attack.

The survivor was able to tell us the thing that killed his family was smart and fast and didn't sound like a man or an animal. With a little more research we were able to figure out we were up against the Wendigo.

Knowing that didn't exactly make things easy from there. We ended up out in the forest with a guide, and Tommy Collin's sister and younger brother. We had to keep all of them safe while finding and rescuing Tommy and not getting ourselves killed in the process. The guide didn't make it. [He clears his throat a little. It's one of those moments where the weight of turning hunting into a class topic catches up to him. He's talking about some pretty strong subjects here even if this was a pretty easy case compared to a lot of what he faced. There was always a body count.]

We did recover Tommy. The Wendigo had been storing people in an abandoned mine. Dean also managed to kill the Wendigo.

[ BLACK WATER RIDGE, COLORADO ]

Practical: Defense of Wendigo

So, how did we do it? Fire. They are vulnerable to it. He was shot once in the chest with a flare gun. There are also some protection symbols from the Anasazi. If they're drawn correctly and you stay in their area of protection they'll act as a ward, keeping a wendigo at bay. A lot of taking them on is knowledge, skill, and luck. There is no conventional fighting with them, but it's also possible silver-tipped arrows can take them down.

[ ANASAZI SYMBOLS ]

Questions & Discussion

Okay, I think that's everything I had. Has anyone else ever heard of or encountered a Wendigo or something similar? Or are there any questions?

(OOC: Backdated to late afternoon. Mingle style. Notifs are off so tag Sam during class with questions or catch him before or after. Use your discretion with the links provided. Sam didn't necessarily cover every detail, but feel free to bring more into it. Warnings for talk of cannibalism and torture.)

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

[before]

mysterymelody
2013-05-17 09:54 pm UTC (link)

Ah, no. I had intended to sit through it... [But "ghosts" were written up across the board and so she booked it back out the door stealthily like a ninja] I'm sure Sam knows what he's talking about, though-- he seems to have a lot of life experience with these things.

However, my question meant more... are these unnatural to you, or somewhat common like on my world?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] pure_confidence 2013-05-20 05:52 am UTC (link)
	[ she nodded in understanding ] No, thankfully. I'm afraid ghosts and monsters aren't entirely common in my world. Mankind has created enough of those without adding more into the mix. Are they really so common on your world? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

[before]

mysterymelody
2013-05-21 09:40 pm UTC (link)

Most are a natural part of it, of the ecosystem, much like your wolves and bears. Their evolution over time had just responded more dramatically to the human presence to the point some are even capable of using simple fonic artes.

And predictably some are man-made, abandoned and left in the wild, because the desire to play creator seems to be a constant for humanity no matter where they are or from.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

[before]

pure_confidence
2013-05-23 03:55 am UTC (link)

[ Peggy blinked and then frowned ] I beg your pardon, but fonic artes? I don't believe I've heard you use that term before. What is it?

[ and then she sighed, rolling her pencil between her fingers, worrying at it. ]

Although I suppose it doesn't really matter. As you said, we humans have never been able to resist experimenting with the human condition. I hope you have had far better luck of it then we have.

[ and all she can think of was the millions of lives lost, both through the war and the camps. And for what? To create a perfect race? To create a perfect man? She has seen what become of those and then Steve had to die. ]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

[before]

mysterymelody
2013-05-25 02:53 am UTC (link)

Oh, I'm sorry. [She looks as much, and surprised as well that she hasn't mentioned yet] To give you a very basic idea, they're somewhat similar to what seems to be commonly called "magic".

We haven't always used them responsibly, however, so we shouldn't be given that much confidence... considering that at one point the world population was reduced to less than a fifth of what it was by our own hands.

[She frowns ahead at nothing in particular with that statement out in the air, but her dark expression lightens a fraction after a moment] But people can change, so I'll add your hope to ours.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] pure_confidence 2013-05-26 04:03 am UTC (link)
	[ Peggy shakes her head lightly too and fro. Their various worlds, it seemed, was not so very different. ] I see. I'm sorry to hear so many were lost. I'm afraid my own world has not fared much better. At least forty million killed and the estimate is still rising now that we can compile our records. But the war is over; I hope it's the same for you. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] mysterymelody 2013-05-26 09:07 pm UTC (link)
	That one was long, long ago, and there have been countless since. The current conflict is over-- or was, when I left-- but human history and future is one of eternal turbulence. [To borrow wise words from a wise, trying man] The point is to make the peace last as long as possible and do good with it. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] pure_confidence 2013-05-30 03:34 am UTC (link)
	[ Peggy's smile is immediately wane and full of heartsickness ] A difficult task to achieve indeed. Not all men wish for peace after all, especially among those who have so recently fallen. [ There had barely even been time to grow a new crop of soldiers fit to fight a war between one and the next. There had been no war to end all wars... ] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] mysterymelody 2013-05-30 05:58 pm UTC (link)
	[There never will be, but it's disheartening to absolutely accept that] Well, even if they did, creatures like this [A gesture to the board] ensure conflict. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	[before] pure_confidence 2013-06-13 12:46 am UTC (link)
	[ Peggy glanced at the board and nodded almost imperceptibly, her eyes looking hooded in the face of truth ] You are right of course. And whether they are make the man or is the undoing of one, entirely depends on the creature. It still makes one wonder what drives one to such extremes, doesn't it? [ to be beast or savior, Peggy wasn't sure either was worth the price. ] (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Read comments) -