Ijiraq

Ijiraq
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Information
Alternate Names/Spellings	Ijiraat, (pl) Ijirait, ᐃᔨᕋᖅ
Origins	Inuit/Eskimo Mythology
Alignment
Element
Species
Appearance

Origins

The Ijiraq is one of a race of creatures with origins in Inuit mythology, legend and folklore. They identify as mountain spirits, and have a close connection to caribou.

In one myth, it is said that they originated from a woman of a certain tribe, who refused to accept any suitors who came along asking for her hand in marriage (one of whom turned out to be a bull caribou in human form--perhaps the first Ijiraq).

After a while, the woman's father got angry that the woman refused to marry, and arranged that her pet dog would serve as her husband. The two were taken off to live alone on their own island together. Whenever food was low, the woman would saddle her dog with a pack, and send it to meet up with her father for more food.

Time passed, and the women eventually turned up pregnant, giving birth to a litter of nine puppies. As a result, the dog had to go out and get food from the father way more often than normal. When the father came to the island to investigate why the dog was coming too retrieve more food so often, he discovered the puppies. He was infuriated, when he found out the pups were his own grandchildren.

So, the next time the dog was sent to meet up with the woman's father, he did not fill the dog's pack with food. Instead, he filled it up with heavy rocks without the dog's knowledge. When the dog headed back to the woman, the rocks weighed him down, not only causing him to fall through the ice, but to be dragged to the bottom, and drowned.

In time, the woman found out of her father's treachery, and told her pups that the next time they saw her father, they were to destroy his kayak, in revenge for their father's death. Though, the woman's father had no food or hunting tools. With the pups' growing appetite, they would soon have to go off and gather food on their own.

The first three pups were changed into other Inuit, and sent down southward with makeshift bows and arrows. The second three pups were changed into White people, and were sent away in a boat made magically from the sole of a boot, with instructions to return in a much larger ship. The final three pups were changed into Ijiraq, whose sight would be sharp, whose legs would be swift and whose true form would remain invisible to all but shamans.

Appearance

Though invisible to the naked eye in their true form, they may be observed by shamans, and other people of similar perceptive capabilities. By those who have seen them in their true form, they are described as looking very similar to ordinary humans.

However, the resemblance is not complete. Rather than ordinary eyes and mouth, their eyes and mouth are situated lengthwise, so that they 'blink sideways'.

Yet, they do not always remain in their true invisible form. They are also capable of assuming the form of a caribou, or a human-caribou hybrid (like the caribou version of a Minotaur) at will. These forms are visible to the naked eye.

One can even tell the difference between an ordinary caribou and an Ijiraq, with a fair amount of ease. An Ijiraq's hair is somewhat thicker than that of an ordinary caribou.

Abilities

A deceptive spirit of the wilds...