Wiindigoo

Camp quiet, no signs of life. Remains of all but one soldier accounted for. Signs of struggle/severe injuries. Bones picked-clean. Unknown teeth marks noted. Food provisions ransacked. Possible new large predator in area. No notable tracks/markings. Will search for missing soldier and return by morning. Advise mage support for future outposts.
-Final communication from scouting party of Lt Rectfeld

Classification: Entropic
Major Elements: Fire/Cold
Minor Elements: None
Habitat: Any Cold Climate

Infestation of the Cold element can twist its host into many abominable forms, from violent, mindless husks to haunting drifters. At times, however, the victim manages to resist, staving off the parasitic chill. At least for a time. It is in this struggle between Fire and Cold that the fearsome Wiindigoo is born.

Lingering at the border between life and death, the Wiindigoo is a creature of madness and violent impulse. As the Cold slowly overtakes the infected creature, the Fire that still remains ignites in an attempt to stave off the chill. Base instincts that keep us alive steadily become burning obsessions, with the victim eventually unable to feel anything besides greed, rage, and a relentless hunger.

As the Wiindigoo's mind is stripped away by the tainted Fire, its body makes a similar transformation. Hunger eats away at the creatures body. Any tissue not needed for immediate use in hunting down more food is cannibalized resulting in an almost skeletal gauntness. Victims are also said to shiver relentlessly, steadily worsening until the creature develops such violent rigors that they seem to twitch about almost insect-like.

Wiindigoo are exceedingly rare, with most references to them only existing in ancient legend. But as the Empire continues to push west, into the frozen hinterlands, tales of these cannibalistic monsters have begun to surface again. And while some may continue to discredit them as only stories, the numerous abandoned settlements and ruined camps that dot the frontier no doubt tell their own tales.