I hear a scream…it continues
Frequency increasing - higherhigherhigher…
s i l e n c e.
Supersonic. The instinct hits like a charging bull -
RUN!
Legs pound, pistons in the night.
Arms pump, pendulums of force
Breath pants, the taste of fright.
Faster.
Faster!
FASTER!
Out of the trees, finally! Almost home,
lights in the distance…
Falling?
Falling…
FALLING!
s i l e n c e.
- Silence, a poem. Performed at the Court of Baron de Brac in Blegokara by an unknown troubadour.
Folklore & History
Today, we are going to explore some of the history and more freely available folklore on the Wampus (also known as the gallywampus, the whistling wampus, catawampus1, or wampus cat)2. I’ve often been accused of going overboard and diving too deep into a topic. Well, tough cookies.
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Ok, back to basics. Lucky for you all, this is going to be a wide ranging romp ‘round the wild Wampus (mainly cause I don’t feel like writing a dissertation - this is supposed to be fun, right?)! Ok, enough rambling. Here goes Old Reliable™ -
According to Wikipedia, the Wampus is a “cat-like creature…that varies widely in appearance, ranging from frightful to comical, depending on region” - so do what you will with that. Old Reliable indeed. Other sources, such as the one below, are a bit more descriptive:
“A half-dog, half-cat creature that can run erect or on all fours, it’s rumored to be seen just after dark or right before dawn all throughout the Appalachians…In non-Native American cultures it’s a howling, evil creature, with yellow eyes that can supposedly pierce the hearts and souls of those unfortunate enough to cross its path, driving them to the edge of sanity.”3
Allow me to draw your attention to “non-Native American” as the Wampus 100% has its roots in Cherokee myth, so that is where we will start (unless you believe other tales that it was created by a secret government program…which I don’t).
I found two conflicting accounts of the origin of the Wampus, and by conflicting, I mean almost inverse of each other in terms of the type of creature we may presume the Wampus to be.
The first account (Version A) is the most common, and seems to be the consensus origin myth for the Wampus today and it goes something like this:
Version A
Once upon a time, a nameless Cherokee woman wanted to see what her husband got up to with the village elders at night. In some versions of the tale, her husband would leave on a hunting trip with the other men and would get together in a ritual to seek help in the hunt and ask forgiveness for the deaths of the animals they would kill - of course, women were forbidden from ever seeing this ritual.4 I think you know where this is going, so I’ll make this brief: our nameless protagonist is overcome with desire to see this secret ritual, so she wraps herself in a cougar skin to go spy on the men. She gets caught, and the men curse her to wear the cougar skin for all time5–she goes insane, and eventually becomes the Wampus, also known as Ew’ah - the demon spirit of madness that can drive people insane and feasts on children’s souls.6
The second account (Version B) concerns the Ew’ah demon terrorizing the Cherokee, and how Running Deer stopped it’s malice.
Version B
Once upon a time, the evil demon Ew’ah terrorized the village of Etowah. It could drive men to insanity with a single look and so it feasted on the dreams of children with impunity. Eventually, the warchiefs and the shamans of the village agreed that ew’ah must be stopped. They sent for their strongest warrior, Great Fellow (or Running Bear, depending on the account), who would go alone to face the terrible Ew’ah. He was showered with honor and given their best demon-killing gear…which is useless, as he comes back weeks later “screaming, and clawing at his eyes,” a shell of his former self. His wife, Running Deer, decides to take revenge:
“Running Deer went to the shamans, and they gave her a booger mask7, a bobcat’s face, and they told her that the spirit of the mountain cat could stand against the Ew’ah, but she must be the one to surprise the demon. The warchiefs gave her a special black paste, which when rubbed on her body, would hide her scent as well as her body. She kissed her former husband8 on the forehead, his blank eyes staring, and headed off to seek her revenge.”9
Running Deer tracks and eventually ambushes the Ew’ah at the edge of a mountain spring, and as soon a the Ew’ah sees her mask, it begins to “tear at itself as the spirit of the mountain cat turned its powerful magic back on itself.” Running Deer returns home in triumph and receives the honorifics of Spirit-Talker and Home-Protector.
The account ends by positing that her spirit inhabits the “Wampas cat” to continue her mission to protect her tribe’s lands and people from demons. It is curious, then, that the Wampus is seen as a demon in Appalachian folklore, a monstrous beast to be feared instead of venerated.
There is another story that recounts the use of a mask to defeat “Ewah” [sic], but this one is told by Janice Butt and is set in modern day Tennessee. You can read the full story here, but it is broadly similar to Running Deer’s story, except that the protagonist, a young woman named Barbara Ann, receives the “Wampas Mask” from an old woman in a cabin - “a big, furry, demonic cat, with enormous eyes that would pierce a person’s soul” - that she is instructed to wear. The old lady informs her that it will drive the Ewah away, with the caveat that that she may regret using the mask. And indeed, when she puts on the mask, she defeats the Ewah, but the mask sticks to her face and turns her into a mountain cat.10
So fancy that.
And speaking of fancy, the Wampus is supposed to still haunt Appalachia to this day as it stalks through the old mountains and hills - if you are one to believe such tales, of course. Let me know in the comments below!
Inspiration
Phew. That was a lot to get through. So how do we unpack this? How to pay homage to the Wampus? Make it into a suitable creature for players to face down, a fearsome hunter that haunts the forest of imagination? That seems like the most logical approach based on the prevailing lore surrounding the Wampus and drawing directly from the Version A origin (you can find a Wampus monster over on my Patreon).
I find Version B more compelling as a story, however, as an origin myth for the Wampus where it plays into the protector motif instead of yet another othered monster. So let us return to Blegokara (fast becoming a stomping ground for orienting these myths), where we will explore three inspirations drawn from themes in Version B.
1. On Mausp, a Protector Deity of the hunting village of Henkara
Mausp (a phonetic anagram of Wampus —> Mauwsp) is a cat-like creature whose shrine stands at the center of Henkara11–or your TTRPG village of choice. I imagine the shrine as a little more than a carved statue of a six-legged feline figure, perhaps the size of a small child, that sits on its haunches, perched atop a four stilted platform. You may imagine the effigy’s wide face either grinning or scowling. You may imagine that it changes depending on the beholder.
Mausp is a feminine deity of luck and protection whom the folk of Henkara pray to whenever they embark upon a hunt or endeavor of import to themselves. She is known to be jealous if not properly appeased, however, so her altar is regularly adorned with the finest cuts of meat, antlers, or even small cat masks made in imitation of the Mask of Henkara.
Once upon a time, Mausp was a woman of surpassing cleverness, who (according to legend) defeated a demon whose true name was a curse to speak and is now lost to us. The folk in those days started calling the monster ‘Dream-Eater’ as it would devour the dreams, hopes, and passions of its prey - the children of Henkara. According to legend, Mausp worked with the wisest of Henkara’s hunters to craft a brooge mask12 of surpassing power in the form of a snarling gold, black, and red panther with elongated canines and single, serpentine horn. Donning this mask and painting her body with hunter’s ink, she and her companions laid a trap for the Dream Eater: when the monster came to the village that night, they would paint protective charms on each door except for Mausp’s house, where her son would be sleeping - and Mausp waiting.
The monster, drawn by the scent of unconsumed potential, stalked into the village, and as it reached for Mausp’s son, she emerged from the shadows and blocked its path. The monster was thrown backwards into the village square and Mausp followed, trusting in her mask and charms to protect her. But the Dream Eater was clever, and had already tied a blindfold around his eyes and leapt at Mausp to attempt to consume her. But Mausp felt a surge of power and transformed into a half panther, half woman creature with six arms and met the Dream Eater’s charge with such force that both were knocked prone. Their fight could be heard all through the night until a triumphant yowl resounded through the village. And when day dawned, the folk of Henkara found only the mask that Mausp had worn the night before, and no sign of her nor of Dream Eater. And from that day on, the people of Henkara venerated Mausp as an ascended goddess of luck and protection.
Mausp’s blessing may be felt in moments of high stakes when a person has taken a risk or leap of faith - should the tide seem to turn against them, Mausp may intervene with a stroke of good fortune. Or at the very least, counteracting misfortune. Woe betide those who attract Mausp’s jealousy, however, as she will plague their spears and limbs with weakness, so that they might be easier prey for her ailik pack.
Speaking of, an ailik is a fierce predator of the Deepwood resembling a large, six legged smilodon with a long, curved horn extending from its forehead that it uses to slash through the dense underbrush of the Deepwood. They are closely associated with Mausp, and are known to be highly intelligent creatures that hunt in packs of anywhere between 6 and 14 ailiken.
2. The Mask of Henkara
The mask hangs from a central pillar, a mass of fading gold and black with red plating around the eye holes, it coalesces into the horrific visage of some monstrous feline creature with elongated canines like swords and single, serpentine horn sweeping back from the forehead.
The Mask of Henkara, the very same one that Mausp supposedly wore in her fight with the Dream Eater, hangs in the Meeting House of Henkara. It is a powerful relic that wards Henkara, preventing all manner of mischievous and malicious beings from entering the borders of the village. On festival days, the Huntsman of Henkara dons the Mask for a brief period of time to initiate the festivities. In times of peril, the most capable hunter in Henkara dons the mask to defend the village, although there is a terrible cost associated with this, for the wearer dooms themself to become an ailik.
I imagine this mask as a powerful relic, perhaps even something to kickstart a quest - I am sure there are all manner of foul folk, whether in the Deepwood or in Blegokara proper with ties to the Opal Hegemony–more on them later–who covet the power of the Mask. The Mask can therefore be used as a macguffin (an item for the players to pursue that drives the plot forward), a deus ex machina when used, and/or as a way to spur motivation within a player’s character.13
The Mask of Henkara may only be worn for a short period of time (say 2-3 hours) before a curse takes root in the wearer’s body, transforming them into an ailik. The longer a person wears the Mask, the faster the curse takes effect. While wearing the Mask, however, a person gains incredible speed, strength, and the ability to directly influence and grasp creatures from the underworld.
Once the transformation is complete, the mask slips from the wearer’s face and vanishes, returning to the village square in Henkara, at the exact same point that it was found the day after Mausp defeated the Dream Eater.
3. On the Peculiar Tradition of the Hunters of Henkara
The Hunters? Oh yes, a rather curious death cult that still thrives in Henkara, your majesty.
The Hunters of Henkara are a holdover from the days before the Opal Hegemony. They paint their bodies with charms made from hunter’s ink, don brooge masks, and follow the Huntsman of Henkara into the woods to hunt the ailiken–and to themselves be hunted. They hunt the ailik for its horn and teeth which are known to have powerful curative properties. The Hunters also hunt the ailik for its blood, which they distill and mix with the chalky residue left behind by a kuoket’s burning tail to craft Hunter’s Ink. This is a potent substance imbued with enough magic to activate the protective and empowering charms the Hunters paint on their bodies before an ailik hunt.
Not everyone in Henkara joins the Hunters, but many able-bodied young men and women do, seeking to prove their mettle in the Deepwood. Those seeking to join the Hunters must first venture out into the Deepwood and bring back a length of Yawnwood,14 from which their brooge mask will grow from. The Hunstman plants the length of Yawnwood in the village square, whereupon the mask grows and shapes itself into the brooge (or soul-mirror) of the person in question. Once grown, the initiate must take their brooge mask and spend a night alone in the Deepwood. If they come back, their brooge mask is judged to be strong enough and they are welcomed into the Hunters. If they do not come back, their name is stricken from the record-post in Henkara and no one speaks of them again. Of those who seek to join the hunters, only 1 in 2 come back, hence they have a reputation of being something of a death cult to those not familiar with Henkaran ways.
There is one final piece, and that is the Huntsman. The Huntsman of Henkara is elected by the hunters and leads them into the Hunt. It is also a title that includes a great responsibility to carry out holy rituals in Henkara on festival days, which means donning the Mask of Mausp. As such, they are doomed to eventually mutate into an ailik, but for them this is seen as a great honor, as they go to serve their patron goddess of Mausp, and on a more practical level, their blood will continue to strengthen future generations of hunters.
Well that got dark pretty fast. Didn’t see things going in that direction when I sat down to write, but it is what it is. I really am excited with how this is coming along, and hope you are enjoying reading these posts at least as much as I enjoy writing them!
Keep it snappy everyone!
N
A “catty-whompus” is a term for “something lopsided; hanging or sitting crooked.”
“Chapter 1: Mountain Speech,” in Foxfire Story: Oral Tradition in Southern Appalachia (Anchor, 2020), pp. 15.
Dave Tabler, “The Story of the Wampus Cat,” Appalachian History, September 18, 2021, https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2017/10/story-of-wampus-cat.html.
id.
“The Wampus Cat,” The Wampus Cat | North Carolina Ghosts, accessed February 26, 2023, https://northcarolinaghosts.com/mountains/wampus-cat/.
I feel obligated to point out that pre-European contact, the Cherokee were a matrilineal society. Furthermore, the penal system was not one of punishment, but based on forgiveness. Thus, I highly doubt that Version A originates from Cherokee myth, and if it does, is likely warped by traditional Judeo-Christian conceptions of morality: i.e. strict separation between male and female, the ability of the male to unilaterally exact punishment on a woman without trial, and a woman - Eve - seeking forbidden knowledge - all of which seem highly unlikely to be found in Cherokee myth.
For further reading, see “Lost in Transition: The Waning of Cherokee Women’s Rights”, pg 5. https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1206&context=student_scholarship
I could be completely wrong, of course, but discrepancies should be highlighted, especially when Version B seems much more in line with pre-contact Cherokee societal values.
Smith, Michelle. Legends, Lore and True Tales of the Chattahoochee. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
A Booger Mask is used in a Booger Dance, a Cherokee traditional dance where “men wearing ragged clothing and masks interrupted an evening of social dancing. When asked who they were and what they came for, the boisterous intruders gave outlandish names and tried to start fights. Each intruder then performed a solo, often ribald, dance. As the Cherokee believed that illness and death emanated from beyond their settlements, the intruders are thought to have represented outside forces—specifically, European-Americans who encroached on Cherokee homelands and disrupted tribal lifeways.”
“Cherokee Booger Dance Mask - Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian - George Gustav Heye Center, New York,” Copyright 2010-2011. Smithsonian Institution., accessed February 26, 2023, https://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/infinityofnations/woodlands/237839.html.
Maus, Jim. “The Cherokee ‘Booger’ Mask.” Central States Archaeological Journal 52, no. 4 (2005): 186–92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43142532.
Interesting point here - in the version I read, Great Fellow is so shattered by his encounter with Ew’ah that he is judged to “never be any good as a husband again” which according to Cherokee law meant that he was dead for all intents and purposes. He is quite literally the living dead (which to me seems worse than being gutted by a demon-cat). Anyway, point is, Running Deer has a pretty good motive for revenge here.
Dave Tabler, “The Story of the Wampus Cat,” Appalachian History, September 18, 2021, https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2017/10/story-of-wampus-cat.html.
The Moonlit Road, “The Wampas Mask,” The Moonlit Road.com, September 30, 2022, https://www.themoonlitroad.com/the-wampas-mask/.
I am torn on what I want the suffix -kara to mean. I am neither philologist nor linguist, so I don’t particularly care about grammatical precision in a made up language, but I do care about consistency of application when a decision is made. Hence, all the settlements in the Barony end in the same suffix…but I haven’t decided what it means. Probably something visionary like ‘town’ or ‘living area’.
A brooge mask (pronounced ‘broog’) is part of traditional Henkaran hunter’s gear, meant to ward away malicious spirits of the Deepwood. Yes, inspired directly by Cherokee booger masks.
That last item is a tricky balance to get right: how do you motivate someone towards something? Well, it starts with knowing your players motivations AND their characters motivations - this is an important distinction as the former influences the latter and vice versa. You may have a player who is super into the mechanics of the game and as a result, their character is optimized for those mechanics and seeks ways to become even more powerful mechanically. Or you may have a player who just wants to engage with a particular vision of their character - mechanical power doesn’t motivate them nor their character, instead they seek to obtain narrative relevance or power…..ok, I’m gonna pause there cause this deserves a full post itself.