Cannibal Dwarves
- At March 24, 2019
- By Great Quail
- In Bestiary, Deadlands
0
Hecesiiteihii Statistics
AGL d12, SMT d6, SPR d6, STR d12+2, VIG d8, PAR 7, TGH 6, Wounds: 3/I (Varies with “Strength of the Pack”). Skills: Archery d10, Climb d10, Fighting d12, Intimidation d10, Notice d8, Stealth d6, Swimming d4. Attack: Bite, 1d8+1d12+2 STR; Spirit Arrows, 1d4+1d12+2 STR + Special Poison. Special Abilities: Demonic Immunity, Entrap Soul, Fly, Preternatural Quickness, Reincarnation, Spirit Arrows, Strength of the Pack. Weaknesses: Aversion to Sunlight, Crossing Running Water, Gullibility, Ravenous, Voluntary Disembowelment. Note: Individual cannibal dwarves may have higher SPR, STR, and VIG ratings; see “Entrap Soul.”
Description
Translated from the Arapahoe as “little people,” the hecesiiteihii (h’yeah-chass-ee-tay-hee) are more commonly known as “cannibal dwarves.” Believed to be the remnants of a race destroyed by the Arapahoe in ancient times, these monstrous beings are driven by a ravenous appetite for human flesh. While most familiar to the tribes along the Rocky Mountains, cannibal dwarves appear in Native legends ranging from the Pacific Northwest to the Minnesota River. Their antiquity is confirmed by Paleolithic petroglyphs, which suggest the hecesiiteihii have been traditional enemies of the Plains for thousands of years.
Cannibal dwarves are generally between two and three feet tall, and have the appearance of deformed children. They have dark skin and wild, unruly hair, mouths brimming with sharp teeth, and dress in ragged animal skins. Other physical characteristics vary from region to region and tribe to tribe. The Crow believe that cannibal dwarves are neckless, and their constant consumption of raw flesh has granted them grossly distended bellies. According to the Siouan tribes, they have wings, while the Omaha claim they each possess a single cyclopean eye. Most legends contend that cannibal dwarves are able to cast curses, can become invisible, and have the power to capture the souls of slain Indian warriors. They have been known to kidnap children, which some maintain are ghoulishly transformed into fellow monsters. All tribes agree that cannibal dwarves are incredibly strong and fast, and frequently hunt in packs.
Habitat
Once hunted to the point of extinction by human beings, the hecesiiteihii have little desire to again face extermination at the hands of their prey. As such, they favor isolated lairs, usually mountainous foothills, uncharted woodlands, or hidden caves. Some Indian tales speak of subterranean hecesiiteihii cities, filled with stone huts and mushroom forests; while others describe inaccessible aeries high in the Rocky Mountains.
Origin
The origins of the hecesiiteihii are obscure. Most legends claim they are the remnants of a race destroyed by the Arapahoe or other indigenous tribes; others refer to them as supernatural spirits. In Deadlands 1876, both of these explanations contain some truth. The first hecesiiteihii were created when the bodies of murdered children were possessed by the spirits of an ancient race. This race has long since vanished, but was present in North America before the first Altaians or Clovis cultures crossed the Bering Strait. The souls of the hecesiiteihii still contain echoes of this primordial race, which grants them a limited form of immortality.
Resurrection
The gruesome method by which a cannibal dwarf attains immortality is unique, but bears some resemblance to primitive vampire myths. Before leaving his shelter for a hunt, a cannibal dwarf must remove his heart and intestines, which are pinned to the wall using wooden spikes. These tokens grant assurance that the monster cannot be permanently slain. If the cannibal dwarf is killed, his packmates feed his disembodied organs to a human child, who is then buried alive during the new moon. If the child survives the transformation, he emerges as one of the hecesiiteihii, his humanity banished by the memories and spirit of the resurrected monster. This cycle may be repeated ad infinitum. However, as hecesiiteihii individuals progress through this repetitious cycle of death and rebirth, their accumulated memories deteriorate and become unreliable. Indeed, not even the hecesiiteihii believe everything their elders proclaim! Some claim to be millions of years old, and dimly remember dwelling in humid jungles along a vast, inland sea; hunting great lizards for sport, and feasting on the flesh of beings even older than themselves. Others have degenerated into gibbering troglodytes. Eventually these elders enter a state of torpor, and can no longer hunt for themselves. When one of the hecesiiteihii reaches a certain degree of senility, his packmates strike him dead with a single stone blow to the head. His blood is consumed by the entire tribe, an act that allows the collective to absorb his accumulated knowledge and wisdom.
Sex and Death
If a cannibal dwarf dies of starvation, has his heart destroyed while separated from his body, or is slain with his organs intact, he dies the true death, and cannot be resurrected. Obviously, if resurrection were the only way the hecesiiteihii reproduced, there’d be very few remaining. New cannibal dwarves may be created the old-fashioned way, which brings a “new soul” into the world to start a fresh cycle of death and resurrection. Fortunately for the mundane world, the hecesiiteihii have a murderously low birth rate, and only one in a thousand births produces a living child. This makes pregnant females sacred among the hecesiiteihii; to slaughter a pregnant cannibal dwarf is to face the wrath of the entire pack. Infants grow to adulthood in a matter of months, but stillborn babies are simply eaten.
Feeding Habits
The feeding habits of the hecesiiteihii are inextricably bound to their religious beliefs and their relationship to the sun. As long as the sun is below the horizon, a cannibal dwarf suffers from a painful hunger, and must consume raw meat to survive. If a cannibal dwarf does not consume his own body weight in warm flesh and blood each week, the creature perishes. For the hecesiiteihii, death by “starvation” is unthinkable; it denies them passage to the afterlife and terminates the cycle of reincarnation. This is why cannibal dwarves often gorge themselves until they can barely move—better safe than sorry!
Hecesiiteihii hunt in packs, and seldom venture outside their homes in groups smaller than four. Despite their reputation, “cannibal dwarves” rarely seek out humans deliberately, and restrict their diet to wildlife in order to protect their species from retaliation. However, when they do encounter human beings in the wild, they slip into an uncontrollable feeding frenzy, falling upon their prey like enraged piranhas. With their inhuman strength and multiple rows of sharp teeth, a pack of hecesiiteihii can skeletonize an adult human in a matter of minutes, using their wicked long tongues to suck the marrow from the gleaming bones. Once hecesiiteihii have entered a feeding frenzy, they won’t stop until every morsel has been consumed.
Nomenclature
The Arapahoe also refer to the hecesiiteihii as “teihiihan,” which means “strong ones.” The Cheyenne know them as the “vo’estanehesano,” the Crow as “nirumbee” or “awwakkulé,” the Shoshone as “nimerigar,” and the Omaha and Ponca refer to them as “gada’zhe.” As discussed above, their physical characteristics vary from tribe to tribe.
Special Abilities
Demonic Immunity
The hecesiiteihii cannot be Shaken, and are immune to Fear, Intimidation, and all poisons and disease.
Entrap Soul
If a cannibal dwarf defeats a human in battle, he may entrap that warrior’s soul. The monster must first scalp the slain warrior, then consume the fresh scalp with deep draughts of blood sucked from the warrior’s heart. Within the next twenty-four hours, the dwarf must vomit the partially-digested scalp into a special earthen jar. Each jar in a dwarf’s possession adds one additional die of Spirit, Strength, or Vigor. Any single hecesiiteihii may only keep three such jars, one for each Trait. After a few years, the magic fades, and the jars must be refreshed.
Fly
Some hecesiiteihii can fly. These individuals have stunted wings, usually resembling those of bats, vultures, or locusts. Because these wings are too small to support their body weight, the hecesiiteihii power of flight is innately magical, and may be treated as the standard “Fly” Power. This adds a +2 to Parry, and inflicts a –2 penalty on all ranged combat directed against the creature. The ability to Fly is incompatible with Preternatural Quickness, and hecesiiteihii who possess one cannot possess the other.
Preternatural Quickness
Once per day, a cannibal dwarf may summon a burst of Preternatural Quickness. This grants him ten minutes of accelerated activity, increasing his movement rate by a factor of ten and rendering his motions a confusing blur. In combat, this allows the cannibal dwarf to draw three Action Cards each round and act upon the highest two. Preternatural Quickness is incompatible with Fly, and hecesiiteihii who possess one cannot possess the other.
Reincarnation
As discussed above, the hecesiiteihii possess a limited form of immortality. Upon being killed in battle, the soul of a cannibal dwarf enters the afterlife, a section of the Happy Hunting Grounds best left uncontemplated. (The hecesiiteihii claim that a single hour in the afterlife is equivalent to weeks of blissful gluttony.) Providing his comrades have performed the ritual of resurrection, the dwarf’s soul reincarnates in the body of a human child and the cycle begins anew.
Spirit Arrows
Cannibal dwarves carry small wooden bows adorned with human leather, gut, and bones. Their arrows are only half the size of normal arrows, but are innately magical. An arrow fired by a cannibal dwarf vanishes upon contact with a human target, inflicting injuries without piercing the skin. Rather than using Toughness to soak damage, victims defend with their Spirit. If any damage gets through, the target automatically loses one Spirit die. This loss is temporary, and returns after six hours of rest. A cannibal dwarf acting under Preternatural Quickness may fire two arrows each round.
Strength of the Pack
The hecesiiteihii hunt in packs, usually numbering between four and eight. Each dwarf in the pack adds one Wound Level to every member of the pack, up to a maximum of W8/I. As creatures are slain, collective Wound Levels are deducted until the standard W3/I is reached.
Weaknesses
Aversion to Sunlight
The hecesiiteihii are nocturnal creatures. When directly exposed to the rays of the sun, they suffer a –2 penalty on all their actions. This also denies them the use of Fly, Preternatural Quickness, and Strength of the Pack. Overcast days are more tolerable. All Special Abilities remain available, but actions are performed at a –1 penalty.
Crossing Running Water
Because of their size, cannibal dwarves fear rivers and streams, which are often too deep for them to cross. Their own “campfire tales” include horror stories of dwarves swept away by the current and helplessly trapped by rocks, only to be murdered by humans, or worse, slowly starving to death under daylight.
Gullibility
While not exactly stupid, cannibal dwarves are notoriously easy to deceive. Many stories about the hecesiiteihii feature a hero who tricks one into revealing the location of his organs, drowning in a stream, or becoming stranded during daylight. While this weakness is better suited to individual role-playing scenarios than precise game mechanics, the Marshal should keep in mind that the hecesiiteihii are especially susceptible to Persuasion.
Ravenous
The hecesiiteihii must consume raw meat to survive. If a cannibal dwarf does not devour his own body weight in warm flesh and blood each week, he suffers a Wound Level and a loss of one Vigor die each night until he gobbles his fill or perishes of starvation. Human flesh is particularly enticing, and if a hungry cannibal dwarf is exposed to a human being, he must make a Spirit roll or enter a feeding frenzy, attacking the human until one of them has been slain.
Voluntary Disembowelment
If a cannibal dwarf is killed with his heart and intestines inside his body, he is slain forever. If his disembodied heart and intestines are discovered and destroyed separately, he is also slain forever. For obvious reasons, the hecesiiteihii conceal these disembodied organs religiously, and protect them with every method available.
Variations
There are other creatures in Native American folklore similar in size to the hecesiiteihii, but considerably less nasty and grotesque. For instance, the gnome-like puckwudgie of the Algonquin people, the spritely jogah of the Iroquois, and the tree-dwelling chanotíla who visits the dreams of the Sioux. Like the hecesiiteihii, such beings fit comfortably into the universal folklore of “little people,” a global phenomenon that ranges from the bloodthirsty redcaps of Scotland to the peaceful menehune of Hawaii. Many anthropologists believe that such legends are preserved echoes of earlier races, people who originally inhabited the land before they were defeated by the ancestors of the dominant culture. Over time, memories of these displaced people transformed into mythology, often diminishing them in physical stature and bestowing them with magical powers over the land.
Other Role-Playing Systems
With some tweaking, cannibal dwarves can be readily adapted to other gaming milieus. In Call of Cthulhu, the hecesiiteihii may be cast as North American cousins of the “abominable Tcho-Tcho people,” a diminutive and hairless race that worships the reptilian god Lloigor. Described by the Comte d’Erlett in Cultes de Goules, they are said to have originated in the Basque region, and slowly migrated across the Himalayas to settle in Burma. In Vampire: The Masquerade, the hecesiiteihii make a delightfully horrifying bloodline of feral Gangrel. Their disembodied heart and intestines become a symbolic ritual carried out using human remains, while the creatures themselves reproduce by kidnapping and Embracing mortal children. The hecesiiteihii aversions to sunlight and running water are easily understood as vampiric limitations, while Fly and Preternatural Quickness neatly correspond to the Disciplines of Flight and Celerity.
Sources & Notes
The cannibal dwarves of Deadlands 1876 are based on Plains Indian folklore, but their primeval origin and vampiric life cycle are my own contributions. Part hobgoblin, part “hungry ghost,” the hecesiiteihii belong to the tradition of inbred degenerate cannibals common to tall tales and campfire stories all across the world. A staple of horror fiction, this fine tradition includes the “lost tribes” of bloodthirsty natives populating the rainforests of 70s Mondo cinema, the “queer folk” inhabiting the decaying churches and gambrel-roofed houses of Lovecraft’s New England, and of course, the chainsaw-wielding, cloven-hoofed hillbillies that snack upon lost teenagers in the splatterhouses of rural America. (Where I grew up, we told stories of the Watermelon Baby, a monstrous child-cannibal who stalked the Appalachian trail.) More recently, S. Craig Zahler’s film Bone Tomahawk depicts an ancient tribe of cannibals fearsome enough to spook the unflappable Kurt Russell. Although the film’s characters describe them as “cave dwellers” and “troglodytes,” the creatures have much in common with the hecesiiteihii, and the film is essential Deadlands viewing. (It also features the ever-reliable Zahn McClarnon, of Longmire and Westworld fame.)
Resources
The following online resources feature excellent notes on the hecesiiteihii and related legends: The Cannibal Dwarves entry on Native-Languages.org, Kathy Weiser-Alexander’s Teihiihan entry on Legends of America, and the Teihiihan entry on the Villains Wiki. I also made use of Bob Curran’s book, American Vampires: Their True Bloody History From New York to California. Those wishing to get their hands on Cannibal Dwarf miniatures need look no farther that Sally 4th!
Image Credits
The banner incorporates images of the famous San Pedro Mummy, discovered in Wyoming and believed to be the remains of an indigenous anencephalic infant interred in the early 1700s. This famous discovery has been used as “evidence” for cannibal dwarves and other creepy “little people” for nearly a century, so who am I to buck tradition?
Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 26 February 2019
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
PDF Version: [Coming Soon]