the
Qikiqtani Inuit Association. Accessed at Inuit Mythology here
[There’s someone jolly up at the North Pole, and it ain’t Santa.]
Mahaha
An emaciated man stands before you, his skin an icy
blue. Long black hair whips in front of his face. His fingers end in long
claws, which he wiggles in your direction as his face twists into a rictus of
mirth.
Teamwork and cooperation are vital to survival in the
arctic wastes and those that neglect to save others due to laziness or frivolity
are punished by the gods. Mahahas are the undead
remains of those that shirked their duties in the frozen lands and in so doing
caused others to die.
A mahaha embodies the spirit of malicious mirth.
Their touch spreads laughter even as it drains life force, and the victims of a
mahaha are found with a smile permanently etched into their faces.
Despite their sloth in life,
mahahas are quite diligent in death, filling the icy slopes they call home with
all manner of cunning traps carved from ice and stone. A mahaha will always
attempt to divide up groups of travelers via traps and spell-like abilities in
order to drain life with their tickling touch. Only if these means fail will a
mahaha engage in traditional combat, but their claws and teeth are more than
capable of killing in a mundane way. Although mahahas are cunning, they are
quite foolish and are easily tricked, as well as being notoriously poor
swimmers. More than one brave soul has been saved from a mahaha by asking for
one last drink of water before his death, then pushing the mahaha into an icy
river and letting the current carry it away.
Mahahas are native to the wilds of Senksen, and are especially common in the mountains that mark the northern edge of the umbral dragon’s territory. Sightings of them have increased noticeably in the years since the umbral dragons took over Senksen.
Shores of Swords 