Kunenhráyenhnenh
- At January 15, 2018
- By Great Quail
- In Bestiary, Deadlands
0
There were many evil spirits and terrible monsters that hid in the mountain caves when the sun shone, but came out to vex and plague the red men when storms swept the earth or when there was darkness in the forest. Among them was a Flying Head which, when it rested upon the ground, was higher than the tallest man. It was covered with a thick coating of hair that shielded it from the stroke of arrows. The face was very dark and angry, filled with great wrinkles and horrid furrows. Long black wings came out of its sides, and when it rushed through the air mournful sounds assailed the ears of the frightened men and women. On its underside were two long, sharp claws, with which it tore its food and attacked its victims. The Flying Head came offenest to frighten the women and children. It came at night to the homes of the widows and orphans, and beat its angry wings upon the walls of their houses and uttered fearful cries in an unknown tongue. Then it went away, and in a few days death followed and took one of the little family with him. The maiden to whom the Flying Head appeared never heard the words of a husband’s wooing or the prattle of a papoose, for a pestilence came upon her and she soon sickened and died.
—Told by the Seneca Chief Kaiiontwa’ko, or “Cornplanter.”
Kunenhráyenhnenh Statistics
AGL d8, SMT d6, SPR d8, STR d8, VIG d8, PAR 6, TGH 6, Wounds: 3/I*. Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d8, Spellcasting d8. Attack: Bite, 2d8; Claw x2, d6+d8 STR. Special Abilities: Demonic Immunity, Fear, Howl, Pestilence, Whirlwind. Weaknesses: Cannibalism*, Hot Coals, Lightning.
Description
Commonly known as a “Flying Head,” a Kunenhráyenhnenh is an Iroquois demon created through a savage act of murder or cannibalism. Appearing as a monstrous head with burning eyes, the creature flies through the air seeking human flesh to devour. Because it has no body, the demon’s hunger can never be satisfied, and a Kunenhráyenhnenh preys upon the innocent until driven away or slain.
The appearance of a Flying Head varies widely from tribe to tribe. Some Kunenhráyenhnenh fly using magical powers, others ride upon a whirlwind, while some sprout the wings of owls, bats, or hawks. The creature is usually equipped with a pair of terrible claws, and may use these to hobble along on the ground, hop like a frog, or even leap like a grasshopper. A Flying Head may be covered by a mane of shaggy fur, or it may emerge from a cloud of writhing hair, which trails behind the creature like a tangled comet. A Kunenhráyenhnenh may be male or female, beautiful or monstrous; it may wear a fearsome mask or appear as a flaming skull. In many stories the head gibbers, mutters, or shrieks in an unknown language as it hunts its prey.
Origins
In Deadlands 1876, a Kunenhráyenhnenh is created by an accursed act; whether a shaman uses “bad medicine” to take vengeance upon a murderer, a cannibal goes to his grave unrepentant, or a righteous man is wrongfully beheaded. The Kunenhráyenhnenh may burst forth from the grave, or detach itself directly from its accursed human progenitor. In some legends, a Kunenhráyenhnenh may only be created if the malefactor is drowned, and emerges from the water upon a pillar of bubbling slime.
Nomenclature
Also known Big Heads or Whirlwind Heads, Flying Heads reflect the Native American taboo against cannibalism, similar to the Wínyan Núpa and Rolling Heads of the Plains Indians, or the famous Wendigo of the Algonquian. “Kunenhráyenhnenh” (or just Kunenhrayenhnenh) is the Tuscarora name for the monster, and is pronounced “Kwennen-KHRAH-yennen.” The Mohawk refer to it as “Onón:tsi káties,” usually rendered as “Kanontsistónties.” The Seneca story of the Daughter of the Whirlwind, or “Dagwanoenyent,” is also associated with the legend.
Special Abilities
Demonic Immunity: A Kunenhráyenhnenh cannot be Shaken, and is immune to Fear, Intimidation, and all poisons and disease.
Fear: Anyone laying eyes upon a Kunenhráyenhnenh for the first time is automatically Shaken.
Howl: Following a successful Spellcasting roll, a Kunenhráyenhnenh may emit a terrible howl. Any creature within hearing distance must make a Spirit roll vs. TN-8, or TN-10 if the Flying Head gets a raise. A failed Spirit roll results in the target being Shaken, and must make a Fear check or be subjected to the Fright table.
Pestilence: Anyone exposed to a Kunenhráyenhnenh must make a Vigor roll vs. TN-4. A failure brings a sickness that lasts 2d6 days and reduces Strength, Agility, and Vigor by one die each. A critical failure brings a two dice reduction to each of these traits. If any of these reductions reduces a trait to zero, a Spirit roll must be made, or the victim dies.
Whirlwind: Following a successful Spellcasting roll, a Kunenhráyenhnenh may call up a whirlwind. This creates a roaring funnel of wind centered on the creature, lasting one round per success/raise. Anyone caught in this Medium Burst Template must make a Strength roll or be knocked back, losing their next action round. Additionally, anyone attacking the Flying Head receives a –4 penalty to the Attack roll until the whirlwind dissipates.
Weaknesses
One night a widow sat alone in her cabin. From a little fire burning near the door she frequently drew roasted acorns and ate them for her evening meal. She did not see the Flying Head grinning at her from the doorway, for her eyes were deep in the coals and her thoughts upon the scenes of happiness in which she dwelt before her husband and children had gone away to the long home. The Flying Head stealthily reached forth one of its long claws and snatched some of the coals of fire and thrust them into its mouth—for it thought that these were what the woman was eating. With a howl of pain it flew away, and the red men were never afterwards troubled by its visits.
—Told by the Seneca Chief Kaiiontwa’ko, or “Cornplanter.”
Cannibalism
A Kunenhráyenhnenh must eat human flesh to survive. Every week human flesh is not consumed, the Flying Head loses a Wound Level. If it reaches Incapacitation, the creature dies. The monster may also consume more flesh than is strictly necessary, and for every additional corpse devoured, it gains an extra Wound Level, up to a maximum of 6/I.
Hot Coals
In many Iroquois stories, a Flying Head is defeated by forcing it to eat a hot coal or glowing ember. Whether tossed into its mouth inadvertently or being tricked into devouring the coal, the monster immediately retreats, and is occasionally slain. For the purposes of Deadlands, if such a feat is accomplished, the creature takes 6d6 DAM and must roll Vigor vs. TN-4. A failure forces the Kunenhráyenhnenh to flee the area and never trouble the victors again.
Lightning
Like most evil beings from Iroquois lore, Flying Heads are afraid of lightning, the power wielded by the Thunder God Heynuh. Seeing lightning forces a Kunenhráyenhnenh to make a Spirit roll or flee the area. Any attack involving electricity does an additional 1d6 DAM to a Flying Head.
Variations
In the world of Deadlands 1876, a Flying Head may be conjured by a human being. Such an act creates a “Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh,” which combines the properties of the mythological creature with that of a corpse golem from the standard Savage Worlds rules.
Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh
AGL d8, SMT d6, SPR d10, STR d10, VIG d10, PAR 7, TGH 7, Wounds: 6/I. Skills: Fighting d10, Notice d8, Spellcasting d10. Attack: Bite, 2d8; Claw x2, d6+d10 STR. Special Abilities: Demonic Immunity, Fear, Howl, Whirlwind. Weakness: Lightning.
This powerful variant of the Flying Head is a full-fledged abomination, and is created using the dark magic of a potential Deadlands. Any site of recent carnage will suffice, as the creature requires a large number of human corpses to manifest. A battlefield is perfect, but the site of a mass execution or a sufficiently large human sacrifice may also serve. Through the power of an unspeakable ritual, the shaman summons the latent power of the Deadlands and incorporates it into the mass of corpses. This unburied flesh provides the raw material for the body of the Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh, which is bound to serve the shaman for a period of time equal to one hour for each corpse, up to the limit of the shaman’s maximum Power Points.
For example, the Seneca shaman Oshagonondagie, also known as Joshua Destroy Town, wishes to enact vengeance upon the men who massacred his village. He has 12 Power Points. Descending into a spiral of grief and rage, the medicine man consults the forbidden rituals of the False Face Company and invokes the terrible power of Dagwanoenyent, the Whirlwind Spirit. The ritual is successful, and Oshagonondagie invests all of his Power Points into the being. A dozen corpses rise from the dead and fuse together into a Flying Head, which is bound to Oshagonondagie for twelve hours. Knowing he has imperiled his mortal soul, Joshua Destroy Town dispatches the abomination to ravage his enemies.
The following account details the creation of a Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh, and is taken from the report of the 42nd Regulators, a Bureau Six unit attached to Union Blue Security and investigating a supernatural occurrence near Niagara Falls. The group encountered the creature below the decks of a derelict monitor, the scene of a mass slaughter. The abomination was conjured against them by a fallen Tuscarora shaman named Cho:nátkehaswayéyé, known as “Dr. Chuck Kenway” among the Regulators.
- The mess hall was the scene of a fresh horror. The tables and chairs had been removed from the chamber, creating a wide space with a low ceiling. In the center of the enclosure was Lt. Shrike’s missing ‘Grimsby’. We found the poor wretch upon his back, writhing in agony and sprawled atop of a pile of human bodies—men godlessly stripped bare, perhaps dozens of them. Like the sailors in the engine room, they were missing their bones, skulls, and teeth. The unfortunate redcoat—as we discovered later, one Sergeant Felix McGuire of Grimsby proper—was himself unclothed, his soiled uniform torn from his body and discarded in tatters. He was clutching his swollen stomach, which was distended to a horrific degree, as if the good sergeant were gravid with twins. His mouth was crimson with blood. The man seemed mindless in his torment, surrounded by castaway body parts he’d been forced to consume by the dark magic of Dr. Kenway.
- It was clear McGuire had been awaiting our arrival. As soon as we had absorbed the grisly scene, the sergeant bellowed in pain and his belly burst open. Emerging from his ruptured abdomen was a terrible creature, a demon born from devoured flesh and ensouled by Dr. Kenway’s magic. The thing was difficult to describe—part gore, part shadow, it rose to the ceiling and exploded in a spasm of tentacles, venting its strange form into the pile of corpses. Animated by this supernatural power, the remains discorporated with a shocking violence. Hands detached from wrists, limbs were wrenched from torsos, and entire faces exploded into individual components. These scattered fragments then migrated together, like upon like: a nauseating stream of rolling eyeballs, wriggling torsos, and scurrying hands. As we watched stupefied, they assembled themselves into a single being, a preposterously large head nearly the size of a grown man! Its hair was a tangled mane of scalps, its compound eyes whirled with a myriad of colors; even its crooked nose and elephantine ears were cobbled together from dozens of human noses and ears. As its tortured flesh drew together into a whole, the massive head heaved itself upwards upon a pair of limbs knit from the discarded hands and feet of the slain sailors. As a final horror, a pair of bat-like wings unfurled from the head, their membranous tissue pulled from the torsos of the fallen, every finger jointed to a splay of conjoined spines.
- As this monstrous form took shape, our Indian guide ejaculated a string of syllables in the indecipherable language of his people. At first, we took this to be a form of imprecation or perhaps prayer; but we later discovered he had uttered the word ‘Kunenhrayenhnenh,’ the name for the so-called ‘Flying Head’ of Tuscarora legend. Whether drawn from pagan mythology or not, this patchwork monster was unlike anything we had ever encountered. Once the creature was fully formed, its dazzling eyes spilled forth a cold, blue fire, not unlike that produced by burning ghost rock. The monster moved towards us, unleashing a whirlwind that whipped up a bloody mist and sent hundreds of human teeth rattling against our flesh like so many hailstones.
—Excerpted from “42nd Regulators U.S.S. Niagara Report, June 22, 1876.”
Unlike the standard Flying Head, the Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh does not have the Cannibalism or Hot Coals Weaknesses, but is subjected to the Savage Worlds Banish power.
Sources & Notes
The Flying Head is a common Iroquois legend, and appears in numerous Native American ghost stories. The Savage Worlds Horror Companion also features the Flying Head, but this Deadlands 1876 version is significantly more detailed. The “Greater Kunenhráyenhnenh” is an invention for the Deadlands milieu, and combines the Iroquois myth with the standard horror trope of the “corpse golem.” By adapting this legendary being into game terms, I mean no disrespect for the folklore of the Iroquois, which has produced many colorful and diabolical monsters just waiting to get their claws into meddling adventurers!
The following resources were instrumental in researching the Flying Head monster: When the Chenoo Howls by Joseph Bruchac, Seneca Myths and Folk Tales by Arthur C. Parker, the Flying Head entry on the ever-reliable Native-Languages.org site, which is also the source of the Cornplanter story; the article on the Dagwanoenyent legend on Delirium’s Realm, “Monster of the Week: Kanontsistonties” by Octavio Ramos, and “Legend of Lake Sacandaga” by Aaron Weaver.
The banner image incorporates a woodcut by the multi-talented Alma Sheppard-Matsuo. The original may be found on her Etsy page—indeed, I bought a print myself! A black-and-white sketch of the Flying Head by H. Kyoht Luterman may be found on his DeviantArt page. A pretty cool figurine of a Flying Head was sculpted by Crucible Crush Miniatures, and may be found on the Flint & Feather page.
Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 29 March 2018
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
PDF Version: Deadlands Bestiary – Kunenhráyenhnenh