//------------------------------// // (Rubrum Report) Windego 1 // Story: The Unique Properties of Dark Magic // by Shadestyle //------------------------------// Windigo. They aren't like I expected them to be. Though, considering just how little information there was on them, I shouldn't be surprised. I should be cautious. We'll start with their leader. Queen Cold. In spite of her adorable new form, she is the one that terrifies me the most. That's at least part of why I changed my mind and consigned her to that body on a permanent basis. I can tell she's old. Old and intelligent, in the way only two others I've met have been so far. That kind of intelligence... I have to believe that I can outwit her, or there's really no point, is there? I've started with what I can. Despite her attempts to test me, I have proven to her without a doubt that turning on me completely would be the last thing she ever does. And with her new body, attempting to incite the Windigo into a state where they are ready to fight would prove troublesome. Sure, her new form might afford her sleep and comfort, but it also makes her seem ridiculous from a leadership standpoint. What is even more important is that it makes her appear vulnerable. I was the one who made the decision, and she was the one who had to submit to it. For a single minor act of defiance, she's been consigned to a state that is in nearly all ways weaker than her original one. That's not the sort of thing that can be ignored, even among her people. So I've got the Stick. Just as the stick is extremely pointy, and I've taken the time to wave it around, the carrot is one I've made sure to pluck fresh and cook sweetly. The Kingdom Heart. Truthfully, based on recent scans, the Kingdom Heart couldn't be better. The Windigo's feeding has served to offload a great deal of magical strain that had been building inside the relic. Like scavengers, the Windigo scraping the surface of the Kingdom Heart has mostly served to remove the detritus, without impacting the core hatred of Sombra that keeps it functional. I'm unsure if they are doing it intentionally or not, but for every bit of nourishment they obtain from it, they are improving the efficiency of the Shadow Realm in turn. Without the vague, various types of idle hatred that were previously cluttering it up, the Kingdom Heart has begun allowing things such as small animals and some byproducts to exist within the Shadow Realm's borders. The ability of the Windigo to consume hate is not strictly limited to hatred, either. Hate is simply the emotion from which they derive the most nourishment. I've since commissioning a few of them to begin gathering other emotions for experimentation. While all spells inherently use emotion, the energy in a more raw form can be used for a variety of purposes itself. The most noteworthy among them being it's mutagenic properties when applied to organisms which lack sapience or sentience. As for their demeanor, based on the survey reports I've gotten so far from the Arcana Liber, Windigo take to life with idle observation and curiosity. Lacking the ability to experience hatred on their own, Windigo can be extremely aimless and without motivation in some circumstances. And in other circumstances, they can be, pardon the pun, coldly logical. Even Queen Cold herself held no ill will when she attempted to sabotage me. Her desires were purely borne from the desire to aid the other Windigo. This brings me to the next topic, the method by which Windigo come into being. Based on the facts I have been given, there are two types of Windigo. Those that are born, and those that are made. Windigo which are born are every bit the healthy, adjusted individual you would expect. A mommy Windigo and a daddy Windigo come together to create a babby Windigo. Life finds a way. The resulting entity is a living thing born into the other side of life and death. A thing which feels no hate, and whose stomach hungers for it, consuming it as simple fuel to sustain themselves. Windigo which are made, however, are different. When a pony is consumed with hatred and the desire for vengeance, there can be only three possible results. They satisfy their revenge and are left mostly unaffected by the experience. They overcome their hatred, and return to what they once were, forgiving, or at least no longer pursuing the target of their hate. And the third option. Whether they succeed or fail, their hatred cannot end. It grows, flaring out of control. The key to this third option is dissatisfaction and restlessness. A pony who fulfills or fails to fulfill their vengeance can be dissatisfied with the results. Even though they have fulfilled their goal, their hatred does not cease. They begin to lose sleep, obsessing over other potential targets to turn on. Finally, whether by nature or violence, the pony dies. Their spirit becomes Restless, with a capital "R". Quite literally unable to sleep, as spirits are apparently supposed to do, the exhaustion and hatred overwhelm them, until they lose the ability to hate altogether, and must consume the hatred of others in order to regain their vitality and awareness. Without the ability to sleep, only a steady influx of hatred can allow them to keep their mind and stave off the pain and misery of what could be days to centuries of sleeplessness. I have no doubt that this state is a nightmarish one, considering that the effects of sleep-deprivation even among the living, can be qualified as a form of torture. It is all the more thankful, then, that a Windigo inhabiting a living body regains the ability to sleep. And I hold the only source of soulless living bodies on the planet, as far as I know. Every Windigo born from a hateful spirit would do anything to relieve that burden. Whether or not they fall in line, I'm not going to deny them that. While it does give me a distinct advantage in negotiating with them and their leader, I would lose sleep at night if I started denying even a single Windigo theirs.