Based on native folklore of a number of First Nations Algonquian tribes, Crypt TV’s mordeo is a modern day rendition of the the legendary North American monster known as the wendigo. According to the mythology, humans could become possessed by an evil spirit, either through greed or more likely, a lack of food. Under such duress, if a person resorts to consuming the flesh of another, thereby becoming a cannibal, they the risk of being transformed into a dreaded wendigo.
Much like the original legends, Crypt TV’s mordeos come about after feasting on the flesh of the living. Once transformed, the creatures stalk the living, either to consume them or to transform them into more their kind. Worshipped by those who crave their power, not everyone who partakes of flesh becomes a mordeo. Along with this selective picking of new members, the creatures of the Youtube series possess a reverence for a Queen as well as a ritualized method of hunting their prey, which they call the Blood Hunt.
While not as deadly in a typical D&D setting compared to other supernatural monsters, the threat of the mordeo curse, much like lycanthropy, presents a particularly nasty fate for player characters, especially those lost in the wilderness. When survival checks start to add up, corpses might suddenly start to look more and more appealing, and offer a perfect way to introduce the mordeo…
