Matekai

[Sightings of this animal are regulated to EXPLICIT lore approved events.]

The Matekai stand hunched over at around 9ft with a shoulder width of 3ft. By and large, the creatures tend to weigh heavily, some Matekai found to stock nearly 600lbs. The creatures are tall and lithe - comparable to a gaunt polar bear given how they stand, but what is most noticeable about the creature is its head. With only a thin film of skin stretched across their skull, the Matekai show off their skeletal visage as an intimidation tactic. It can be difficult to spot, but the Matekai do in fact have eyes, and can see, though their vision remains limited and thus the creatures rely more heavily on their advanced hearing to locate prey. These creatures make excellent use of their long clawed "hands" when hunting, preferring to trap or disable their prey before lunging close to secure the kill with a bite. The Matekai can also be distinguished from a distance by their long elk-like horns.

Distribution

The Matekai are typically found in the frozen north, making the flat tundra and forests their home. They however are by no means a common sighting. The rarity of this creature has reduced it to a legend, and if a traveler as much as believes they glimpse a Matekai, it is often thought to be an omen of ill fate, and death close at hand.

Habitat

The Matekai are typically found in the frozen north, making the flat tundra and forests their home. Sometimes, they make their home in the darkest recesses of natural caves - only venturing out during the winter. These nest house juvenile Matekai and often corpses the creature has collected to stockpile for later.

Diet

The Matekai are known to feast on birds, foxes, wolves, elk, and bears - but, perhaps most worrying is that the Matekai are also famed man-eaters, and have been said to go out of their way to secure the luxury that is sentient flesh.

Relations

Territorial and predatory, the Matekai do not fare well with humanoids or other fauna as a whole - however a sated Matekai is reluctant to fight, and will only strike if provoked.

Mechanics

• Use their claws, teeth and horns to hunt.
• Capable trackers with a powerful sense of smell and keen hearing, their vision however is lacking.
• The head of a Matekai - alive or not - wards away animals; bears, moose, and other large beasts.
• Said to disappear in the spring months, though in reality they hide away in carefully hidden nests, they are much weaker in warm weather.

Material Properties

• The Matekai Skull is a powerful trophy, and can generally fit as a piece of head armor over most medium sized people. The skull is hard as plate, but does not absorb blows well. It is also extremely lightweight, as if it were made from gambeson.
• The Matekai skull can be used as a Powerful Idol compared to most mundane skulls.

Alchemical Properties

• Matekai blood is toxic to consume, and will kill plants if they are doused in it. Small doses will make a human nauseous, larger doses can contaminate the stomach and prove fatal. It is however difficult to use Matekai blood in poison given the liquid's pungent and telltale smell, which can only be described as putrid, like rotting flesh.
• If Matekai blood is purified, it can be used as a powerful steroid if injected into the blood that can cause extreme amounts of aggression, along with increased natural strength and supreme regenerating capabilities, even for fatal wounds. The common side effect of this is extreme exhaustion, and muscle atrophy, along with permanent intelligence loss.

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