Sketch drawn by an eye witness.
“As I looked at it… it kind of looked a minute like an ape. And then I looked at the head and the head was very big and it was a very weird head It had bright green eyes and the eyes just glowed like, they were just looking exactly at me.” – Abby Brabham, eyewitness, 1977.
Pukwudgie is but one of the many names for the original inhabitants of what would become the Eastern United States. Pukwudgie is the name the race is most commonly known as, borrowed from the Wampanoag tribe of New England. In the South, Native tribes referred to them as the Moon-Eyed People.
Though they have the rough-shape of humans, the Pukwudgie are not human, having evolved from species of which they have no relatives extant on this Earth, and which is unknown to the fossil record. The race is native to the planet, but are aware of the Great Old Ones. Each community worships individual Great Old Ones as patron deities.
Native American tribes migrating into the continent found the rites of the Pukwudgie abhorrent and came into conflict with the beings, driving them into the far-flung wilds. Colonists from Europe were quick to avoid the deep-mountains and overgrown hollows. In the intervening centuries, the Pukwudgie have become all but forgotten. Since the early twentieth century, however, civilization has been ever encroaching into the territory of the Pukwudgie. Rarely do such intrusions end well for humans.
Pukwudgie prefer to be forgotten. On occasion, a Pukwudgie may be sighted wandering between their isolated communities. Those seen prefer to hide or run away. Humans who venture too close to the Pukwudgies’ secret homes are never allowed to leave in peace. Some are felled with poisoned arrows. Others are harried off the edge of cliffs. An unfortunate few are snatched away to be offered up as sacrifices. Those who escape are foolish to believe they are safe; the Pukwudgie are not afraid to follow someone into civilization and attack them in their home.
Some rural communities near Pukwudgie are able to bargain with the creatures, being allowed to live in peace, given they provide regular sacrifices, be it in livestock, pets or people. But that peace is a relative term, the community will be forever in fear of the capricious and impatient beings. A minor slight or misunderstanding is enough to provoke the Pukwudgie into a rampage.
Pukwudgie, the Forgotten.
STR 3d6 11-12
CON 3d6 11-12
SIZ 2d6 7
INT 3d6 10-11
POW 3d6 10-11
DEX 3d6 10-11
Mov 6 HP 8 – 9
Av. Damage Bonus: +0
Weapons: Poison Arrow 40%, 1d4 + poison (POT 5)
Stone Dagger 40%, 1d6 + db
Armor: None.
Spells: Priests among the Pukwudgie will know whatever spells the Keeper feels appropriate.
Skills: Hide 90%, Sneak 90%, Lead Astray 70% (Pukwudgies will use this skill to trick a person into falling off a cliff)
Sanity Loss: 1/1d10 to see a Pukwudgie.
Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast
