Editing Icelus (section)

==The Witiko==

The Witiko, the ice wanderers of the far north, are among the oldest peoples of Icelus and their culture has changed little since the Emperor’s armies first reclaimed the planet. The Witiko are constant travellers, living together in small family units and fishing on the ice for years at a time. The Witiko follow a simplified though fairly non-controversial variation of the Imperial Creed wherein age begets authority. The eldest is the head of the family unit and the Emperor, as the oldest human, is the patriarch of humanity. 

The Witiko are master survivalists, able to live in arctic conditions with surprising ease. Though las-rifles and firearms have made their way into many of their hunters hands, a compound bow made of perforated wood from the northern forests remains their traditional weapon of choice, Often children of either gender will make a pilgrimage to the forests and carve themselves a fishing rod or bow as a rite of passage into adulthood. This teaches the child the importance of their tools, without which the Witiko would surely starve.

Though there is abundant life in the north it is not easy to hunt, swimming beneath ten feet of ice or hiding beneath the snow. Resources are scarce and in times of desperation some men will do the unthinkable to survive. This is known as the Wendigo Psychosis, a folk illness that has plagued humanity since before they began to explore the stars. In larger communities men and women who feel the cravings will submit themselves to the family elders for honourable execution but the disease seems to take hold later in life and many of those who fall victim to it are patriarchs themselves. Having consumed their families these gluttonous cannibals stalk the barren wastes with a desperate craving for human flesh.

It is from these madmen that Nana Wendigo takes her name. Hers is the cannibal family. The snake that eats its own tail. Icelus has starved for too long but now it will consume itself.