#amikuk

            An amikuk is roughly a meter long and a meter wide in legspan, appearing most like an oval, heavily-wrinkled blob of flesh with a many-eyed and wide-mouthed face. It has four limbs, all of which resemble humanoid arms, which gives it a wobbling, awkward yet swift spider-like gait. It is unusually strong for its size, likely owing to a feature of its musculature that includes a number of rigid bony struts protruding from its pectoral, trapezius, tricep and bicep tendons which enable more muscle fiber connections than in a normal animal and thus greatest muscular strength. However, the monstrous creatures is noted by Sostunian warriors and rangers to have a fairly low endurance, and if fought off aggressively from an area for longer than a half hour will retreat and not return for long periods. This generally renders all permanent and semi-permanent summer fishing and winter whaling settlements relatively safe from amikuk attack within about a quarter mile. It is not currently known how amikuk reproduce their numbers—though some theories by leading mages on the subject include the possibility of budding, a froglike reproduction in the shallow cold seas they inhabit, or a viviparous emission of several parthenogenic close offspring at a time. In any case, amikuk encounters are sporadic and rare in this day and age.

Skeptical Theory: Misidentified Giant Squid

A-mi’-kuk #Amikuk #Ămikuk #Ämikuk Kayakers in the cold seas of the Arctic Circle are the A-mi’-kuk’s favorite prey. The last thing they see are the a-mi’-kuk’s prehensile tentacles exploding from under the surface and wrapping around them, dragging both kayaker and boat under. The a-mi’-kuk is large, leathery-skinned, and slimy. Its four long tentacular arms are used for seizing prey and swimming rapidly through the water. There is no escaping it – it will follow prey taking refuge on ice by swimming below it and bursting out onto the surface. Making for land is equally futile, as the a-mi’-kuk can swim through the earth with as much ease as it does through water. A-mi’-kuks around St. Michael, Alaska, are known to migrate underground to inland lakes. The presence of one is a good sign for the lake. When an a-mi’-kuk leaves its lake, the channel it digs drains it dry, but when it returns the sea returns with it. Nelson proposed the octopus as the origin of the a-mi’-kuk. He also gives ä-mi’-kuk as the name of the sea otter; what bearing this has on the legendary creature is unknown. Nelson, E. W. (1887) Report upon Natural History Collections Made in Alaska Between the Years 1877 and 1881. Arctic Series of Publications Issued in Connection with the Signal Service, Government Printing Office, Washington. Nelson, E. W. (1900) The Eskimo about Bering Strait. Extract from the Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Government Printing Office, Washington.

A-Mi-Kuk  #AMiKuk A-Mi-Kuk is a legendary creature from Inuit mythology. This monster is known from the Bering strait of Alaska. A-Mi-Kuk is described as a huge and heavy creature with slimy moist skin, and instead of legs this creature has four human like arms and hands, which it uses both to walk upon and to capture its prey. It is also said to be capable of burrowing underground and emerge in inland lakes. Supposedly, it preys mostly on fishermen and people foolish enough to bathe in the sea, but have also been said to consume large quantities of fish and saltwater birds.

NOTE: The picture in the link is closest to the version in Mythika, but it has a strange look when I post it here, becomes really thin. Amikuk behave much like the Barnacles from Halflife games, the ceiling tentacle enemies.

'Amikuk' is a creature of ancient Yup'ik legend described as “a spirit that lives in the ground." He comes out at times but leaves behind no hole. He sometimes dislikes men and will jump through them, but leaves no mark. The man then lies down and dies.” Amikuk is depicted as a mask with similar imagery as the one posted above in many yup'ik cultures. The 'teeth' serve as a reminder “to use our gifts for good effect, or they will consume us later in life,” . Similar to a wind chime, the objects that hang from the bottom of the mask ward off evil spirits with their sound. Amikuk Yup'ik Mask by Phillip Charette