U’tlun’ta

U’tlun’ta

Region of origin: Cherokee tribal lands

A monstrous old woman who lived in the wilderness and mountains of what is now the southeastern United States and hunted the local population, U’tlun’ta’s most notable features were her stone skin, which was impervious to damage, and her long, knife- or awl-like index finger on her right hand, which she used to cut open victims and eat their livers. Her other abilities included shape-shifting, which she used to transform into people’s loved ones to lure them into her woods or gain access to their homes, and a magical control over stone; she could lift stones of any weight and fuse any two stones together. She used this latter ability to build a giant upward bridge to the sky, but her “Tree Rock” angered the deities in the upper realm for daring to approach them and it was struck with lightning and shattered it, scattering fragments across the region. Eventually tiring of U’tlun’ta preying on their community, a group of hunters set out to eliminate the creature. After being unable to harm her on their initial attempt, they were assisted by Tsïkïilï the chickadee and instructed to aim at her right palm where the knife-finger met her wrist, the one weak-spot in her otherwise impervious stone hide. When U’tlun’ta charged forward to slash at them with her claw, they landed an arrow in her wrist, killing her.

Originally posted on Tumblr on August 24, 2016