Yamush-Carn

Summary

Yamush-Carn is a female demon of the night that stalks the woods outside of encampments. She lures young orcs away from the horde to be her feast. She is also regarded as the reason for miscarriages and murderer of infants in their sleep.

After such events it is often rationalized that Yamush-Carn foresaw such child becoming a detriment to their horde, a gruesome but necessary evaluation in the eyes of the Carmun Orcs

Historical Basis

Scholars did not have to look far to find the connection between Carmun ordering the abduction of young from the Rohun Orcs and the female antagonist that preys upon lost children and spits out their bones.

Variations & Mutation

Evidence suggests that Yamush-Carn started as a solely vile creature. These early legends mixed with those of the Mother of Beasts, Lamaštu worshipped by both Gnolls and Bugbears. From these Yamush-Carn became a demon of punishment that would only attack orc children that went against their hordes and mothers.

Cultural Reception

Pregnant women among the Carmun Orcs will begin offering reassurance to Yamush-Carn throughout their pregnancies and until the end of the child's 13th moon. These reassurances are a pact offered by the mother that their offspring will be an upstanding horde member so that Yamush-Carn will stay away.

In Art

A totem of depicting Yamush-Carn is commonly erected outside the encampment of expectant orc mothers. This is where she will offer her reassurances and, if the child does not survive, is where the body is laid that Yamush-Carn can finish her grim task.

Related Ethnicities