Basic Information
Tornits are a "tribe" of large, strong people encountered in Inuit Mythology. They were much taller and stronger than the Inuit and could lift large boulders over their head with ease, but had poorer eyesight. They lived in stone houses throughout the winter, and some of these still remain today.
They were unable to build kayaks and occasionally stole them from the Inuit. Eventually, this enraged a young man so much that he killed the thief in his sleep. After this, the Tornit feared the growing dislike of the Inuit and departed inland, away from other people. But they are still said to haunt the hinterlands of the northern wilds. Possibly they are related to the sasquatch.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- If the PCs are on an expedition to the far North, they might get harassed by a thief at night. And they might be rather surprised at the identity of the thief…
- For a more mundane campaign, this could be a folk memory of contact between the Eskimo and early Norse settlers. Certainly the Norse would be expected to be generally bigger than the locals and the lifting of rocks and boulders was a popular sport (and probably display technique) amongst the Norse. In addition, the eskimo kayak was probably superior to most small boats available to the settlers and migth well have been stolen.