Maiko's Note
The first time Keith spotted an Enduvijara, he thought it was a hallucination. I don’t blame him. The creature didn’t run - it melted backward into the mist like memory escaping thought.
He never hit one on his first attempt. Few do.
I once tracked three through the mist for half a klick. Then they were gone. No sound. No broken branches. Just a feeling in the air that something had left.
Hunters don’t chase the Enduvijara. They listen for the places it’s no longer there.
Moving with the Mist
Shindjal: Enduvijara
Faction:
Mama Gadun
“Enduvijarai jen ulei te endun vu baodjan.”
“The Enduvijara walk like the mist in the forest.”
— Endrek, apprentice of the Shint’twalàni
1. Overview
The Enduvijara is a mist-woven herbivore native to the ancient forests of Endudjan and parts of Muruldjan. Revered by the Endulani for its silent grace and elusive presence, it is considered sacred prey - never taken lightly, always thanked. The creature’s form is elegant, its movements ethereal, and its role in the ecosystem vital. For the Endulani, to hunt the Enduvijara is to walk the breath of Madun itself.
2. Origins & Background
The Enduvijara evolved as part of the mist-rich environments of Madun’s northern forests, perfectly adapted to glide through undergrowth and vanish in vapor.
In the southern region of Muruldjan, the Enduvijara lives in symbiosis with the land, feeding on parasitic organisms that attack the core flora. These areas form interconnected root-ecologies, and the Enduvijara acts as a vital balancing force - cleansing what the trees themselves cannot reject.
3. Appearance
Size: Comparable to a small elk, but lighter in frame
Skin: Smooth, bark-like, streaked in shifting hues of moss green, fog-grey, and soft brown. Colors subtly change with the light and angle of mist
Head: A pale, triangular bone faceplate with six obsidian eyes in vertical rows. Beneath it drift fine, hair-like tendrils that sense air pressure and motion
Limbs: Four long, digit-ended legs resembling root bundles, allowing utterly silent movement
Tail: Ribboned, ending in shimmering filaments that respond to airflow and emotion
Sexual Dimorphism:
Males are taller and leaner, with sharper facial ridges and brighter tail filaments used for mating displays. A bluish iridescence appears along their spine during mating season.
Females are smaller, with duller faceplates and denser hides, ideal for caretaking and camouflage while raising young.
4. Behavior
Enduvijarai live in small matrilineal family groups, typically composed of several adult females and their offspring.
Males live solitarily, wandering between groups and contributing to reproduction during brief seasonal encounters.
Offspring mature slowly and remain close to their mothers for many cycles
They never move in straight lines, always weaving through terrain in fluid, unpredictable patterns
When one individual is alarmed, it emits a non-audible signal, likely infrasonic or bio-electrical, that alerts all Enduvijarai within range.
Human hunters often fail to notice that they have spooked an entire region’s prey
Grazes on fungal plumes, lichen, and tree-sap - especially from the Veltheran tree species
In Muruldjan, prefers parasite colonies that threaten symbiotic forest roots
5. Ecology & Distribution
The Enduvijara is found primarily in Endudjan, but also roams parts of Muruldjan, particularly in groves where flora form interconnected biosystems.
In Endudjan, it fills the role of high-alert prey - silent, vigilant, and difficult to stalk
In Muruldjan, it fulfills a more active ecological role, preventing parasitic overgrowth and supporting forest balance
Its migration patterns are faint but cyclical, believed to follow changes in moisture, fungal bloom density, and predator behavior
Its natural predator is the terrifying Muruhal, which ambushes its prey from above
6. Cultural Role
The Enduvijara is hunted only with reverence, its flesh shared communally, its remains used in ritual.
Coming of Age: A youth becomes a hunter when they silently stalk and fell an Enduvijara without being noticed
Mist Glands are dried and used in ceremonies to invoke the memory of breath and the presence of Sulmalàn
Tail Filaments are braided into mourning jewelry, believed to carry echoes of breath and memory
Skins are sewn into forest cloaks or wrapping bundles for ritual tools
Barandun Ritual – “To Feed is to Remember”
During the sacred festival of Barandun, Endulani shamans wear Enduvijara skulls as ceremonial masks to honor both Madun and the Enduvijara itself.
The skulls are left unadorned, worn with mist-wrapped robes
At dawn, shamans emerge from the forest to recite the names of all Enduvijarai taken that year, offering gratitude to the forest
This act binds the hunters, the hunted, and the world that feeds them into one cycle of respect
7. Myth & Symbolism
The Enduvijara is not only an animal—it is a symbol of ephemeral wisdom and wordless knowing.
Often called “the breath of the forest made flesh”
Appears in many fables as a guide between worlds, especially in tales where mist is seen as the veil between life and memory
The Shint’twalàni teach that those who dream of the Enduvijara should follow it—but never try to catch it
Some Endulani elders believe that certain Enduvijarai are reincarnated souls of those who died with unfinished thoughts
Maiko's Note
The first time Keith spotted an Enduvijara, he thought it was a hallucination. I don’t blame him. The creature didn’t run - it melted backward into the mist like memory escaping thought.
He never hit one on his first attempt. Few do.
I once tracked three through the mist for half a klick. Then they were gone. No sound. No broken branches. Just a feeling in the air that something had left.
Hunters don’t chase the Enduvijara. They listen for the places it’s no longer there.
