Yardie

True Name: ???
Current Name: Boneyard
Nicknames: Yardie

Type of Spirit: Yōkai
YKW Canon: Eerie tribe, Ice attribute

Physical Form: canis lupus x familiaris, Wolfdog
Height: 2’6” (at the shoulder)
Weight: 75 lb

Sex: DFAB, rendered null by death
Gender: Broadly feminine; uses any pronouns
Preferred Terms:
Dude, guy, bro (casual)
Prince, lord, hunter (titles)
Mother, sister, aunt, wife (familial)

Locale: Idavollr (Alfheim)
Allegiance: --
Held Rank: --
Previously: Hunter of Alpha North's 'Dry Lake Pack'

Normal Form:
• Black furred, except for white head+neck and tip of tail
• Pitch-black eyes like vast empty voids (no whites showing)
• Oddly hand-like, highly dexterous front paws
• Can stand up and walk on hind legs, but prefers not to

Telepathic Speech
Boneyard lacks a human voicebox and thus 'speaks' via telepathy (even when disguised), sending any thought of theirs directly into the mind of another at will. The intended target/s will hear this as a thought in their own mind, but will be able to recognise that the 'voice' attached is someone else's. This telepathy is very much one-way in its function, so Boneyard will not be able to read someone else's thoughts unbidden.

Ghostfire
Despite the name, this flame-like energy doesn't burn- it freezes. It begins as glittering 'embers' of gathered moisture in the air. These then 'combust' into ghostfire when one contacts something warmer than itself. Warmth is quickly siphoned away from whatever it touches, leaving only agonisingly frozen cold in its wake. Direct skin contact is known to cause permanent nerve and tissue damage akin to frostbite.

Inspiriting
A minor form of possession that any yōkai might perform, trading their physical form for an incorporeal one for the duration. Inspiriting doesn't tear away control of the target's body- it instead alters some aspect of their mind, influencing both mood and behaviour in the process.

Those inspirited by Boneyard will feel like they are always cold no matter what they do, and any feeling of resentment they may be hiding from the world will be magnified steadily to the point of boiling over.

Shapeshifting
Shapeshifting is not an innate power for Boneyard, and can only be achieved by way of a specially enchanted leaf borrowed from the spirit realm. When worn on the head, this leaf's power enacts a glamour- disguising them as a human. Removal of the leaf (generally only visible to other yōkai when in use) will instantly dispel the illusion and reveal their normal form.

Mood Music:
♪ Andreas Makusev - Ice Cavern (Piano Cover)

Applicable Tropes:
• Beware of Vicious Dog / Savage Wolves:
In their previous life they were a wolfdog bred specifically in an attempt to create a super dogfighting killing machine. This inner nature sometimes still emerges even though they now prefer to fight with magic.
• Murder Into Malevolence:
A pet killed by a neglectful owner, turned revenant who feeds off resentment. Everyone is fair game.
• It's All About Me:
The entire universe revolves around them and their needs, to the detriment of everyone and everything else.
• I Gave My Word:
... unless they say otherwise.
• False Friend:
Boneyard's main method of finding victims food.
• Emotion Eater:
Due to the nature of their death and rebirth, they now feed off of others' resentment, hatred, and related emotions.
• Ghostly Chill / Tranquil Fury:
When they get angry, the temperature around them drops significantly.

The product of pure arrogance. A wild monster of a wolf captured and forced to lay with a prized fighting dog, in the vain hope their pups would reach even greater heights. Sibling pitted against sibling almost as soon as they could walk. Soundly rejected by their mother at her master's command. Only ever fed when they pleased the master enough. Beaten when they did not. The few survivors of that first odious year of life would then be taken out into the cold, craggy wilderness with no safeguards. To grow numb to feelings of pain and weakness. To overcome death itself. To prove worthy.

Mother nature had other plans. An unexpected blizzard enveloped them, quickly overwhelming man and wolfdog alike in the howling of frozen wind. Low visibility and an avalanche sent the group tumbling into an endless abyss of white...

Just one was left breathing. Awoken in time to hear the master cruelly proclaiming them all a lost cause, as he was air-lifted to safety. Injuries soon thereafter caught up to the poor beast, and dragged them into eternity. Cursing the master's name as they faded.

An unknown amount of time later...

A green forest clearing, marked by primitive headstones. The warmth of sunlight through the trees. Eyes opened once more. But something was different now. Maybe many things? A level of awareness they had not previously held. A deeper understanding of their fate. A burning resentment, yet not a fiery rage. It was cold. Frozen, in fact. Just like the ice that had claimed them. Because of him.

The more they thought about it, the deeper they could feel their resentment run. The air temperature then dropped rapidly. A chill wind whipped up. Soon, snow crystals formed on the wind and created a mini snowstorm around them. Some of the resulting powder touched down on trees, bushes, and the ground itself- and all burst into a flurry of icy blue flame.

The burst of sudden and unnatural fire was enough to startle them, snapping them out of their emotional spiral. The fire put itself out in short order, but left the clear marks of winter's touch in its wake. The leaves of the plants were frozen solid. The trees were frost-scorched. The tiny amount of snow summoned forth still rested on the ground beneath their paws.

After considering the scene before them for a time, the newly reborn yōkai wandered off to try to make sense of their new existence.