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tarjapearce · 11 months

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Iridiscent

PirateAU! Miguel x Mermaid! Reader

Thanks to @sarapaprikas-blog for the idea ❤️✨. Been loving to experience with different AU'S lately ✨. Hope you like!

Warnings: Mild angst and historical figure mentions, implied mysticism ~

Prologue ✨

Pt. 2

As far as history was told, the sea had been the biggest grave in the world. Countless men, nations and civilizations perished under the might of the ever infinite sea. Not many dared to venture, after all, the stories of countless ships sunk under behemoth waves reached through all dry land known.

But that didn't stop the greatest empires to expand and colonize newly discovered lands thanks to years of observation. Many thought of the sea a living being, a being that could be tamed or at least controlled enough to small civilizations to be born in lands people only dreamed of.

However, as the sea earned it's title of a living creature, the mysticism around it grew. Many believed the sea was a she, and bringing a woman on board only made her jealous. A common belief among outcasts and pirates. Something that was debunked as the golden age of piracy advanced.

But even so, the word spread around was that the sea favored female pirates better than men. Lagertha, Mary Read, Anne Bonnie, Zheng Shi, Grace O'Malley, to name a few of the most iconic pirates that against all, conquered, navigated, commanded and plundered at their contempt.

Many believed that they had done a pact with the devil himself, but others strongly believed that there were creatures below that left no trace once the women settled for a target. Mermaids.

Creatures often described as the beauty of death itself embodied. Beautiful women luring men to their inevitable deaths. Something, that some men longed for, and feared by others. The rumor was that if you caught a mermaid alive, the creature was bound to grant you a wish.

But for Miguel, they were nothing but myths and lies. A once young and naive self had ventured in the sea to find one, so he could cure his daughter once the land medics had abandoned all hope. And so he did, once his little girl had closed her twinkling innocent eyes, full of dreams, forever.

He was a changed man after that. He didn't allow his men to talk about such nonsensical things in his ship, Reina Gabriela, and poor of the man that was caught red handed. Reason had gotten him where he was, a feared outlaw among the Spaniards and English folk alike. Not by his overall intimidating looks, but the ruthless and cunning of his attacks.

The Red Eyed Demon, they called him.

------

Miguel had settled the route towards an island that promised a proper restock of his resources. He would let his men unwind, he'd probably spend the night away with a well prepared courtesan. The type of woman that knew how to entertain him beyond the physical ways, once they were on land.

By sunset, he would be landing. The island itself wasn't a problem, the inhabitants of it were. At least for him, full of highly superstitious people, that were always showering him in foul smelling concoctions, lung itching fumes and heavy charms of protection to "cleanse the spirit of anything that could drag you and your ship down".

Isla del Sol, or Sunny Island as many called it, was like a secret hideway-paradise for Pirates that stopped by to rest. Opposite from what the Spaniards and English believed, the Island was run under the command of a council of five.

A retired English commander that did better as a pirate than a law enforcer named Edward, A Spaniard pirate well versed in the arts of administration named Xavier, A jamaican man which eloquence only rivaled the Queen's erudites themselves named Toussaint, An asian woman trained in the arts of killing and weaponry named Sheng Hyun, and a white haired chaman whose wisdom was often seeked by the rest.

So far the island had worked and thrived under their command. They had even asked Miguel to join them, because of his strategic and cunning mind. But of course, he refused. A man like him wasn't easily bound to bureaucratics, even though, ironically he had strict rules in his ship.

His men were loyal, after all, Miguel took proper care of his crew. Well fed, healthy, well armed, and now, well rested. Reina Gabriela approached the docks and soon the men worked. Some put the extended sails away, others put the weaponry in their place, others cleaned and so on. Everyone had a role aboard, and Miguel made sure for them to accomplish it.

He threw a small pouch of gold to a nearby man to watch over his ship as he was out. The island felt like another city, but difference was, that inside land there were no guards, no laws that didn't benefit them. And if anyone caused a ruckus, Sheng Hyun was sent to deal with it, personally.

His men scattered around, except for the quarter master, the cook, weaponry master, Navy Engineer and doctor. They discussed briefly the upgrades for the ship, new dishes to the menu, and new places to get weapons, medicines and sturdier woods from. He dismissed them once everyone had their list, then he was alone.

His feet took him nearby the merchants as they exposed their goods to everyone passing by. Guards uniforms, royal weapons and wax seals perfect for an unsuspecting ruse, medicines, a new type of powder that was a bit more waterproof, Chinese explosives, sedating darts, portraits of naked royal women, some gemstones, and of course, luck charms and talismans.

He scoffed as his eyes rolled at the various trinkets. He had to admit that whoever came with these ideas had found a gold mine that relied in people's blind faith, probably would shake their hand if he ever knew who it was. One trinket stood out from the rest.

It was an iridescent pearl, a quarter size of his palm, along some black and pearly scales protuding ontop. There was no chain around it to be worn, the merchant noticed him staring at the trinket and smiled.

"Good if y'wanna catch a mermaid. They love shiny things."

Miguel looked at him with an eyebrow quirked and a skeptical look.

"You seem confident enough to sell these... crafts."

"Ah, another nonbeliever. Tis'fine mate. I've dealt with so many like you before. Mostly of the non believing part roots from something denied to you in the past. Am'i'rite?"

Miguel's jaw clenched softly at the boldness of the man. He looked like the typical merchant with shady business on the side.

"Leave this man alone, Joseph." The chaman of the council spoke behind Miguel as she took the pearl in her old, wrinkled hands.

"Come" He motioned Miguel to follow. Despite being a highly spiritual woman, the council's chaman did not pressure him into believing, but rather spoke to him sometimes in riddles. Riddles that he grew tired of eventually. He followed.

"A surprise to find you watching these sort of trinkets, Miguel."

"Hard to not when they get stranger and colorful each time I come here."

The elder lady hooked her arm on his as she supported on Miguel, that secured her as he walked next to her.

"I'd be grateful if you wouldn't speak about anything mystic tonight."

"Wasn't my intention, boy. But I must say, you've got quite the eye for these things. It's a real pearl, if you wish to sell it."

Miguel kept walking, being led by the chaman.

"Or I could gift it to a mermaid" Miguel chuckled and the lady looked at him with curious eyes.

"Well, to do such thing, you'd have to find one first."

"I won't, cause they're not real."

The chaman smiled smugly at him.

"What would you do if your homeland got infested with rotting bodies, blood and so many other unpleasant things continuously?"

"I'd look for a new home." he humored, but the lady only nodded in approval.

"And what kind of home you'd look for?"

"One that wasn't near the cities or civilization. Probably a secret manantial or even a virgin island"

The lady smiled

"Congratulations, Miguel. You now have the first lead into finding a mermaid."

"You can't expect me to believe such things."

"No lo espero, pero sé que tu curiosidad por dichas criaturas ha aumentado. ¿Qué es lo deseas tener?" (I don't, but I know for sure that your curiosity for such creatures have peaked your interest. What is it you long for?)

Miguel looked down at the lady, wistfully and she rubbed his arm comfortingly. Like a grandma would.

"My dear. Mystical creatures can only do so much, Miguel. Sadly, bringing back the dead isn't something they can do."

"No sabes de lo que hablas. No me conoces" (You don't know what you are talking about. You don't know me)

He seethed the last words as his grip abandoned the lady. His body tensed when the chaman reached out again to take his large hand.

"Loss is part of our lives, Miguel" Her wrinkled hands put the pearl in his hand, hers covered his warmly, pushing the trinket further in his hands, "And we all move on eventually. Life is full of wonders, and who knows, maybe what you find ahead in your path is exactly what you need"

He nearly growled as another riddle was added to the list.

"Te dije que te dejaras de-" (Thought I told you to quit the-)

His mouth gaped slightly, the lady was gone. He was left alone with the pearl in his hand, "Acertijos..." (Riddles...) he sighed and stared at the pearl, to then tuck it back on his pocket.

What was he longed for?

#miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara x reader #atsv miguel #pirate au #mermaid au #spiderman 2099 x reader #spiderman 2099 #female rader

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howhow326 · 4 months

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For black history month, I think we should begin popularizing monsters from the African continent the same way European monsters are overpopularized. To that end, here's a list of some of the most famous folkloric figures from Africa!

Mmoatia

Origin: Ghana (Akan)

Creature it is not: Dwarf

(Singular: Aboatia) Mmoatia are a subclass of abosom (spirits in between Man and Creator) that live in the forests of Ghana. They are short, have curved noses, backwards feet, and a unique language made up of only whistling sounds. Whistling in the forest is a sure way to get their attention. According to legend, they are phenomenal herbalists that will sometimes share their knowledge with humans. When a person gets lost in the woods, they are said to have been taken by Mmoatia. Humans who come back after being taken will become incredible medicine men. In Ghana, Dust Devils are called "Mmoatia Mframa" (Wind of Mmoatia) because they are belived to be a portal to their world similar to how fairyrings are treated in Ireland.

Mmoatia are divided into three tribes: Black, White, and Red. Black Mmoatia are supposedly harmless, while White and Red ones are always up to some kind of mischief.

Adze

Origin: Ghana (Ewe)

Creature it is not: Vampire

In Ewe culture, the Adze is a type of demonic spirit associated with witchcraft. They take the form of a fire fly that, during the night, crawls inside human beings in order to posses them. People possesd by the Adze are said to be witches, who use the spirit to slowly drain the life force of people that they envy (Old witches target the young, Poor witches target the wealthy, enslaved witches target their masters as they should).

When targeting a person, the Adze will leave it's host human during the night and crawl into the house of the victim. When it's close, it will drain blood from the victim like a mosquito.

Werehyena

Origin: Pan-African

Creature it is not: Werewolf

Just like how there are Werewolf stories all over Europe, there are Werehyena stories all over Africa. Compared to werewolves, which are said to be men cursed to be monsters, Werehyenas are actually monsters that disguise themselves as humans only to eat it's friends during the night. The people most likely to be werehyenas are village outsiders and blacksmiths, who are associated with magic.

In Angola, there is a similar (but not the same) creature to the werehyena called the Kishi. It is literally a two-faced demon that has a handsome man's body and face in the front, and a hyena's face in the back. This creature lures unsuspecting women into relationships so that it may eat them. If the Kishi has any male children with it's prey, it teaches them the art of femicide.

Mami Wata

Origin: Pan-African

Creature it is not: Mermaid (ok, it kinda is a mermaid but I need to keep the joke running)

Even more wide-spread than the Werehyena, Mami Wata is a figure so popular that it is common for water spirits in Africa to be retroactively labeld as Mami Wata and take on her iconography.

The most famous picture of Mami Wata is actually a french painting of a black Caribbean snake charmer, who west africans later identified as Her. Mami Wata is worshipped as a powerful, female river spirit that controls the flow of the river, the rate at which fish can be caught, the money that men can make, and several other things important to humanity. She is also said to be a seductress, who sleeps with unsuspecting men only to later kill them for cheating on their wives. Indeed, Mami Wata is a defender of women and a slayer of sinful and abusive men.

In many places, it is common to believe that women who drown or go missing in bodies of water were taken by Mami Wata to be taught magic. The women who return become pristessess to her, while the women who never come back become new Mami Watas.

Impundulu

Origin: South Africa (Zulu)

Creature it is not: Thunderbird (no hate, Thunderbird gets constantly thrown into things where it shouldn't be by people who don't understand it. And those people tend to be not native)

Impundulu, or Lightning Bird (NOT THUNDER BIRD), is a person sized Hamerkop bird that has the power to control the weather and summon lightning. It is also creature of evil magic, allied with witches and it has a never ending hunger for blood. It is said to sometimes take the form of a handsom young men in order to seduce women (why dose that keep happening).

Impundulu are immortal, and the ones that serve as witch familiars are passed down in the family as the old master dies and the child becomes grown. The bird is immune to gunshots, stabbing, drowning, and poison. It's only weakness is fire.

#black history month #west african mythology #west african folklore #african fairy #african fantasy #fantasy #africanjujuism #dnd #d&d #mmoatia #adze #werehyena #kishi #mami wata #impundulu #blackblr

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tommyarashikage · 10 months

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Which "evil" woman from mythology/folklore is your OC?

I was tagged by @corvosattano and @kyber-infinitygems to take this uquiz for some of my ladies who have been wronged in their lives, thank you!

tagging (no pressure) @risingsh0t @sstewyhosseini @detectivelokis @jinfromyarikawa @river-ward @poisonedtruth @nightbloodbix @ghastlyrider @confidentandgood @josephslittledeputy @aceghosts @socially-awkward-skeleton @jackiesarch @voidika @madparadoxum @indorilnerevarine @shadowglens @purplehairsecretlair @nightwingshero @fourlittleseedlings @strangefable @poetikat @leviiackrman @captastra @roofgeese @jacobseed @shegetsburned and YOU!

Lilith

Lilith, from Jewish folklore, was the first wife of Adam. One story tells that Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam during sex. She believed they were created equal, both from the dust of the earth, thus she should not have to lay beneath him. After Adam disagreed, Lilith fled the Garden of Eden to gain her independence. In most manifestations of her myth, Lilith represents chaos, seduction and ungodliness. You are independent and courageous. You may be seen as bold and brash, but in reality your solitude is important to you. You don't like being tied down. You pride yourself on being honest, but this may cause hurt feelings in others. You prefer confrontation to letting things fester. Those closest to you admire your drive and your ability to speak your mind.

notes: took the hothead label a little too literally. won't let others tell her what to do and will let them know under any circumstance.

Baba Yaga

In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a supernatural forest witch who usually appears as a decrepit old woman. She varies between acting as a benefactor and a villain, either helping the hero of the Slavic myth or hindering them. Baba Yaga is also cast as a Mother Earth figure, having an influence on the natural world. You are multifaceted and adaptable. You show many faces to the world depending on what is needed. You are very driven and have an incomparable presence in the lives of those closest to you. You may have difficulties with the way people see you, but those who love you can attest to how good a person you are.

notes: old woman? check. morally ambiguous? check. mother (earth) figure? check. adaptability due to always doing what is expected of and needed from her? check.

Aisha Qandisha

You are Aisha Qandisha from Moroccan folklore. Aisha Qandisha is a jinn who is imagined as a beautiful woman with alluring eyes, voice, long black hair, and the feet of a camel or goat. She is said to lure men into the desert to kill them. She is a spirit of lust, desire, and madness, thought to live near water sources. You like to think of yourself as mysterious, letting few people know you past the superficial things. You fear people knowing the real you because you think they'll hate it. You need to reconcile with the fact that other people are just as complex as you are. You think you're a bad person, but in reality you're just scared of being judged. You need to forgive yourself.

notes: thinks she's being mysterious while actually just being afraid to show her vulnerable side.

Antigone

In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus. After the quarrel between her brothers ending in them both being killed, Antigone is determined to bury Polynices despite King Creon's wishes, and is punished. For defying Creon's wishes, she is sentenced to be buried alive in a tomb. You are, above all, resilient. You have known grief in your life, but you face your trauma with your head held high. You are immensely strong, intelligent, and passionate. You don't believe in irony or indifference. You are brave and inspire awe in those who closest to you.

notes: buried alive in a tomb. yeah. she was basically buried by grief and she crawled back out and just keeps on going.

#oc: luna richards #oc: shireen oqir #oc: zoiya #oc: carol kovacs #tag game #sorry for sending out yet another quiz #but i really liked this one #these all check out

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mask131 · 1 year

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Green spring: Seelie and Unseelie

SEELIE AND UNSEELIE

Category: Scottish folklore

When people look up at fairies, usually one of the first thing they will stumble upon on the Internet is “Seelie Court and Unseelie Court”.

The Seelie and Unseelie Court (also known sometimes as simply “the Seelie fairies and the Unseelie fairies”) is a type of fairy division/fairy classification from Scottish folklore – and it is now one of the most famous classification of fairies in the modern world. According to this divide, the “Seelie” fairies are fairies that are generally benevolent towards humans: they return kindness, they can bring favors, they can ask for or give help, and if someone offends them they warn first before striking. These fairies are still dangerous, as all fairies are: like all fairies they are prone to revenge and mischief, but they are generally the “good guys” so to speak. In contrast, the “Unseelie” fairies are the malevolent and negative fairies, those that attack people without warning, and sometimes without reason, and ally themselves with witches and other dark entities of evil power. The “Unseelie” fairies include various negative entities of the folklores of the British isles: the baobhan sith taking the shape of a beautiful woman to lure and kill men, the redcaps who live in ruins and dye their hats with human blood, the nuckelavee who is a grotesque skinless centaur bringing disease and famine everywhere, the shellycoat who is a bogeyman of rivers, and the Sluagh (a host of malevolent fairies/angry ghosts/nocturnal spirits who you better not cross path with).

[Note that while the term “Court”, in modern fiction, has been reused numerous times with the modern meaning of “court” – having a queen and a king, and being made of nobility – the term seems originally to just be a word meaning a “host” or a “group” in general, since in Scottish folklore there is no talk of “Unseelie king or queen” for example.]

Now… all that being said, the divide of Seelie/Unseelie seems to be a latter addition or invention to the Scottish myth of the fairies. Before that, it seems there was just “Seelie” (it is clear that “Unseelie” was based on the word “seelie”): because “seelie” or “seely” was a term used in Scotland, but also in Northern England, to designate fairies as a whole. “Seelie” is a term that means “blessed”, “happy” or “lucky”, and it seems to have been used the same way fairies as a whole were called “good neighbors” or “the fair folk” – it was an euphemisms, or a counter-name, destined to flatter and please the supernatural beings, in hope of avoiding their wrath. It seems that originally “Seelie” was the name of all fairies as a whole, but then somehow the meaning got twisted into just meaning the good fairies, while a different name was created for the wicked fairies: “unseelie”, meaning “misfortunate, unhappy, cursed”. What is even more fascinating is that originally the term “seelie” was used alongside the word “wights”. “Seelie wights” – a word with an unclear meaning, but which was sometimes spelled “wichts”, leading to deformations as… “witch”. “Seelie witches”. The closeness of “Seelie” with “wights” and “witches” led in fact some scholars to wonder if the term “seelie” was actually used to designate fairies, or if it rather was used to designate a different type of supernatural being, different from fairies.

- - - - - - - -

Today, the Seelie and Unseelie Court is such a widespread and popular division you find it everywhere in fictional works talking about fairies. In modern “fairy fiction”, these two courts were most notably popularized by two book series:

# The Dresden Files: In the worldbuilding of this snarky urban fantasy series (bordering on the cosmic horror), the fairies are divided into two nations each dominated by a different Court, the Seelie Court ruling over the summer season, and the Unseelie Court ruling over the winter season. Each Court is ruled by a triumvir of fairy queens who embody the “Maiden-Mother-Crone” trinity: a Lady, a Queen and a Mother. Titania is the queen of the “Summer Court”, while Mab is the queen of the “Winter Court”. The Dresden Files notably challenges the idea that the Seelie and Unseelie Court are based on morality: while it is the stereotype common in this world, in truth the Unseelie fairies are not “evil”, they are cold, ruthless, calculating beings of ice, death and darkness. Meanwhile the Seelie fairies are beings of life, light and warmth, yes, but they can be as chaotic and destructive as hot jungles or thunderstorms, and they are not fairies of “goodness”. “The Dresden Files” is notorious for bringing the whole idea of “Seelie/Unseelie=Winter/Summer” which wasn’t something before its release…

There was a concept of the fairy courts being associated with cold and heat before The Dresden Files though: it was the elf-courts in “The Discworld” series by Terry Pratchett (which was a main source of inspiration for The Dresden Files). In Pratchett’s world, the elves of the Discworld (a cross between a parody of the Tolkienesque elves and the “fair folk” of British legends played for full horror) are divided between a court centered around a Queen, who lives in perpetual frozen wastelands of endless winter, and a second one centered around a King, instead hiding in a very hot, very moist, warmth and humid underground realm of vapor and sweat.

# Another big influence on modern perception of the Unseelie and Seelie Court was “The Shadowhunter Chronicles”, where the fairies are also divided in two nations each ruled by one of these courts. No seasonal theme here – rather the Seelie Court is focused on appearing as beautiful, helpful and benevolent as possible, while still being deceptive and manipulatives, while the Unseelie Court is openly and proudly cruel, violent and monstrous. The Seelie Court is ruled by a Queen, while the Unseelie Court is under the domination of a King.

Interestingly, the same way “The Dresden Files” was inspired by “Discworld”, it seems the concept of “The Shadowhunter Chronicles” of the two courts being divided between beautiful subjects of a fairy queen and the monstrous subjects of a fairy king was inspired by an older work of the 80s: “Faerie Tale” by Raymond E. Feist, a horror novel based on fairy folklore. In it, we end up learning that somehow after the events described by William Shakespeare in his “Midsummer Night’s Dream” play, Titania and Oberon (or at least the beings Shakespeare described by this name) ended up splitting their fairyland into two distinct part, separated by a dusk-plunged, haunted, no-man’s land called the “Shadow Lands”. On one side is the Bright Lands, a fairyland of endless day where the sweet and kind Queen rules over pleasant, charming and joyful fae, who are benevolent and helpful towards humans, but still dangerous to live with due to their alien ways of thinking, strange customs and hazardous magical powers. On the other side, the King lives in the Dark Land, a realm of endless night where he rules over monstrous, grotesque, hateful and murderous fae who only wish to invade the human world and destroy mankind.

#green spring #unseelie #seelie #unseelie court #seelie court #scottish folklore #fairy #fairies

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blam-marie · 1 month

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Married to the Evil Wizard King - 01

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When Autumn was a little girl, she and her sisters used to climb into their mother’s bed at sunset and beg her for stories. The queen wasn’t a great storyteller, and she didn’t have the patience to learn many different tales. But there was one that she knew by heart, and it was the story of why their land was cursed.

Once upon a time, there was a great king who undertook a perilous journey across the mountains to find a new land for his people, who had been chased from their home by war. He discovered the vast prairies of Esternia, and split the land into four kingdoms, one for each of his sons. But his court wizard was an evil, twisted man, who also wanted a kingdom for his own.

There are many versions of this story, which ascribe many different sins, desires, or dark deeds to the wizard. But what they all agree on is that one night, in the height of summer, the Evil Wizard slit his king’s throat and used his blood in a dark ritual meant to bind the land of Esternia to his will.

The four sons brought their armies together to avenge their father, and managed to drive the wizard back to a dark forest at the foot of the mountains. There, it is said that he lured them into an ambush. The wizard killed each of the four sons, and their bones he ground into dust, and this dust he used to salt the limits of the forest. He claimed that long, dark stretch of land as his kingdom, and declared that no living being could cross into the woods without his curse befalling them.

Since that day, a thousand years ago, the Evil Wizard King has haunted the borders of Esternia, cutting their people off from the mountains and the lands beyond. For a thousand years, the four kingdoms have had to walk the tightrope between placating him and suffering his wrath. Sometimes, evil spirits pour out of his lands, slipping out from between the trees and slaughtering everything in their path. Other times, droughts befall the kingdoms for months — or even years. In his cruelty, the wizard banishes all clouds from the sky and holds back the rain, so that the sun burns their harvest down in the fields.

Every few decades, the monarchs of the four kingdoms decide to fight back; they raise their armies and march upon the forest, intent on ridding the land of the wizard king once and for all. They always fail. The knights and soldiers make their ways into the trees, and do not come back. The years immediately afterwards are always dark ones. The spirits come in greater numbers; the earth shakes under their feet.

Inevitably, this is then followed by another bout of placating. The remaining royal families bow and scrape; they send tribute to the forest in a bid for forgiveness. Vast riches in elaborately carved coffers, the finest fruits of their orchards, and richly embroidered textiles get piled up on chariots and brought to the very edge of the trees for a tense hand-off.

The king, himself, never appears. Twisted, dark creatures emerge from the forest in his stead. These strike fear in all who see them, for they seem to be neither men nor beasts, but something in between. They wear dark clay masks to cover their faces but their horns, claws and sometimes even hooves mark them for the unnatural things they are. No one knows how these servants of the king come to be, whether he creates them of whole cloth or grows them out of animals — or worse, whether they were once people and this is what his curse does to those who breach his forest. No one has ever dared ask. In any case, these servants seldom talk. They accept the tributes wordlessly then dissapear back into the woods, never to be seen again.

Eventually, the wrath of the king stops coming down on the prairies so heavily, and life goes on.

But there is one type of tributes that always get a reaction from the creatures, and seem to warrant the attention of the Dark King himself: brides.

Every few years, one of the kingdoms will try their hand at finding the Evil Wizard King a wife. They will put forward a princess — or a duchess, or any number of pretty well bred young maiden — and offer the Dark King some agreement regarding alliances or succession, in the vain hopes that he will act like a proper king, for once, and engage in a spot of diplomacy. The answer is always the same: the poor young thing is invited to his castle for ‘consideration’. If she is still — well, the word he uses is ‘eligible’, but everyone knows it means ‘alive’ — if she is still eligible in two months’ time, then the Wizard King will agree to a wedding.

No maiden has yet reached the two-month mark. None of these offers are ever sincere, in any case. The girls are merely another tribute to be given away as a necessary sacrifice to appease a capricious neighbour. The girls chosen are usually sick and already dying, or they volunteer for reasons no one dares to ask about. It has been a long time since a girl went unwilling to the forest, not that this makes the whole thing any less of a tragedy. Merely a more palatable one.

No one knows what, exactly, the Evil Wizard King does with the princesses and maidens and other assorted young girls that are sent up to his castle. Perhaps he does marry them. Or he uses them in dark magic rituals. Or he eats them. But there is one thing that everyone knows for certain: things calm down when a wife is sent to him, so surely he must be doing something with them.

When Autumn was fifteen years old, her father went to war.

When she was twenty-five, her mother decided that she was pretty enough — and expendable enough — to be sent as an offering to the Dark King.

#married to the evil wizard king #writing #writing is hard #stories on tapas #read on tapas #enemies to lovers #I know a lot of my stories have that tag and I swear I didn't do it on purpose

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dateamonster · 1 month

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working on refining my idea of how demons and angels present in Other School lore feel free to ignore

demons originated as a pretty garden variety subsect of trickster spirit who fed off human misery. as both human and demon populations began to grow, it became harder to rattle humans with just a little mischief and destruction, while at the same time the increased number of demons were becoming more and more aggressively competitive and territorial. at some point they would start taking a page out of the faeries book and simply abduct humans back to the infernal realm to torment and feed off them indefinitely. mortal existence already being such a fragile thing, angels were dispatched from the celestial realm to curb demon activity.

the ensuing war was the inciting incident for pretty much all future angel/demon hostility. the demons were at a categorical disadvantage, but still managed to do some real damage to the angels numbers after one of their highest ranking angels defected and took a big chunk of his men with him. this was the first instance of fallen angels and really shook up a lot of angel society.

eventually treaty lines were drawn and angels and demons were bound to a pact that prevented them from directly harming one another. demons freedom of movement in the mortal realm was also pretty strongly limited, but as compromise they were still allowed claim over humans that went to them willingly, those who forfeited their souls to feed their own greed or lust for power, and only after death, since as long as they were alive there was still a chance for redemption. likewise, angels could not interfere with a humans fate if that was the path they chose.

this worked out well enough for the demons for a while. while they couldnt force a mark into selling their soul they quickly learned there were plenty of little ways to stack the odds in their favor not strictly forbidden by the terms of the treaty, and a number of them returned to the old ways of killing crops and causing poor sleep and little miseries like that to tide them over until some bigger target beefed it and ended up fair game for them to torment eternally.

but demons were still a competitive and greedy bunch by nature, and the cleverer of them continued searching for new ways to navigate around the rules and get higher numbers of souls in their possession. eventually someone realized that once they owned a human soul, they didnt strictly speaking have to just torture them, they could make them do other stuff, including acting as a middle man. so they began drafting up a deal for the humans they lured, a contract you might say, which offered them freedom from the agonies inflicted on them in exchange for meeting a certain quota of souls claimed and evil done. they even sweetened the deal by allowing them to extend this offer to any humans they corrupted themself, creating a tidy chain of command. demons claiming human souls, turning them into demons, and sending them out to repeat the process, feeding infinitly off the flow of ambient misery this naturally produced. hells first pyramid scheme baby!!

over the course of centuries demonic society shifted from a chaotic free-for-all of violent internal and external power struggles to a grand, horrible, corporate machine, whose influence would eventually seep out and form the basis for a lot of the worst structures in the mortal realm as well.

demons are still demons however so even within this more ordered system there's still plenty of double crossing, spying, demons serving two rival masters without their knowing, demons killing their higher ups and taking their place, things like that. the level of self destruction innate to this kind of environment keeps all powers in check and prevents humankind from being fully subsumed into hell to a point where the angels would need to break the fragile peace theyve maintained for eons and intervene again. but still they are keeping an eye on them..

its allllll good lol

#demons #angels #ungodly screeching #worldbuilding

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nitrosodiumfmp · 3 months

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Games Like Sinister | Gameplay

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The only reason I picked Doom 2 over Ultimate Doom is that I prefer it; better level design, more enemies, generally more fun. The link here is obvious; you move through levels trying to reach the end, fighting off demons as you do so. The game is 2.5D, which may seem confusing, and it is. Essentially, there's no up - floors can't be placed on top of each other, but it gives the illusion of height. The basic idea of exploring an abstract underworld filled with two-dimensional monsters is what Sinister is entirely based on, and I'll probably add limited combat, but not on the gratuitous level of Doom.

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Pathways Into Darkness is a classic 90s dungeon crawler akin to Ultima Underworld, but slightly more obscure as it was released for the Mac and the Mac only. The story is bizarre; a gigantic god-like entity is asleep under the earth, and its dreams are causing a massive temple to manifest in the jungle. You're part of a spec ops team sent into the temple, to drop a nuke in its lowest chamber and pacify the being before it wakes up - as this would cause the end of days. It connects to the Marathon series as well, but that's not important right now. Having a game focused on exploration and combat, but also being set within a dead god's dream is very in line with my idea for Sinister. The game is also quite surreal with its enemies; from lumbering blob-men with mouths in their chests to goofy walrus-like floating creatures to reanimated skeletons, who throw bones at you.

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Penumbra was essentially a tech demo for Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It follows Philip, a physicist who enters a desolate bunker in Greenland to find his father. Inside, you must solve puzzles using the proprietary physics engine, and occasionally avoid enemies; namely, rabid dogs. There is combat in Penumbra, but it is discouraged, and there are many ways of getting around enemies. You could sneak by them, you could run, you could bait them with meat or distract them with a flare. You could throw explosives (a quick but costly kill) or use physics objects to slow their pursuit. You could even lure them into an enclosed area and trap them, or use environmental obstacles to kill them without your input. It's an interesting angle of immersion that I haven't seen much; so many immersive sims will give you all sorts of weapons and gizmos and character upgrades for dealing with enemies in unique ways, but these usually boil down to a fancy way of killing them that isn't just shooting them in the face. This idea of discouraged but viable combat is what I want to replicate.

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Prey 2006 is pretty obscure (mostly due to Prey 2017 making it impossible to search for, and it's removed from Steam) but quite interesting. You play as a Native American guy named Tommy, who gets abducted by aliens, and has to fight through their massive bio-organic ship to save his girlfriend Jen. The game uses seamless portals, one year before Portal, as well as loads of interesting tricks like non-Euclidian level geometry and alterable gravity (such as walking on walls and ceilings). It's really cool. The relevant thing for my game is that Tommy canonically dies within the first hour. After this, he's taken to a spirit world by his grandfather, where he gains spirit-walking powers and a ghost of his childhood pet, a hawk named Talon. When you die again in-game, you're taken back to the spirit world, to battle the "dishonored dead" and regain your health and spirit power. I really like games that deal with death in a canon sense - instead of restarting at a checkpoint, your character has legitimately died and returned to life. I want to explain respawning in Sinister in a similar way; you're in the afterlife, so technically, you're already dead.

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Pathologic is a game I can't say enough good things about. It's a mega-obscure Russian game, about (in simple terms) a strange town, a string of murders, and a plague. You have twelve days to explore the town, uncover its mysteries, save your Bound (a group of people who are connected by fate) and save yourself. You'll have to make tough decisions, scavenge for supplies, learn the town's esoteric customs, and all while discovering the secrets of the Sand Plague. When I was first deciding what I wanted the project to be about, Pathologic was my main inspiration for the key themes: "Exploration in an unfamiliar world". The gameplay is primarily walking about, but you will occasionally get into combat. Stakes are very high in the game, and so you are encouraged to run and hide in buildings just as much as you are encouraged to fight. This more visceral and realistic approach to combat rather than just "shoot the bad men" is another thing I want to replicate in Sinister.

#nitrosodium #indie dev #indiegamedev #indie game #indie games #indie game dev #indiedev #devlog #gamedev #Youtube

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celestial-altair101 · 2 years

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Nie Huaisang’s Revenge Plan( More towards “The Untamed” universe)

Warning: This is very long. It includes spoilers and some sensitive topics.

Source: https://hishoukoku.tumblr.com/post/661223468299419648/nie-huaisangs-master-plan-ive-seen-a-few#:~:text=Nie%20Huaisang%20seeks%20out%20the,Wuxian%20back%20from%20the%20dead.

After Nie Mingjue died, Nie Huaisang was incredibly heartbroken. In his grief, he would hear Nie Mingjue’s voice. However, Nie Huaisang noticed a book flipping and turned his attention to it. Within the contents of the book, he found out that Jin Guangyao had altered the Cleansing Music. He realized that Jin Guangyao had used him to sabotage the mission and in doing so, killed most of the Nie disciples and his cousin Nie Zhonghui. Nie Huaisang began suspecting that his older brother’s death is in fact a murder and that Jin Guangyao is behind it. Soon enough, Jin Guangyao came in and told Nie Huaisang to restrain his grief. Nie Huaisang did not trust Jin Guangyao but still bowed to him. (Symbolism that connects this bow to Jin Guangyao’s bow for Jin Guangshan.) When Nie Huaisang found out his brother’s corpse went missing, he began to search for them.

When Jin Guangyao and Qin Su got married, he eavesdrops on Madam Qin telling Bi Cao about the fact that Qin Su is Jin Guangyao’s half-sister. Nie Huaisang was shocked at this revelation and decided he should investigate Jin Guangyao’s personal life, especially his crimes. He visited Carp Tower more often and was perplexed when Jin Guangshan made Mo Xuanyu a Jin disciple. He also found out that Jin Guangyao is acquainted with Xue yang. Nie Huaisang’s time in Carp Tower made him realize that Mo Xuanyu is very disliked among the Jin disciples. Of course, he went the extra mile and learned that Mo Xuanyu’s life is full of abuse and hate.

After Xue Yang witnessed Xiao Xingchen’s suicide, decided to work with Jin Guangyao, the Nie Huaisang. Nie Huaisang read the book Wei Wuxian had written about demonic cultivation and figured out a sacrificial summoning ritual. In Lanling, Nie Huaisang began to hear the rumors going around the Jin sect that Mo Xuanyu had forced himself on Jin Guangyao. Due to that, Mo Xuanyu is kicked from the Jin sect. Nie Huaisang knew how mentally ill Mo Xuanyu is and decided that this is his chance to use the sacrificial summoning ritual. Nie Huaisang then coerced the mentally ill Mo Xuanyu to do the sacrificial summoning to bring back his old friend, the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian. Then he convinced an old man to tell the story of Wei Wuxian, by promising him some gold.

But even after all these years of searching for his brother’s corpse, he only managed to find an arm. Nie Huaisang decided to let the fierce arm loose on the Mo village where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are. This only prompted Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to investigate. However, when Nie Huaisang is running away, Lan Wangji manages to cut a piece of his robe off. Lan Wangji’s sac then led them to the Man-Eating castle. After Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji freed Jin Ling from the walls of the Man-Eating castle, they confronted Nie Huaisang about what had happened. Nie Huaisang claimed that it is just an ancestral tomb for the blade spirits. He explained that the whole idea of the cave eating men alive is just a false rumor that he made up to prevent people from entering the tomb and dying to the angry spirits. Nie Huaisang was lying to an extent throughout the entire confrontation though as the walls of the tomb are indeed made from humans.

Nie Huaisang then lures the junior disciples into Yi City. He nailed a dead black cat to the door of Jin Ling’s room and make a pool of blood outside as Jin Ling woke up. This happens night after night despite Jin Ling switching inns. Which eventually prompts him to investigate. Meanwhile, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen, and a few other juniors doing a night hunt in Langya. They first find the head of a cat in their soup, and then the corpse of a cat in their beds. This prompts them as well to investigate, ultimately meeting up with Jin Ling. When they all met, Nie Huaisang disguises himself as a hunter from a nearby village and point them directly toward Yi City. Nie Huaisang managed to get into the dungeons of the Jin sect and found a former prostitute Sisi. Hiding his identity, he asked her what she did to land herself here, but Sisi is hesitant to say anything. Nie Huaisang prompts her that he means no harm and that he’s trying to help her as he is trying to uncover Jin Guangyao’s crime to the world. Hearing this, Sisi reluctantly told him how Jin Guangyao had killed his father by hiring a bunch of prostitutes to force themselves on him. Nie Huaisang then frees Sisi. He then convinced Bicao to send Qin Su a letter about Jin Guangyao’s misdeeds.

All the while, Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian found all of Nie Mingjue’s body parts, but they are still missing the head. Nie Huaisang because of this managed to get all of his brother’s body parts back, besides the head of course, and is now beginning to sew them together.

Wei Wuxian of course managed to sneak into the Fragrant Palace and found Nie Mingjue’s severed head. Wei Wuxian is then able to tap into Nie Mingjue’s past and saw how Nie Mingjue truly died. He also saw Qin Su being distraught and upset. She confronted Jin Guangyao about the information, but Jin Guangyao denies it. Of course, this was because she had received the letter Bicao had written to her. Afterward, Wei Wuxian told Lan Wangji about this, all the while, Nie Huaisang is listening to their conversation. He then went to Fragrant Palace to retrieve the head of his brother.

Wei Wuxian then convinces Jin Guangyao to let him enter Fragrant Palace and then attempts to rat Jin Guangyao out. Nie Huaisang deliberately fainted in the middle of the confrontation to make himself look weak. Wei Wuxian’s identity is then revealed, but Nie Huaisang had to pretend to be surprised so as to not draw suspicion. While Wei Wuxian left with Lan Wangji due to Wei Wuxian being stabbed by Jin Ling, Nie Huaisang decided he needs to execute the next part of his plan. Nie Huaisang went to the Guanyin Temple to replace Meng Shi’s body (via digging from outside of the wall) with his dead brother’s corpse all sewn up. He then placed a poisonous trap in it. Nie Huiasang afterward sends Jin Guangyao a letter warning him that he will expose all his secrets in seven days.

This caused the Second Siege of the Burial Mounds. Su She under Jin Guangyao’s guidance uses the Stygian Tiger seal to control the corpses and seals the cultivators’ spiritual power. Nie Huaisang beforehand had led the disciples of various sects to a cave and probably hired someone to tie them up. Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning managed to find them and set them free which ended up with the sects (including his) meeting up with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Wen Ning. The corpses caught up to them eventually and they all ended up in a cave. Wei Wuxian began to talk about his theories and analysis which resulted in Su She revealing that he is Jin Guangyao’s accomplice.

After escaping the corpses, all the sects go to Yunmeng, at Lotus Pier. Bicao and Sisi (as instructed by Nie Huaisang) arrive to tell their stories. Sisi talks about how Jin Guangyao murdered Jin Guangshan and Bicao talks about the fact that Jin Guangyao’s wife Qin Su was his own half-sister. Hearing this, all the sects are now against Jin Guangyao and are plotting to storm Karp Tower.

Nie Huaisang then went to Yunping City and was most likely willingly captured by Su She to see his plans coming to fruition. He woke up when the “monks” screamed after activating the trap. When the coffin got opened, he again pretended to be shocked at the matter. Later on, he deliberately allowed Su She to cut his leg. Nie Mingjue’s spirit, sensing that his brother is hurt, stabbed Su She killing him. After everything is settled, Lan Xichen asked Nie Huaisang for the medicine. Nie Huaisang then exclaimed that Jin Gungyao was about to do something and that resulted in Lan Xinchen stabbing Jin Guangyao. The blood from the stab wound got on the Stygian Amulet and the coffin causing Nie Mingjue’s spirit to be re-released. Jin Guangyao stayed behind in the collapsing building after pushing Lan Xichen away, which ultimately caused his death.

In the end, Wei Wuxian pieces it all together and suspected that Nie Huaisang was behind everything, but he has no evidence to support it.

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draggeddowntothedark · 9 months

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Which "evil" woman from Mythology/Folklore are you ?

Aisha Qandisha

#;one eye brown one eye blue

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sidxiil · 9 months

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Which "evil" woman from mythology/folklore are you?

Aisha Qandisha

Tagged by: @jp-todd-rp (Thanks!! This was fun :D )

#tag games #about roy #about #(look at me forgetting all the tags I use)#(RIP it has been so long)

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jp-todd-rp · 9 months

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Which "evil" woman from mythology/folklore are you?

Aisha Qandisha

tagged by @goldentemplariumcrow

tagging @whxlmedwing @grace-of-gotham @twcfaces @thedickgraysonrp @arobinwithoutbatman @firstrobin-to-worstrobin @sidxiil @adventurepunks (Talia)

#| tag games |

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cassianus · 2 years

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How tedious to me are the counsels of human leaders and wise men–oh how tedious they seem to me–ever since Your wisdom caused my heart and mind to tremble, Holy God.

Those whom the dark desires of the heart are dragging into the abyss do not believe in Your light. There are no obstacles for a stone while it is rolling down a hill. The higher the steep slope and the deeper the abyss — the swifter and more unrestrained is the rolling of the stone.

One dark desire lures another with its success; and that one hires yet another, until all that is good in a person withers, and all that is evil gushes out in a torrential flood–until, along with everything else, all that the Holy Spirit has built is washed away, both inside and out;

Until the scorners of the light begin to scorn themselves and their teachers;

Until the sweetest sweets begin to choke them with their stench; Until all the material goods, for which they killed neighbours and razed cities, begin to mock their monstrosity.

Then they stealthily lift their eyes toward heaven, and through the dung of their profaned and putrid existence, they cry out: “Holy God!”

How it irritates me like a burning arrow to hear men boasting of their power, ever since I came to know of Your powerful hand, Holy Mighty!

They build towers of stone and say: “We are better builders than your God.” But I ask them: “Did you, or your fathers, build the stars?”

They discover light inside the earth, and boast: “We know more than your God.” But I ask them: “Who buried the light beneath the earth for you to discover?”

They fly through the air and arrogantly say: “By ourselves we have created wings for ourselves, where is your God?” But I ask them: “Who gave you the idea of wings and flying if not the birds, which you did not create?”

Yet see what happens when You open their eyes to their own frailty! When irrational creatures show them their monstrous power; when their mind becomes filled with wonder at the starry towers, that stand in space without pillars or foundations; when their heart becomes filled with fear of their own frailty and insanity–then, in shame and humility, they stretch out their arms toward You and cry: “Holy Mighty!”

How it saddens me to see people overrating this life, ever since I tasted the sweetness of Your immortality, Holy Immortal!

The shortsighted see only this life, and say: “This is the only life there is, and we shall make it immortal by means of our deeds among men.” But I tell them: “If your beginning is like a river, then it must have a source; if it is like a tree, it must have its root, if it is like a beam of light, it must come from some sun.” And again I tell them: “So, you intend to establish your immortality among mortals? Try starting a fire in water!”

But when they look death in the face, they are left speechless, and torment seizes their heart. When they smell the flesh of their dead brides; when they leave the empty faces of their friends in the grave; when they place their hands on their sons’ chests that have grown cold; when they realize that even kings are not able to buy off death with their crowns, nor heroes with their mighty deeds, nor wise men with their wisdom–then they feel the icy wind of death breathing down their necks too, and they fall down on their knees and bow their heads over their toppled pride, and pray to You: “Holy Immortal, have mercy on us!”

~St Nikolai Velimirovic

Prayers by the Lake

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charliedawn · 2 years

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part of me desperately wants to tell ghost stories to the Hannibal’s but another part of me just wants to give Peter a hug because everyone is scaring him. So! Ima do both!! I just won’t tell a a scary one (yet). Movie also made popcorn so I’m gonna hand that to Kevin and we can start!

I’m a big fan of Ghost Adventures, so this is from their show. They went to Fox Hollow Farm, which was the house of a serial killer. The killer had killed himself in a ritual to come back to haunt the place. They went to the pool room, where many men were drowned. The ghosts of a victim led them outside where the bodies were buried. After a lot of walking, the GA crew was told by the ghost they were standing on his body. They think the ghost moved on after that, but the oppressive spirit of the killer stayed in the house. It broke a camera and threw something if I remember it right.

if you guys want I can tell another one, but I don’t want to scare Peter too much, which is why I didn’t get into detail here. I hope you all have a nice day :)

Peter : "...I don't like those stories."

Kevin *munching on the popcorn* : "So ? What happened to the dead guy ? Did he move on or something ?"

Morgan : "No. He is still haunting the house. I should know...I was there."

Peter : "W...What ?"

Morgan : "...Let's say. I lied about my age—just a century or two..Just so I may lure my victims between these very walls and *suddenly jumps forward towards Peter*—ATTACK !"

Peter *screams*

Kevin *bursts out laughing*

Author : "A very lovely story. May I tell one of my own ?"

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fcb4 · 2 years

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Mad or Manly Men?

This is part of the ManClan’s “Call of the Wild” literary journey using the writings of Jack London’s novels and adventure tales to explore themes that will undergird upcoming ManClan gatherings and meet-ups and ManCamp 2023.

Selection from ‘In a Far Country’ by Jack London

“When the world rang with the tale of Arctic gold, and the lure of the North gripped the heartstrings of men, Carter Weatherbee threw up his snug clerkship, turned the half of his savings over to his wife, and with the remainder bought an outfit.

There was no romance in his nature, — the bondage of commerce had crushed all that; he was simply tired of the ceaseless grind, and wished to risk great hazards in view of corresponding returns.

Like many another fool, disdaining the old trails used by the Northland pioneers for a score of years, he hurried to Edmonton in the spring of the year; and there, unluckily for his soul’s welfare, he allied himself with a party of men.

There was nothing unusual about this party, except its plans. Even its goal, like that of all other parties, was the Klondike. But the route it had mapped out to attain that goal took away the breath of the hardiest native, born and bred to the vicissitudes of the Northwest.

Even Jacques Baptiste, born of a Chippewa woman and a renegade voyageur (having raised his first whimpers in a deerskin lodge north of the sixty-fifth parallel, and had the same hushed by blissful sucks of raw tallow), was surprised. Though he sold his services to them and agreed to travel even to the never-opening ice, he shook his head ominously whenever his advice was asked.

Percy Cuthfert’s evil star must have been in the ascendant, for he, too, joined this company of argonauts. He was an ordinary man, with a bank account as deep as his culture, which is saying a good deal.

He had no reason to embark on such a venture, — no reason in the world, save that he suffered from an abnormal development of sentimentality. He mistook this for the true spirit of romance and adventure. Many another man has done the like, and made as fatal a mistake.”

Thoughts to ponder:

What kind of man are you? Has your soul, status and station in life positioned you for success, stagnation or suicide?

Is your job killing you?

Do you hear “the call of the wild”, a compelling yearning for adventure, challenge, and community that tests you and tempers you into a more courageous, confident, competent and content man?

Are your “plans and routes” ill advised, self-defeating and reckless?

Do you have wise and wild men as guides or only wild men or wise men?

Do you have a “company of argonauts”?

You can read the short story here: https://www.artofmanliness.com/living/reading/a-manly-sunday-read-in-a-far-country-by-jack-london/

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thecrimecrypt · 2 years

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The Sorcerer

The Events In many parts of Indonesia, especially in the remote rural areas, there has long been a strong veneration of sorcery and supernatural powers. A dukun, the Indonesian term for a shaman, is seen to be invested with these special powers and is a healer, spirit medium, and purveyor of black magic.

In the village of Aman Damai in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, Ahmad Suradji set up himself up as the local dukun, and invited people from far and wide to visit him, to benefit from his powers. He had previously served time in prison for a variety of petty crimes, including cattle theft. He wanted to leave that life behind and follow a righteous path, so decided to become a sorcerer like his father before him. "I aspired to follow in the footsteps of my father," he would say during his subsequent trial. "I did not learn sorcery from anyone else but my father."

He became a revered member of the community, and was also known as Datuk Maringgi, with locals believing he could heal the sick, help them enjoy better lives, and even part the clouds above them. This reputation would become a front for Suradji to feed his desire to kill, as he found it an effective way to lure women to his house.

Ritualistic killing As part of his killing ritual, Suradji would ask the women to dig their own graves and stand waist-deep inside, which they thought was part of their cure and would help them benefit from his powers. But Suradji would instead use the fact that they were now immobilized to strangle and kill them.

Suradji continued undisturbed for 11 years, during which time he murdered 42 women and left many of them in a sugarcane plantation field, with them purposefully staring at his nearby house to give him further power.

It was not until April 27, 1997, that a farmer accompanied by his livestock stumbled across a strange-looking mound of dirt in these fields. When he returned with five other men and started to dig beneath the mound, they were soon hit by a rancid smell, and discovered the naked body of a young girl. It was identified as 21-year-old Sri Kemala Dewi by her grieving mother. “It was like my worst nightmare had come to life. I refuse to believe it was her, but there she was, dead in front of me,” she said.

Three days earlier Dewi had left the family home to run an errand and not been seen again. A 15-year-old local rickshaw driver Andrew Suwito came forward to say he had dropped Dewi at Suradji’s house. “She said she wanted to go to Datuk’s house. I was curious because it was rather late at night, so I asked why she was going there and she had told me not to be too nosy,” he said.

On a search of Suradji’s house, the police found Dewi’s bracelet and dress, and he admitted she had come to him for guidance, as she did not want her fiancé to leave her for another woman, and thought his powers could help her.

After four days of interrogation, Suradji confessed to the murders of 42 girls and women, and said he had buried them in the sugarcane field. A massive excavation would find a collection of skulls, bones, and bodies there. Suradji would later be convicted of these murders, and after 11 years in prison, he was executed by a firing squad in July 2008.

The Theories

In 1986 Suradji said he had a dream in which his deceased sorcerer father had come to him and said he needed “the saliva of 70 dead young women in order to attain invincibility.” But Suradji added that it was not his father’s intention that he kill the women. “My father did not specifically advise me to kill people. So I was thinking, it would take ages if I have to wait to get 70 women. I was trying to get to it as fast as possible, I took my own initiative to kill.”

In his role as a dukun he never aroused suspicion and had the benefit of the women voluntarily coming to his house. It was also a method to make money, for he still took his fees, estimated to be between $200 and $400, from the women before he killed them. “If I just robbed people, I could get shot or put in jail, but this way, people came to me. I took their money, then I killed them,” he said. When the women had been killed and were stuck in the ground, he would lower himself down and suck saliva from their mouths.

There appears to have been no sexual motive to Suradji’s serial killing. “He simply said it was also a way for him to make money as he could rob them without getting caught,” said Alfred Satyo, the forensic expert assigned to the case.

Before he faced the firing squad, Suradji showed some regret: “The black magic came from God. I don’t have it anymore, I have repented. I hope I have a chance to live,” he said.

#murder #truecrime #tc community #tcc family #serialkillers #Ahmad Suradji #Indonesia #ritualistic killing #ritual #black magic #sorcery

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