Legends of Eiyressia [EN]

Ghost Castle

Des'tri'dem's corruption has no end in Reality, and will probably never find one. Even though he was banished to the Abyss, he left a trace behind, which remained for hundreds of years. His undead energy waits for something innocent to come close to it, so that it can be corrupted and robbed of its former purpose. Great buildings, erected by mankind, now lay abandoned, left for nature, in fear of the danger, which is chaos straight from the depths of the Abyss.

A particular famous example is the abandoned Ghost Castle, a fortress build in Patania, which was meant to be sign of strength and prosperity in the country. Many people worked, putting stone after stone, building wall after wall. Everything was going without problems, until a certain moment.

One night, the workers who were residing at a nearby camp were brutally surprised by a beast, a large, humanoid creature, a monster with eyes, in which you could only see total insanity. The beast attacked them, playing with the corpses of the fallen, just as if they were toys for a child. Those who survived, told about a laugh that carried across fields surrounding the castle. In that laughter, there was no way of finding anything that was human, natural. It was the laughter of death itself.

Not even their great god, Patan, could encourage people, to come back to the castle. That night closed a chapter in the life of the building, opening another one, full of abandonment and fear. Nobody dared to come close, even for a moment, fearing the absolute worst.

Only after a few months, a group of volunteers decided to come back to that place. To their surprise, they found nothing. No traces, that would give an impression, that a beast was there once. The work did not resume, however. That one, singular night, was to be forever engraved in the memory of those, who worked on the structure. Brutal, bloody deaths of their comrades only reminded them of the beast's laughter. Nothing in the world, would erase those images from memory.

Time passed, and no word came from the castle about the nightmare, which haunted it. Silence. The fear soon began to fade away from hearts of some. Equipment was begun to be prepared, in hopes of renewing the work. Patan wasn't going to let go, being motivated by a bunch of frightened people. He took them under his protection and would do anything, to keep his word at all cost.

Meanwhile, another night arrived at the castle. Those, who stayed inside, in almost finished walls, suddenly felt a terror in their hearts, which they never before knew. Most ran away, as fast as they could, not thinking, what made them panic in the first place. Those, who were devoted to their god, remained, hoping to fulfill the task, they were assigned. Discarding rational thinking, screaming to do the same thing, as the rest, to run away, they stood their ground, in the accursed castle.

Then they heard, what caused the fear in the first place. Loud, yet silent footsteps. Laughter and an accompanying simultaneous cry. Words, spoken in an unknown language. A torrent of words, unintelligible whispers, roars. They carried through the castle, just as if they were coming from every stone, every plank, from all directions.

Some saw him. The descriptions varied, none were the same. Some told about a creature, as tall as the castle itself, other told about a man, whose had an unnatural number of limbs, where it constantly changed, never staying the same forever. Those, who drew their breath before the dawn, left behind traces, describing, as if death itself came to them.

Far too many people were harmed during that one night. Physically, everyone was alright, intact. Those, who survived were uninjured. Their souls however, never recovered. For the rest of their days, on darker nights, during their nightmares, all that they saw, was pure fear. There is no way of describing it, as it doesn't own a permanent body. It will take on a unique form, for each individual, feasting on the fear, it creates.

The castle was abandoned for the last time, having been avoided at all cost ever since. Nobody, in their right mind would dare to come there. Now, all that remains in the castle, is nature. It grows in strength, disregarding the fear, that resides within its walls. For nature, that's just another place, to be consumed.

The nightmare remained, making its mark not only on the castle. All settlements, who surrounded it, once a year, on a cursed night, fear for their lives. Although the fear died out for the rest of the world, for the residents of those settlements, that was only a distant dream.

"Nightmare from the Past", as is the demon called, always wakes up to life at the end of August, wanting something more, than just haunting in dreams. He wants real fear, and he always craves for it. He roams around the castle, looking for a victim, ready to become his feast. When he does not find one, he moves forward, toying with the lives of settlements near the Ghost Castle.  

He is not interested in anything, but causing fear. For that one night, he has a chance to play. He never rejects such offer. Until dawn comes, he hunts, feasts. Only the sun, symbol of life, casts him back to the realm of dreams, where he has to wait another year, before he can return, to wreak havoc.

Nightmare from the Past doesn't care about it. On the contrary, he lets the sun win with him, knowing, that he will come back. For him, that one night gives him so many emotions, that he relishes in them for an entire year, allowing the life to go on.