Challenge: Halloween

OKIE DOKIE IT'S SPOOKY SCARY SEASON

So. In celebration of Halloween, I want y'all to tell me about the things in your world that are spooky, scary, creepy, or horrifying! Or all of the above, since they're pretty close to synonymous! You can totally make this into a post in your thread, or just a couple lines here as an exercise, or whatever. Tell me what the people of your world are scared of. Or tell me how they celebrate a Halloween-ish holiday, and why they have such a day. :D

Biddenfore is almost never visited by humans. OooOooOooh.

LOL nope. I'm out. Enjoy your ventures.

Haha awesome idea. I guess my pokemon region would have some kind of holiday like that hmmm. Actually in the ghost town, they'd definitely have it. Might type something up c:

The only thing scary about Connect is it's a multiverse. There is a universe that I planned that every person's morals are reversed (aka bad guys are good guys, good guys are bad guys) and they basically plunged that universe into chaos and disarray.

I also planned a universe wherein one character basically did something different in that timeline, and basically did a butterfly effect, where things are REALLY different from the actual timeline.

Okay, but what about like, culture? What about mythology? What scary stories do parents tell their children to make them behave? What urban legends terrorize the town on the full moon?

Is there a deadline?

CUTIEFLY!!! said:

Is there a deadline?

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Nope, not at all! I think I'm gonna put out themed challenges once in a while and this fits well with October so I'd like to see a lot of stuff come out this month, but whenever is fine! It's another thing to think about integrating into your world. :)

People in Teleios hate children.



Haha, I'm kidding! Halloween is definitely celebrated here, with all the usual festivities of cosplaying and trick-or-treating and parties et cetera. But of course there are urban myths that coincide with the spooky month. Such as the Headless Biker that revs its engine in the middle of the night, with some people claiming they awakened to the sounds of hooves and neighing (however no such pokemon exist in Teleios to make those sounds).

There's also a story that parents tell their children to go to bed early known as "the floating mirror". There used to be a gilded mirror in the Museum that had been excavated with an uproar surrounding it went it just vanished from its display case overnight, without any sign of burglary. In the week it disappeared, people claimed to see a mirror floating outside their windows at night, showing a reflection that sent them spiraling into madness. Nobody knows what the victims saw in the mirror and all of them committed suicide too soon for anyone to get an answer. Internet conspiracy theorists think it was an ancient Bronzor who could curse people. The mirror has yet to be found till this day.

I also heard that the Theater Colosseum is rife with hauntings and ghost stories but who knows...? Maybe someone with close connections to the Theater can tell us more of its dark past. *wink*

Winter said:

People in Teleios hate children.

Haha, I'm kidding! Halloween is definitely celebrated here, with all the usual festivities of cosplaying and trick-or-treating and parties et cetera. But of course there are urban myths that coincide with the spooky month. Such as the Headless Biker that revs its engine in the middle of the night, with some people claiming they awakened to the sounds of hooves and neighing (however no such pokemon exist in Teleios to make those sounds).

There's also a story that parents tell their children to go to bed early known as "the floating mirror". There used to be a gilded mirror in the Museum that had been excavated with an uproar surrounding it went it just vanished from its display case overnight, without any sign of burglary. In the week it disappeared, people claimed to see a mirror floating outside their windows at night, showing a reflection that sent them spiraling into madness. Nobody knows what the victims saw in the mirror and all of them committed suicide too soon for anyone to get an answer. Internet conspiracy theorists think it was an ancient Bronzor who could curse people. The mirror has yet to be found till this day.

I also heard that the Theater Colosseum is rife with hauntings and ghost stories but who knows...? Maybe someone with close connections to the Theater can tell us more of its dark past. *wink*

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Aww, that first idea sounded fun!

Anyways, here's mine:
MonUnicaica means "Day of the Unicaica". The Unicaica is a huge flying insect that radiates heat. They almost never come out of their mountain dens, except for this day. When they swarm together, the whole sky becomes dark. They have been known to burn the flesh of humans, so most humans stay inside until the swarm passes. The creatures are known to hide near houses, so a person could be jumped right outside their house.

To ward off the creatures, people will leave out vegetables. The creatures prefer the taste of raw pleta then human flesh.

What happens if a human gets caught though? The creatures are quite small, and might appear harmless, but after burning their preys face off, they drag them into the sky and summon lightning to completely destroy the body. A destroyed body is harder to resurrect, so these monsters pose a real threat.

One might try to kill them, but they have dragon-like scales, and can summon additional armor at will.

Paqori has a family of Pokémon that have been identified as close cousins of the Yamask line. It is said that the base form is the spirit of a child who died in an ancient sacrificial ritual. It possesses the hat its father made for it when it was alive as it searches for its family. Its secondary form comes about when the child accepts its death and discards its hat in favor of the robes of ancient nobles, taking in death what it never could have in life.

CUTIEFLY!!! said:

Aww, that first idea sounded fun!

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> first

Only the first?

This might end up more of an actual post than I intended, and a lot of it I haven't gone over in my own thread, but oh well.

Most children are raised under the impression that there is always something awful lurking in the shadowy forests and swamps. Human children in the Heartland are told of undead still lingering from the war and Mirkarelli parents tell tales of demons lurking in the swamps. Even non-humans join in, as Dwarfs speak of the original creators of the UnderMines still hiding somewhere in the dark, and the city elves mention the most horrible thing they can think would be stalking their jungle, Exiled elves.

In reality, most of these are for the protection of the children themselves, the wilds are not kind. The forest is home to Carrion Hounds who, despite the name, would not pass up an easy to hunt meal. Demons don't stalk the swamps (usually), but Water Snouts, despite being typically herbivorous, are aggressive during mating season. The UnderMine tunnels are dark and twisting, and even adult Dwarfs sometimes get lost, and the jungles of Elseraad are much the same way.

---

But there are fanciful fears that plague even adults. Demons are a real fear, and they don't just stalk the swamps. Those who seek power at any cost often turn to demon binding, trying to take it's power as their own and often failing in the process, letting one loose to manipulate other people. There are few, if any, undead remaining after the invasion, but the malevolent spirits and corrupters who created them are still in hiding.

Folklore style tales often involve fallen heroes, a reoccurring theme in Lorithian tales. One such tale is that of the very real Vec Renthan, also known as the Crimson Watchman. One of the illustrious Watchmen of old Anakeim, his duty was to protect the hoard of cursed artifacts the kingdom had retrieved. Strong mental fortitude was necessary as the objects often had sentience of their own, and would try to manipulate those around them into freeing them.

No one caught his slow descent at the time, until one object in particular broke him, a plain red cloak. He gave into the cloak's whispers of power, fearing the visions of coming destruction it placed in his mind, and put it on. Vec reportedly slaughtered his companions before running off with as many of the objects as he could carry. When he was later found, not even a spear through the heart could kill him, as the accumulated curse left his body nothing more than an empty husk, his consciousness shared among the artifacts themselves.

Now he is said to exist in a state beyond life and death, wandering in the wilds for any people unfortunate enough to encounter him. Withered away to only a suit of armor, pitch black amulet, and a blood stained cloak, he hunts the living so he can try and steal their humanity and make himself whole again.

---

But of course, many of these are just stories with some basis in fact. There are real things to fear in the world, but most aren't at their doorstep. These fears are less likely to pop up in day to day life, but provide some kind of an existing dread.

the Abyss is one of the places Lorithian souls are said to go after death, for those who do not have a god to claim them. An endless wasteland with massive ravines that are said to never end, and a very real place with real connections to Lorithane. Furthermore, some suggest that the demons that come from the plane aren't it inhabitants, but only parts of a larger being. A being many think may actually be the entire plane itself.

Angels serve the gods, but many are panicked by their sighting. Angels do not appear like any other being on Lorithane, and their morals prove to be loose at best. One has to worry when an Angel decides the dispence judgement on an individual, because the term "civilian casualty" is not a word they appear to respect.

And while fears of a Corrupter suddenly showing up next to someone is one the unreasonable side, fear of their home plane of The Void is far from unreasonable. It exists everywhere, between all of the planes and to an unknown extent. Trying to see past the known planes only shows vast fields of Void, and beings larger than the Corrupters and their "Unborn God" residing out in the darkness.

---

Part two for an actual holiday will come later.

Winter said:

> first

Only the first?

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The other ones sound good too! Solving a murder is fun though.

So, as for any actual holidays semi-related to Halloween, for the longest time there was no analogue to the holiday in Lorithian culture. The closest in terms of time would be the Fall Harvest, but it wasn't until the invasion by the Void (which really needs an actual name) that anything approaching Halloween existed. In the years following Lorithian victory, there was a significant call for a Holiday in memoriam of the lives lost and of the viciousness of the war itself. Since victory was declared so close to the traditional harvest celebration, the old Holiday was expanded to four days, instead of just one and renamed Memoret.

Each of the four days of Memoret represents something different, and is dedicated to different activities:

The First day, Cheras, is dedicated to the past. Although all days are considered important in their own ways, Cheras was the original focus of the holiday. It is a time to remember past joys and hardships, as well as memorialize the dead. Unlike most holidays for the dead, it's not a time of grieving, but of honoring sacrifice and one's life. Most chose to spend this time either by themselves, or with close family and friends. Those who have access to the grave site go and leave food, but many just stay home for large family meals and observance at a small home shrine.

The second day, Cotahn, is dedicated to the present situation. One of the more solemn days, it is a time of reflection. It was common for farmers to have to solidify plans for the coming months during the harvest, and Cotahn is reflective of that. Many chose to be alone on this day, taking deep considerations into their present state. It's common for younger people to blow this day off, but for some it is still a time to consider one's means, goals, and relationships.

Very related to Cotahn is the third day, Enaedan, the day for the future. Many cultures in Lorithane do not choose to dwell on the past as it cannot be changed, but the future is uncertain. Most would call Enaedan the most depressing day, a time to look ahead at any challenges you may face in both the near and far future. Here is when people reorganize priorities, or make the pact to cut harmful individuals out of their lives. It is also a day to think about the unexpected, much like the Void invasion was. Some criticism of the Holiday have called it a day of conspiracies, as certain people invent fanciful tales in a "what if" scenario for even the most far flung circumstances.

The final day, and most like Halloween as we know it, would be Ametien, the Day of Dreams. In a literal sense, the day is dedicated to the merging of both Lorithane and Sommerst, which was previously the plane of dreams. In a more metaphoric sense, it is the most lighthearted day dedicated to one's goals and enjoyment. Vendors set up stalls in large festivals, masks are common at large bonfire dances and on children running around. Special sugar candies, made into the shape of the jewels so prevalent in Sommerst and the Violet Echos are sold on this day only. When the sun goes down, and the populace is significantly drunk is the time to share stories, usually meant to scare the other people. While the other days are meant to remember and consider, this is purely a day to forget and enjoy life, if only for one day.