[Horror] [Low-Tech] Hearthfires going cold and other Low-Tech spookiness

[Flyndaran]

I get lost very easily. And I have once when going in a straight line from home to school during daylight hours. I wasn't feeling well, but still, it doesn't take severe brain damage to lose one's way that easily. If a not insignificant minority suddenly became like me, that would start a riot.... that would get lost on the way to the local witch's house.

But lots of spooky stories involve chills and cold type aches that remain even when it should be warm. Imagine seeing your breath indoors when it's warm. 2spoopy.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I get lost very easily. And I have once when going in a straight line from home to school during daylight hours. I wasn't feeling well, but still, it doesn't take severe brain damage to lose one's way that easily. If a not insignificant minority suddenly became like me, that would start a riot.... that would get lost on the way to the local witch's house.

Meh. Everyone knows that the fae do that to people a lot - you should carry an iron nail in your pocket to protect yourself, or, on finding yourself inappropriately lost, turn all your clothes inside out to break the spell.

As noted, the sudden staling of bread, spoiling of ale, souring of milk or curdling of butter of cheese can all be symptoms of magic at work.

For more spookiness: general unexpected behaviour by animals, becoming unnaturally fearless or fearful ... or aggressive. All of the villages dogs bark at nothing, or hide indoors refusing to go out, rats and mice go abroad openly in daylight and attack those who interfere with them. Livestock in the fields tries to run away and goes wild, battering itself against fences if penned - sheep attack their shepherds. All the local songbirds vanish.

Plants blooming at the wrong time or season, dying off or growing with unnatural vigour (as per The Colour out of Space).

As already noted, deformed births were often seen as omens as well...

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

As already noted, deformed births were often seen as omens as well...

"The calf were born dead, an wi' two heads, milord! T'is witchcraft afoot!"

In winter, deformed babies were often exposed, left to die in the cold. In particularly harsh Scandinavian winters, unwanted infants, even if healthy, might be given this treatment as well, giving rise to stories of vengeful little ghosts called mylings or utburds.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

"The calf were born dead, an wi' two heads, milord! T'is witchcraft afoot!"

In winter, deformed babies were often exposed, left to die in the cold. In particularly harsh Scandinavian winters, unwanted infants, even if healthy, might be given this treatment as well, giving rise to stories of vengeful little ghosts called mylings or utburds.

That is relatively unusual - most cultures with a tendency towards exposure of unwanted children don't stigmatise it with a class of undead AFAIK, so I would assume that this was something that only took place during extreme privation.

Good undead though - I can imagine one of those cropping up in "that RPG":
"Aagh! Get it off my back."
<successful attack>
"Oops, it's incorporeal. My bad."
"Never mind, I've still got 150hp left, try again" etc.

[/silly] Actually, something like that could be a good cause of trouble - hidden shame is always quite good for horror plots, especially in a small, rural community: during the winter a poor peasant family killed their newborn out of want, pretending that it died of natural causes. Denied burial on sacred ground it now haunts the village - finding out the truth will go a long way towards laying the ghost (if the parents can be persuaded to confess and do penance, a simple grave blessing by the village priest may end the haunting). A PC landlord might be tempted to some more practical action as well. If you could carry off a secret pregnancy in a medieval village (likely to be tricky) then the plot could be even thicker - perhaps involving adultery, incest or some other capital matter...

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

That is relatively unusual - most cultures with a tendency towards exposure of unwanted children don't stigmatise it with a class of undead AFAIK, so I would assume that this was something that only took place during extreme privation.

That or it originated as a caution against picking up abandoned babies.

Konaki-Jiji

In Japanese folklore, is formed from the soul of a child left to die of exposure in the mountains, the size and shape of an infant. Oddly, its face is that of an elderly man. It is always crying like a baby and lurks in secluded areas, like mountain paths, where babies shouldn't normally be. When a kind hearted traveler comes by and hears the crying, he will pick the yokai up in an effort to comfort it. When the traveler notices the odd face, the konaki-jiji attacks. It will increase its weight tremendously, crushing the foolhardy good Samaritan.

[starslayer]

I was thinking, there could be benificial effects that are really creepy, and seem to be indicative of a 'soft corruption'.

IE-

Hearth's in the town light with ease if blood is dripped into them (likely found by accident), if you actually soak the hearth with blood it will light on its own. Human blood works better. Blood of a person you dislike works best.

Labor (human or animal) can be brought on by willing it during the full moon, it is always painless and very rarely results in complications. Babies/animals born via such method are startlingly clever and tend to associate with one another without complaint (A moonborn goose can happily lay with a moonborn cat).

Every single household finds an exquisite set of dressing tools one morning (IE- for slaughtering animals)- they are all midnight black in colour and seem to absorb light. They slide effortlessly into flesh, and any animal butchered with them produces more useable cuts of meat then seems possible.

One morning all of the dogs and cats in the town are found slaughtered. They bear marks from some sort of large (lynx sized) beast with 6 claws on each paw and a triple row fanged maw. There jaws are cracked open, and there hearts are missing (not torn free, missing if anyone takes the time to cut one apart and see what happened). Despite the lack of service animals sheep still get herded in at the end of each day, rodents basically no longer exist, foxes, wolves, rampaging bulls, even a horsethief or two are found quickly dispatched in the same manner as as the dogs and cats soon as they were out of anyone's sight. The villagers can count on seeing a blue-glowing set of six eyes from rafters, lofts, and around corners wherever they go, watching over them, always too far into the dark or too far away to see more than the eyes.

[PTTG]

A pack of wolves walks into town and roll over before the startled townsfolk. They growl and snarl even as they lay on their backs and expose their necks.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by starslayer

I was thinking, there could be benificial effects that are really creepy, and seem to be indicative of a 'soft corruption'.

Actually, that's a really good idea - some sort of corruption that appears initially beneficial ... until it's too late.

Ideally, accepting the benefits will provide some dark power with a level of consent that will make it hard or even impossible to resist later.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

"The calf were born dead, an wi' two heads, milord! T'is witchcraft afoot!"

In winter, deformed babies were often exposed, left to die in the cold. In particularly harsh Scandinavian winters, unwanted infants, even if healthy, might be given this treatment as well, giving rise to stories of vengeful little ghosts called mylings or utburds.

Even in cultures that don't officially stigmatize infanticide, parents are fighting evolutionary imperative to kill their children.
I could easily imagine a Tell-Tale Heart mystery. Someone, usually a poor woman but perhaps a man instead or in addition, hear a soft baby cry in the distance. It's driving them crazy as they ask, then demand others to find the source.
Human nature being what it is, eventually those unaffiliated start to hear it too. And bam, you got yourself a full blown mass hysteria.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Even in cultures that don't officially stigmatize infanticide, parents are fighting evolutionary imperative to kill their children.

The imperative for self-survival so you can raise all those other children to a breeding age exists for good reasons - it's better odds for your genes. There's a reason why young children were generally treated as property rather than people for most of history: you can always make another one.

I'm of course not saying that there isn't a big emotional block against killing your children - but if you think that just-birthed babe with a birth defect is a demon-spawned monster, you're not killing your child. You're killing a curse.