Moonlight Sin: Horror D&D One Shot
129A rift in reality, a river of stars and an abyss of madness. The snow globe is shaken once more. This is yet another song for an empty world.
What do the trees of a forgotten forest talk about? Do they contemplate what the world outside their realm looks like now after a millennia of solitude? Well, whatever plants do ponder, these trees do not speak at all anymore... Not since that day...
Nestled away in the forest's heart is a village isolated from the rest of the world's troublesome goings ons. A village whose customs and norms would raise the eyebrows of even the most welcoming of societies and spark a witch hunt from the least.
For what dies in this village doesn't stay dead.
Through teachings passed down from generations before, the villagers created tools and trinkets that allowed for communion with those who have passed. Flutes to attract the spirits, garments woven from the Seamstress that would manifest souls in to a corporeal form and even concoctions that would put the imbiber in a state or spiritual vulnerability, allowing them to see, feel or even be possessed by those they have summoned. This way of life brought loved ones back from the dead, restored families and gave those who had gone too soon a second chance at life, love and family.
Some of these trinkets have made their way out of the village and in to the hands of travelling merchants. Each sale made after a gripping tall tale behind its mysterious history and as a result, many myths and scary bed times stories were created of such a place in more sceptical, ignorant towns.
To an outsider, the villagers themselves would appear like spectres. Constantly bathed in an ethereal moonlit glow. The women had pale skin, made only paler by their choice of make up and silky flowing gowns that made them look as if they were hovering over the ground while the men wore masks resembling that of laughing horned demons to ward off such outsiders, both living and dead for their practices attracted wandering adventurers and unwanted lost souls.
On nights of intense moonlight, the villagers would gather outside to perform ritualistic songs and dance to gather and welcome spirits back in to the realm of the living. The feverish dancing and entrancing music would put the villagers in a semi concious state that made their perceptions more malleable to wonder in to the spirit realm.
However, not every spirit is good or honest. Some deceased members of the village were not good people and the village was, frankly, better off for their passing, though such personalities have a bad habit of coming back.
And some spirits were never human to begin with and such presences can bring disaster and doom...