Spooky Story Contest (EU) - Entry thread

[Crystalloluminescence]

Eorzean Defright.

The ominous Sun stood high in the sky, the weather was gruellingly beautiful and every child around Preludis was merrily smiling at him. “Let’s play and have fun!” said one of the cute little boys. “YAY! Preludis is here to play, let’s make pancakes together!” said the pretty little girl to the left of the boy. Preludis felt a warm hand on his arm and turned around to see another adorable girl behind him; “Mr. Pwe, I made a dwawing of you and mom and dad and Rhuj and Fafa and Uncle and Auntie and Blehskorf and Fluffy and, and-..”
Preludis knew he had to act fast, lest he be trapped with the kids in perfect harmony forever. “UWAARRHHH” he clamoured, as he frantically started running and he dared not stop. As the children skipped behind him, laughing heartily, Preludis convinced himself that looking back would only give them power and strip him of his courage to fight the love that was trailing him.
As he ran, he found himself inside a forest with disgustingly inviting trees and benevolent nutkins, feeding their children delicate, golden acorns in the sockets of the trees. Vibrancy was everywhere he looked. On his right, there was a lovely deer bathing in a horrible, idyllic beam of sunlight shining down the tree crowns. He kept running.

Five or 20 minutes later - Preludis could not tell time as it seemed to be fleeting in this unfamiliar part of Eorzea - he saw a fluffy bed on his left. It looked ever so inviting and repulsive. No, he had to keep running, it was not over! This was not right. This was not the fear he thrived on. This was a terror much softer and heartfelt than he could have ever fathomed.
Preludis closed his eyes and sprinted as far as his legs would carry him until not an ounce of energy was left in his calves, and he eventually stopped, cramped forwards, caught his breath and opened his eyes. Sweat was dripping in a pool from his forehead, and the air had left his lungs. But wait, the pool was not his own… This pool was… seawater. And not just any seawater, it was the menacing, peaceful waves on a sunny beach. Panic ensuing, he turned and saw a wealth of gleeful families picnicking on the shores right behind him. There was no escape. This was the end. As Preludis was realizing this, he once again felt the detestable feeling of a warm hand on his arm. Slowly, he turned his head, trembling. “Look Mr. Pwe I brought you sweet, sweet Pumpkin Stew!”

Preludis woke up with a scream.
Voice: “My, what is it my dreadful?”
Preludis: “I had a terrible dream!"
Voice: “A dream!? Now-now, go back to sleep and have devilish nightmares instead!"
Preludis: “Yes… Yes, please. Hold on, who are you?”

Preludis turned his head backwards...



Name: Preludis Crystallum
World: Moogle
Prize: Chocobo Noble Barding

[Rubieus]

It had been a busy day farming Gridanian Walnuts in North Shroud, and Rubieus decided to take a nap under an Ancient Oak. Before he realised it, the sun had set. Dark clouds wandered overhead, leaving the night sky pitch black. He was awoken by a soft chittering noise. He looked out into the night trying to find the source. Diremites? He rose quickly and stood with his back against the the tree's sturdy trunk.

The chittering had grown louder as the seconds went by. He was surrounded now, but with his vision impaired he couldn't find a target strike out at. Soft yellow eyes began to appear. A pair, then another, eventually he was staring down a dozen eyes. The chittering had grown to a dull roar before it stopped. Rubieus knew he was in trouble and thought to jump up into the branches of the Oak. He fell asleep in the safety of its branches, while below the eyes continued to watch him.

The next morning Rubieus found himself being knocked out of the branches by the host and he landed squarely on his rear with a thud. Where had all the diremites gone? he thought to himself as he searched for his pack which had been scattered this way and that. Eventually he found the pack, or rather what was left of it. He cursed under his breath as he had lost all of his walnuts in the midnight scramble.

Suddenly the chittering returned, however the noise was now above him. As he looked up at the branches, shock and dismay was etched on his face. Looking down upon him was a family of nutkin.

Character name; Rubieus Amrita
World name; Tonberry
Choice of one (1) in-game Prize (as defined below): Chocobo Noble Barding

[Minttu]

This is a story from when I was a greenhorn adventurer.

I'd been lured into East Shroud by some odd job or another. As I got there, the sky quickly grew murky as clouds as black as night piled on. Sure enough, it was soon pouring rain and only the occasional lightning would break the darkness.

This was no safe working condition for an amateur, so I hurried back towards the Hawthorne Hut where I'd arranged lodging. On my way however, I passed a lalafell thaumaturge fighting some oddly zealous gnats. Seeing as she clearly had the situation under control and I could barely hold on to my weapon in my freezing, soaked state, I pressed on instead of lending a hand.

That night, as I sat alone in my cabin, I couldn't help but to think of that adventurer. I wondered whether I should have stayed to help. Despite my worry, I soon nodded off.

Rattle, rattle.

A sound roused me. I looked up, but could see nothing but pitch black. I told myself it was probably just a branch scratching the window, and sank back into my chair.

Rattle, rattle.

This time the noise was followed by a sharp clunk. I shot up as a strong gust hit me from the window that had somehow just opened itself. I rushed to close it, and realized something had appeared on the floor.

A small scepter sat under the window.

The hair on my tail rose. In my short tenure in Eorzea I had warded off several spooks and zombies, so I quickly put two and two together.

Rattle, rattle.

The noise, louder now, alarmingly seemed to be coming from the door this time.

Rattle, rattle.

This was it. The poor adventurer I had neglected had perished and was now here to make me take my rightful place with her.

Rattle, rattle... CRASH.

The door flung open as it finally lost the battle to whatever was trying to come through. A large, twitching figure slid into the room. My ears started buzzing so loud I was nearly knocked out from the noise alone.

The figure floated towards me steadily. Thunder struck. And at that moment, I could finally make out the shape of this vengeful spirit.

It... was a gnat.

Rattled as I might have been, taking down a lost bug wasn't exactly an issue.

I later learned that gnats can get territorial during thunderstorms. Oh, and the thaumaturge I'd supposedly gotten killed with my inaction? Yeah, not counting getting a scepter eaten by a gnat, she'd taken care of her mission no problem. And the mission I'd been there to do in the first place while she was at it.

I wound up having to pay for my cabin rent with a few fetch quests. Still, I'm glad that the only thing that met its untimely end that night was my pride.


Character name: Geccy Minttu
World name: Odin
Prize: Chocobo Noble Barding

[Annapaw]

Character Name: Annabeth Haythorn
Server: Balmung
Choice: Mangdora's choker !

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It was a dark rainy night at the house Samuel and i stayed in, it belong to Mister Quince the Master Crafter.

A strong windy whistle came through the shaft's of the old house creeks waking me up late at night, my head a bit dizzy i decided to go get a glass of milk in the house's kitchen. Slowly i walk the hallway to go down the stairs but as i make the first step down the stairs i hear Samuel's voice going "O! Anna are you awake? come help me in the kitchen." surprised Samuel was awake i started descending down the stairs only to hear Samuel's voice somewhere behind me from hes bedroom's area calling me out "Anna ! don't go down there i head that voice as-well." suddenly my hairs spike my spine crawls my skin gets goosebumps!

I hold still, i didn't move an inch as i take a deep breath and only one thing goes through my mind "Where is my glass of milk!?" without a second to realize what went on from the shadows a scary figure emerged, a giant walking talking glass of milk !!

- I woke up, realizing i just overate at dinner last night and was dreaming of yummies. OR DID I!?

[navelfluff]

OOPS!

Ugly Idiot. Odin server. Noble Chocobo barding please.

[navelfluff]

A suspicious eeriness hung in the air on the world of Odin as Ugly Idiot made his way to his free company house in The Mist. It was definitely living up to its name today and Ugly was sure it was darker and colder than usual, “you’re just imagining things” he told himself. But one thing was for certain there were a lot less people around than usual for this time. No one at the market board, no one at the summoning bell, not even a retainer and no one sat on the steps of any of the houses waiting to go adventuring in dungeons. Things were spooky around All Saint’s Wake time but never this spooky.
The mist turned into a thick ghostly fog and Ugly could barely see his hand in front of his face. Things were definitely not right! Suddenly he heard a rustling coming from a nearby chocobo stable, but as Ugly cautiously made his way over he noticed there was nothing there; no chocobos or anything. As he let out a sigh of relief he turned round and was startled by an abandoned pumpkin butler minion. Right, he’d had enough of this. Clearly the other Mist residents were playing some kind of practical joke. “Alright, you can come out now! You’ve got me! Very good joke!” But there was no response, only a distant suspicious cackle that he knew he’d heard in Haukke Manor long ago. Now Ugly was scared, he tried to use his aetheryte stone to teleport but he was so shaky it dropped out of his hand when he tried to use it.
Ugly decided that he would go to his room in the Free Company House and ride this out till morning when hopefully the fog had cleared and he would be able to find all his friends, he slowly crept to the house all the while turning and checking his surroundings, who knew what could be out there. Finally he made it.
He shut the door behind him, but someone had put a spooky song on the orchestrion. Now was not the time or the place for this he thought to himself. He ignored the music and went to his room but it was locked. He didn’t even know the door could be locked! Strange sounds filled the air; bumping, scratching and shuffling, this only made him more terrified. All of a sudden, the power went off. He was plunged into total darkness. All around him he felt movement as he slowly made his way back downstairs to the main hall. He wanted to cry but he was far too brave. He was the Warrior of Light for goodness sake! He took one step forward and tripped, tumbling into the basement. What happened next shocked him…
“SURPRISE!”
It had been a joke all along, his free company had set up a surprise All Saint’s Wake party! Unfortunately someone had screenshotted his face, he was going to be a laughing stock!

[shizukjanai]

charater: Shizukajanai Nyako
world: Sargatanas
prize: Chocobo Noble Barding


It was 31st October night, Rachel woke up, cold winter entered in room and while she was going to close windows a child voice howl hopelessly : “ help me!”. Who could be ? Rachel live alone in her castle, and why there were some mirrors in the room.
She raced and voice become more strong when she saw a shadow in mirror. She thought “what? “ and say “who are you? leave my home I hadn’t scare of you!”. The shadow disappear from mirror .
BOOM! Something was fallen on the floor, she started to coming down the stairs and she remembered that she had just seen that thing, it was the same book she read before go to sleep : “spooky Halloween story”
She picked up the book and without a precise motive she opened it.
The book was complete white, she was confused what was happening? It was real or only a nightmare ?
The words began to appear around first page, they were written slowly and with a strange ink… there was written what exactly happened before like the child voice that asked help.
Rachel thought to read how story continue , she was confused but it was the only thing that she thought sense. The strange ink continued to write and she read that “the second floor will be transformed in all white nothing” and so it was ! the second floor become all white.
She took a pencil and tried to write on book, but the words those she wrote were canceled and ink wrote “you will die” .
She was in panic how she could change that horrible final.
She noticed that ink was like old blood so she stunged her finger and started to write a new final “ the everything return like at 11.00 p.m. “ she thought the hour I go to bed and maybe I will wake up from this nightmare
The second floor reappeared and she was near bed and book was opened on bed, all was returned exactly as she wrote …. But the story like hours continue and
It was 31st October night, Rachel woke up, cold winter entered in room and while she was going to close windows a child voice howl hopelessly : “ help me!”. Who could be ? Rachel live alone in her castle, and why there were some mirrors in the room...

[VicLestrade]

"...an' some even say that if ye venture out into North Thanalan in the black o' night, ye might run into Flame Sergeant Dalvag 'isself. Or at least... whatever's wearin' his skin..."

Oh, sod off. What're we, children 'round a bleedin' campfire?

That's what Ludovic thought to himself, trekking out into the dusty trails of Camp Bluefog. His mates from the Maelstrom were getting into the spirit of All Saint's Wake, and that meant only one thing: hackneyed horror stories, terrorising tales thrice-told. Ludovic was sick of them.

Arriving at an especially plentiful cobalt deposit, he hopped off his chocobo and reached for his tools, strapped to his companion's side. Without warning, however, Alfendi bucked towards him, and the sudden force sent Ludovic careening to the ground! "Ungh...! Oi! What do you think yer playin' at, ye useless pile o'..." Ludovic mumbled, brushing himself off. "Do that again an' I'll pluck all yer feathers, one by one!" Alfendi wasn't listening, though. Something had spooked him, but what?

"I don't have time for this," said Ludovic, grabbing his pickaxe before the chocobo could knock him down again. He made his way through the pea-soup fog and began to chip away.

Wait a moment. Pea-soup fog? It was meant to be fair skies today...

He sighed. Bloody weatherwatchers. They were getting worse at their job by the second. Still, he couldn't make exceptions for bad weather. Ludovic struck at the rock again and again, collecting what little scraps of cobalt ore he could find. All the while, Alfendi was uncharacteristically still. Usually the chocobo would pace, or scurry. Instead, he just stood. Stock still, unerring. Though he'd never admit it, Ludovic was starting to get nervous.

That's when he heard the whispering.

Ludovic froze. Were his ears playing tricks on him? He couldn't make out what exactly was said, but it sounded... bizarre. Eldritch. Like a chorus of voices, calling in unison. Suddenly, perfect clarity fell upon him.

"Oh, enough with this farce!" Ludovic yelled. "Rai! Alena! Carroway! I know yer out there!" He laughed anxiously. "Joke's over, alright? Get out 'ere!"

He waited.

Nothing.

So be it. If they were going to play that game, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction. Stone-faced and steely-eyed, he turned back to the cold rock and continued mining. It felt so much quieter, like the wind itself was in on the joke. Again, he heard the otherworldly whispering. It seemed louder this time, and it was getting louder still. It dawned on him that he could no longer hear Alfendi. Worse still, he could start to make out words.

Words like "hate", like "fury", "vengeance", "spite".

Words like "seize him".

Ludovic's eyes grew wide. Before he could move, he felt an icy grip on his shoulder; then another on his arm, his neck, his legs. Before he could scream, an inky tendril wrapped around his mouth. He felt a dozen frozen breaths against his skin.

Everything went black.

===========

Character name: Ludovic Lestrade
World: Coeurl
Prize: Chocobo Noble Barding

[Real_Night]

The vampire who wanted milk

Once upon a time, there was a vampire girl who wanted change her bloodlust into something else. While she was a miqo'te among the living, unfortunately she never had a chance to drink any drop of milk. She had enough of the chasing the alive beings for their juice, so she truly want to change her drinking source. In a blink of an eye she run to a fishy fortune teller. The old lady got jealous of the forever lasting beauty, and decided she will lecture the blood drinking creature. With the hardness to hide her smile, the old one told The Legend of the Goat God, to her prey of lie.

" The Goat God can transform your curse my friend, but for this you must summon him. "

" The ritual needs an ancient relic, so hurry you must find it. "

" But not this is the hardest part! "

" To speak with the god, belive me or not, you must learn the goatian language, wich is more harder than Sophia X ! "

The vampire girl sadly looked through her own eyes, and thinked she might be tricked. The road is long and risky as the real age of this lady. Our liar continues...

" One of the goats phsyhic shield must be broken through with the power of your mental, to set your foot on the milk landmark. "

Day after day, night after night, not knowing given up, our vampress send her thoughts into many goats empty eyes. Sadly she must realise, the whole story is nothing more, just a big fat lie! The conclusion was the end of the fortune tellers life, whos blood was tastier than the sweatest apple pie!



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Character name: Riaru Yoru
World: Odin
Prize: Bluebird Earrings

[Reinthir]

This is really silly but I hope you enjoy it
-----------------------------------------------------

Family Horrors

I was making my way down town, walking fast, lots of Miqo'te faces passed and I'm New Gridania bound. There was a chill in the air and people were crowding around the market stalls, purchasing all manner of items designed for All Saints' Wake. People with painted faces could be seen scurrying through the dimly lit, cobblestoned streets. It warmed my cold heart.

I decided to pick up something to eat on my walk back home. I continued onwards, picking at the food of my choice. Suddenly, a chill came over me. It was a feeling that I had had several times before. Right before something terrible would happen. But how could something terrible happen here, in New Gridania?

A shadow cast itself onto the floor, it stretched up from behind me. The figure was that of another Miqo’te and judging by the physique, likely female. I placed a hand on the dagger I always kept at my side and readied myself to turn. I considered dropping my food but if worse came to worst, I could throw it at them.

“Ayran!” A woman’s voice called out.

My mind pondered for a moment. I had heard the voice before. Who did it belong t-

Oh no.

This had to be trick! From the Scions? Of course it was, Thancred fancied such tricks. Because she couldn't be here... oh, why!?

“Ayran?” The voiced called again in a questioning tone.

"Mother!" I said as I turned to face her, forcing along with it a smile. She opened her arms for a hug and I begrudgingly obliged.

I didn’t even manage another word before she pulled away and smacked my head with the rolled up parchment in her hands. I flinched and put up my hands defensively as she continued on the offensive.

"Why do I have to come all the way down here just to see my son!?" She shouted, hitting me with the parchment after each word she spoke. A crowd of onlookers started to gather, many of them laughing as I, the Warrior of Light, stood cowering from my own Mother.

“Mo- Mother stop!” I pleaded, “I’ve been busy fighting Primal’s and saving Eorzea!”

“What’s more important, Eorzea or your Mother!?” She shot right back.

“Mother-” I began again before being interpreted once more.

“And you’re out dressed… like that! Wear a coat or you’ll catch a cold.”

“I’ve been to Ishgard, it’s much colder there.”

“And what have I told you about eating with you grubby hands!”

“But you always used to do it?”

“You do as I say, not as I do.” She said matter of factly, pointing a finger. “Now, come on, we have some catching up to do.”

She grabbed my hand and dragged me passed the crowed of giggling on-lookers. And as I sat there, enduring the torture of my worst fear and waiting for the stars to fade away into daylight, I knew that this was an All Saints’ Wake I’d never live down.

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Character name: Ayran Reinthir
World: Cerberus
Prize: Chocobo Noble Barding