The nights are the most
difficult.
The days here are one long
nightmare. I fall asleep only to awaken from another dream
that is the same as the last. I am back in the lair of the
Fen Dweller, he spots me at the same time as I him. We bare
our teeth and our claws ache with anticipation. He begins to
run towards me snarling and slashing his claws in the air. I
also snarl and my roar knifes through the swamp as I rush at
him. The distance closes and just as we would reach each
other, something strange happens. Instead of colliding we
pass together like two ghosts and we are one. Inside we tear
at each other, ripping flesh and breaking bone. But we do not
die.
The nights here are one long
daydream. I listen to the sounds of the bog, I know them well
now. I recall the days when I was human, when I was
beautiful, and when I was loved. I dream of beautiful women,
fine Italian wine, and food that was cooked with meticulous
preparation. I remember what it was like to be a man. I
talk to Mr. Thomas, a friend I have here in the swamp, more about
him in just a bit.
That is no longer
the way for me. I am different now. I keep one foot on
each plane, never living but never dying. I have taken the
spirits of many, they chatter in my soul and use my physical body
to live again vicariously through me. While stalking one day,
I felt my leg being grabbed, something would pull me under the
water if it were able, instead I lifted the creature from the bog
by the hair.. She calls herself Peg Powler, she also treads
on both planes. Her appearance is quite revolting, although
she is able to transform herself into a beautiful maiden seemingly
at will. She has no interest in feeding on the humans, only
delights in their screaming and struggling as she pulls them slowly
under the black water. She showed me a place where they pass
close.
It was in this place that I took my first human victim, a
portly balding gentleman strolling along the path. Peg
grabbed his ankle and I leapt up out of the rushes. Oh that
you could see the horror in his eyes! It was as pure as it was
intense. He emptied his bladder and dumped his bowels at the
sight of us. I dragged his fear-frozen carcass deep into my
forest. Peg sat with me as I ate.
Peg
Powler: If you would
kill it before you began eating it, it would not wail so.
Ellylidan: I like to listen to the screams, I once
screamed like that myself.
Peg Powler: Aren't you going to eat his head? I
hear it's the best part once you crack it open.
Ellylidan: No, not this one. I will keep this
head as a pet. I will store some of these chattering spirits
inside it. I will keep the treasures I have stolen there
too.
Peg Powler: What will you call him? How about
Mr. Headly? Or Sir Bleedsalot?
Ellylidan: I will call him Mr. Thomas because it
reminds me of something I used to know, a poem perhaps.
I am Ellylidan, I
am wraith and I am legion. You are all invited to my home for
dinner. If I have eaten already, you will live. If I am
hungry you will beg for death. I take Mr. Thomas with me in
the night. By day you may find him at the coordinates
above. Beware of Peg Powler, she would waste your fat and
bones. Do not chop your way in as you did to Fen
Dweller's lair.