Eugine Ladingail, a traveling merchant was returning home after a month away from home, to a small Hamlet named Ivy. When he returned home he expected to return home to his wife and daughters, but instead he returned to a ghost town. What happened? Where did everyone go? This is the story of Eugine Ladingail.
“I think the first thing I noticed was the smell,” says Eugine. “The air it smelled strange, like a chemical smell, like acid, but there was something else mixed in as well, I don’t know what it was but it didn’t smell good.” Eugine then described to me how he searched Ivy looking to see where everyone had gone, calling out for his wife and children, but nobody answered him, nobody came. “I searched every building in Ivy, and I found no one, everyone was gone. That’s when I began looking for signs, seeing what could had done this and where could they have gone.”
Eugine noticed that many of the doors were not bashed open, but burned open melted away with some acidic substance and that none of the valuables were removed from the house. Eugine also noticed that on the dirt pathways outside that he only saw the citizens boot prints and not any tracks made by the attackers. But then upon closer inspection he found strange “footprints”- areas were the soft dirt had flattened perfectly in the shape of a toeless foot. The same footprints were found inside the houses as well, areas where the stain of the floorboards were completely removed from the wood.
“It’s almost like whoever came into Ivy didn’t come here for any valuables, they came there for the people” Euigine said.“It was quiet for a very long time until I entered one house searching it for anyone still left. It was empty, same as the others, but the smell of acid was stronger in here, that when I heard something. I turned and ducked just in time as a large hand soared over my head, if I had not reacted I surely would have been hit. Standing before me was a humanoid creature, standing at around 6ft tall, it’s limbs were unnaturally long, it’s head or what resembled a head was devoid of features, and it’s flesh was made of translucent green slime that smelled strongly of some acidic chemical. And within it’s it’s slimy body I noticed floating within was swirls or crimson and bits partially dissolved bone. In it’s other hand it held a rusted mace, the grip of which was slowly being eaten away by the creatures touch.
“I unsheathed my sword and took a swing at the creature. It dug deep into the creatures torso and it let out an inhuman scream, like some horrible demonic fetus screaming through sludge. As I drew my blade out of the creature, green thick sludge poured from the wound sloshing onto the floor. I looked at my blade and I noticed small pockmarks all across the part of the sword where it made contact with the creature. It continued with its otherworldly piping as it swung its mace at me, I dodged out of the way and the mace collided with a nearby wall and got lodged in place. While it tried to free the mace from the wall I slashed at it again, it landed in the thing’s shoulder blade, I pulled out the blade and slashed it across the stomach. It cried out again, its… well… what mimicked breathing, grew more raspy, and more and more of its thick sludgy innards lapped onto the floor.
“It staggered towards me and sung at me with one of its fists. I dodged out of the way but the second fist caught me off guard and grabbed onto my left forearm. It felt like my forearm was being stabbed with a thousand razor blades over and over again. I tried to pull away but its vice-like grip held strong, while its other hand began to reach towards my head, its rasping labored sludge filled breathing echoed in my ears. I pulled and pulled and felt its grip loosening, I pulled one last time, moment of awful pain and I freed myself from its grip. I stepped back and swung my sword, I swung once at the chest making a diagonal cut across the creature’s torso, and again at its neck. With a wet slap and a loud gurgling scream its faceless head toppled to the floor, its neck began to spill more of the foul sludge as its headless body stumbled towards me, hands groping at the air, and with one last gurgling otherworldly cry it fell onto the ground and died.
“Its body immediately began to lose shape and melted into a pile of ooze, I noticed that the pile of ooze that was its right hand was was a deep shade of crimson and looked down at the arm that it had grabbed. Most of the skin on my forearm was gone leaving the severely damaged muscle and in some places, like my fingers, bone was also exposed.”
Eugine told us that he then walked to the next town over to get medical attention and to report the hamlet’s destruction to the town guard. Eugine ended up having to get his left forearm amputated and he has completely recovered from his injuries.
Eugine’s story is sadly not unique, over the course of the summer, many small communities that were once thriving and full of life are now ghost towns and larger settlements have been reporting disappearances and sightings of these strange long limbed humanoids roaming large packs. However, what is strange is that all the farms, hamlets, and small towns that were attacked were nearby or somewhat nearby to the large town of Elmerton. Even some of the large farms and settlements that have survived attacks from these creatures were seen approaching from and retreating toward the direction of the town of Elmerton. What could this mean? Could Elmerton the town of heroes created the creatures? If so then why? More as the story continues.
Magestic Messenger Reporter: Miles Dakly
