The Thing in the Woods

Class	Magical
Rarity	Unique
Size	Large
Stats	55 HP 10 Strength 4 Defense 8 Agility 6 Intelligence

Introduction

Children in the Imperial Province of Veronia are often told stories by their parents to scare them and ensure they do not go out at night. One of these stories in particular stands out for not only is it often told, it is considered a reality. The story goes that deep in the deep woods central to the province, something lives. No one is sure what exactly it is, yet everyone knows that it is a creature not to be tampered with.

The story goes that one day a young woman went into the forest to check her rabbit traps to see if she caught anything in the early morning. It was still dark outside and a low mist hung over the forest. As she made her way inside the forest and checked her traps, she had a feeling that she was not alone. She looked to her right and left and could not see anything and assumed it must be an animal that was skulking nearby that gave her that feeling. As she continued going through her traps, bringing her deeper and deeper into the forest, the feeling of dread overtook her out of nowhere as she was so certain that she was being looked at again. She checked her surroundings but could not see anything. The woman would try to reason with herself to come up with an explanation for this intense feeling that kept getting worse and worse and almost out of desperation she called out to whatever may be in the woods, hoping she may have just noticed another hunter that would call back to her to calm her senses. Yet no reply came. She took a deep breath and tried to collect herself and move on with her task to get out of that place as soon as she could. As the huntress made it to her last trap that was about an hour’s walk away from the forest’s edge at this point, that feeling of primal fear and dread overtook her mind once again. She jumped up to look at her surroundings once more.

At first, she could not see or hear anything strange until she had the realization that not only did she not hear anyone walking near her, but she did not hear anything at all. The birds she’d usually hear all around the forest had gone quiet and the sound of small critters crawling around had gone as well. She quickly started to feel incredibly uncomfortable and decided to get out of that forest as quickly as she could, but as she started to wander away from the heart of the forest, her heart dropped at the sudden piercing sound of a bell ringing in the distance. In a reflex she quickly turned around and drew her short sword, expecting a robber to come out, yet nothing came, only the sound of a bell that kept creeping closer and closer to her. The woman was frozen for a few more seconds until the sound of the bell started to sound like it was getting closer, and when she realized that whatever was out there was coming for her, she ran back to the forest’s edge as quickly as she could with the bell sound following closely behind her.

She darted through the forest as quickly as she could, running on pure adrenaline as she was already getting extremely exhausted. Yet it did not matter how fast she ran, the bell only seemed to come closer and closer as she went. After some more time, the woman was completely exhausted and felt defeated as it seemed that all her efforts were for nothing, and upon realizing that there was no escape, she stopped. She stopped and slowly turned around to meet what was following her. The sun was already slowly about to creep over the horizon allowing for a tiny bit of vision beyond the still very dark forest behind her. The bell kept coming closer and closer to her until at some point, she saw her chaser and her face went completely white upon seeing it in full. What she saw was a horrid slender four-meter-tall humanoid creature wearing a long dark robe. It appeared to be walking due to how it moved yet no actual feet seemed to hit the ground as no actual footsteps were heard. Its head was hidden under long white-gray hair and its face appeared to be made of what seemed like a white mask made out of bone or wood in the shape of a woman’s face. It was carved to such perfection that it seemed like the head of a statue. Its eyes were hollow and black with no expression and around its waist, the creature had a rope for a belt with a bell attached to its hip through that rope belt, dangling down its leg, making that horrid bell sound every step it took. Besides its body dangled two slender arms covered in the same robe with no hands sticking out, but what seemed like razor-sharp claws.

As the woman saw this horrid creature right behind her, a rush of adrenaline surged through her as her body’s primal will to survive took over and she ran off once more as quickly as she could, screaming for help all the way. She ran and ran until she noticed something in the distance in front of her. The faint light of a few lanterns and the sound of a horse walking was what she could hear and she ran towards the light and sound as quickly as she could, screaming for help from the top of her lungs, all while the bell was still screeching behind her. As she neared the lights she noticed the sound of the bell starting to dwindle as if she was finally increasing the distance between herself and the creature. After some more running she could hear a voice calling out to her, it was the head of a Veronian hunting party that just made their way inside the forest. The woman ran as quickly as she could towards them and almost crashed into them as she made it. What the hunting party found was someone who had seen all hell and all she could do was cry and beg them to go with her out of the forest as she tried to explain that a monster was following her and that the bell indicated how close it was. The hunters tried to listen for the sound of a bell but to them, the forest was completely silent, no critters, no birds, but also no bell. They would eventually agree to return to their village with the woman where they were safe.

After this encounter, more and more people started to report hearing the sound of bells in the deep woods and it was forbidden to go in there alone at night by the village elders shortly after. These days people still vanish in the forest, and the sound of bells can still be heard in the dark by those who are brave enough to enter.

Habitat

The Imperial Province of Veronia.

Behaviour

Little is known about the thing in the woods besides that it hunts at night and announces its presence to its prey through the ringing of the bell around its waist as it moves.

Abilities

Razor-sharp claws: The thing in the woods hunts with its razor-sharp claws, cutting through flesh like a hot knife through butter. This move has 1 attack and deals D8 damage.

Drops

None