Child-eater Myth in Aequus | World Anvil
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Child-eater

Terror of the Blightwoods, kidnapping naughty children to grow stronger

Special thanks to Rosana Dos Santos Pinto for helping with the brainstorm for this article

Introduction


"Watch out for the Child-eater... if you keep being a bad kid, it will come to get you in your sleep!"
— a mother threatening her naughty son

As looming threat as it is to all of the Archani, it is unsurprising that the Blightwoods and its unstoppable growth are easily the greatest fear in the Kingdom of Archana. It has slowly sunk into the culture of the land, even in folk tales and stories for children. One of the most famous is one based on The Whispering One, the Child-eater.

Summary

The Whispering One, also called the Child-eater or Child-snatcher in these tales, is attracted by evil and wants to consume it all to become stronger. As children are easier targets, it lurks into the night in search of those who are naughtier and kidnaps them, dragging them to the Blightwoods to eat them whole and grow stronger.

Historical Basis

The creature of the tale indeed exists, and it as a very real foe of the Paladins, but there is no evidence that it drags children into the Blightwoods. In reality, it is believed that in can't leave the Blightwoods at all, as not a single report of it outside its territory has ever been made.

Spread

As stories of the Whispering One began to surface, they were received with a mixture of disbelief and dread. But in time, the number of people who dismissed the stories dwindled to nearly none, especially after the Order of Tiamat's Knights began their incursions into the Blightwoods and many more reports of the creature began to spread.

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