The Half-Breed Child

Come play with me

They say that the child still roams the forests around Altein, asking for people to play with him. But if you say yes, then no one will ever see you again.

— Bashel, who grew up in Altein

The story of the Half-breed child is a common scary story told in the town of Altein. The story is based on a real event which happened over two hundred years ago. It's very common that villagers end up killing known Half-breeds due to how much hate they have towards them. It's not unusual for them to claim that they're spies from The Country of Ildres sent to infiltrate The Kingdom of Edrea, that's the way the justify their actions.

Related Ethnicities

• Northerners

Related Species

• Half-breeds
• Humans

Related Locations

• Altein
• Morlea

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Summary

The story goes, that a half-breed child was hung in the forest and then came back as a ghost to get revenge on the town who killed him. He approached children and ask them if they want to play with him. If they say yes, then the half-breed will drag them longer and longer into the forest until the child no longer knows the way back. Then he proposes that they go up in a tree to see if they can see anything and find a way back. When they're up there, the half-breed child throws a noose around the poor child's throat and pushes them down from the tree, hanging them.
Some stories also say that the child does it to both children and grown-ups alike, even luring some in with the promise of eternal fun and no hardships. It's common for people to commit suicide in the forests, but many believe that they are not suicides but the work of the half-breed ghost.

Common sentences used in the retelling "Do you want to play with me?" "If you follow me, you can do whatever you want! Forever!" "Don't you want to be free from the pain?" "Your parents can't control you anymore" "We can play - forever"

Scare the kids The story is not told out of compassion or pity for the half-breed child. He's seen as a monster who got what he deserved and now came back to haunt the town further. The story is usually told to children to keep them from going into the forest on their own.

Historical basis

The specific situation the story is based on was a child who was killed in 548 AK. It happened after he had been out playing and when he fell and started crying, his skin turned green because he was too emotional.
An adult saw it and reported it to the authorities and the child was hung in the forest a few days after. Many reported seeing a small ghostly child with Iwachi ears in the forest after that, and some claimed it was the kid who had come back to get revenge or complete its mission.

Mama! Mama help! The half-breed was here, he wanted to play. I don’t want to play I want to stay here!

— child who has heard the story for years

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The story of the Half-Breed child

The half-breed child is a trickster, a spirit with venom in its mind. It has no other purpose than revenge, using its time on harassing and haunting those who ended his life. It was 200 years ago, but the child looks as small and fragile as always when it roams around the forest outside of Altein. He’s always looking for his next victim, someone to kill in the same way he himself died, by hanging.
Children strolling around on their own are its preferred target. Innocent and pure souls who have done no wrong, those are the ones who must suffer and pay. They have done no wrong, for it is the half-breed who is tainted and malicious. He was this in life and he is it in death.
He will ask the child to play with him, and the child won’t notice the green hue or the pointy ears. They can say no, but those who don’t have any way of returning. They will meet their end before the sun sets.

Not before long, the victim will insist on finding a way back, and the ghost pretends to comply. They will crawl into a tree to see if they can see the village and then when the unsuspecting kid turns their back, the ghost will say they made them a necklace. But it is no necklace. Not a necklace and not a thoughtful gift either. It is a noose made from rough rope, and even if the child realizes what’s going on, they are already doomed. Then the ghost whispers that they can play forever, and the child will be pushed down from the branch and fall to their death.
Some say that the half-breed's victims are forever prisoners of the forest, forced to play with the ghost child for as long as their spirit roams the earth. Forced to do as he says for eternity, for they are but puppets and he is the one who controls their strings.
So never go alone to the forest, or the half-breed will get you.