Specific to the country of
Therrezia, tales of a ghostly shrieking woman have persisted through the centuries. Appearing at night, this apparition often haunts an individual, her horrific visage and presence seen as an omen of death.
Most reports of a Banshee describe a translucent figure clad in flowing robes or nightgowns, with long matted hair that snakes i unseen wind. Their faces are often at first obscured, be it by hair or a hood or simply by facing a different direction. However, when the face is eventually seen, it will be gaunt and grotesque, twisted in to an unnatural scream.
Behaviour and Abilities
A Banshee sighting is rare in Therrezia, but not unheard of. The folk-tales have persisted through generations, and many a bed-time story has been told to children. Hauntings often start around an area outside; a local forest, a rural route, crossroads. Travellers will report seeing a female ghost, or a long, shrieking cry in the distance that sends chills down the spine. This often centres around an individual.
As the sightings progress and become more common, so will the rumours and desperation of locals. The wailing will be heard further afield, even reaching up to 5 miles away. Eventually the haunting will lead to death.
How this death comes about is the same in each story - the Banshee's Wail. It is said that those too close to a Banshee when it lets out this cry will be struck down immediately. This is often the individual that is being haunted by the Banshee, the unfortunate victim's haunted suffering coming to a fatal end. After a death has happened, the Banshee will disappear for a while, but often returns at the coming of the next New Moon.
A Deceased Relative and Prophecies of Death
Many in Therezzia simply believe Banshee's are an evil spirit, trapped in
The Material Plane akin to
Ghosts. There is another belief tied to specific bloodlines in Therrezia, one that perhaps goes back to before the country was founded.
It is said that a Banshee is an ancestor of one of these family bloodlines, often a woman who met a grizzly end. Sightings of a Banshee are taken as a warning by the family; a prophetic vision that death will soon visit. As the sightings and screams increase, the time until someone will die decreases, until eventually at the height of the Banshee's wail, someone will be stricken down. This is sometimes by accident or illness, but there are many stories that the person simply dropped dead.
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