The Soulcager of Dreadwood

Summary

The Dreadwood, just south of Waranthea, is a dark and dangerous wood. Beasts three men high roam its misty thickets, eager for their next meal. However, very few beings enter the woods dangerous and twisted routes - it is not for their knowledge of these beasts or the woods in which they live that men do not enter, but rather, it is because of the tales told during their childhood. Many centuries ago, parents desperate to keep their child from these woods came together to spin the tale of the Dreadwood Soulcager, a hag that captured the souls of all who were lost within her wood.

Historical Basis

Whist years of telling has transformed the story of the Dreadwood Soulcager, it is in fact a very real tale from the history of the ancestors of modern Waranthea. Nobody knows nowadays whether the Soulcager is real, or myth - however it is common fact that many who enter the Dreadwood fail to return. The story, however, is based off of a series of disappearances from long ago:

Back before Waranthea stood behind its walls of stone, when its village stood open and vulnerable to monstrous threats, children would often wander around the nearby lands in the name of boredom. Back then, the Dreadwood - whilst not quite as dangerous - still housed vicious creatures that would, and could, rip a man to pieces. One evening, a young girl failed to return home from her daily exploration into the Dreadwood and a three man search party was sent out into the night to bring her home. The next morning, the men nor the girl had failed to return - it was agreed that the Dreadwood was to be off limits from this point forward. However, whilst men and women have no trouble following common logic, if a child exists not to break rules, then what for? Just such a child was Thaddeus Fletcher, a young Elven boy no older than 12 who loved nothing more than to see rules as less rules and more... challenges. His parents knew this, and had struggled on multiple occasions to have Thaddeus do as was told. This time, however, Thaddeus' life was potentially in danger, and the loving parents came together to spin the tale of a hag who had stolen the people who entered the Dreadwood. She was to be known as the Soulcager, a woman so vile and so evil that she snatches the souls of children right from their body and stores them in crystal rows like dolls on a shelf. Thaddeus, as was known for Thaddeus to do, saw this as nothing but a challenge.

This, more than anything, is the part of the tale that is told - and remembered - by most. Thaddeus gathered his friends not two months later, when the story had had ample time to spread amongst the village. Both Thaddeus and his two companions had their eyes set on defeating the Soulcager of Dreadwood and becoming legends amongst the village. With sticks at their sides and rolled pelts to survive the cold of night - the three of them set off into the misty Dreadwood. The boys made their ways through twisted brambles, thorn shrubberies and even harshly formed rocky cliffs - yet the Soulcager remained elusive. It was only once the boys had fallen asleep from exhaustion that the first traces of the witch began to appear. Thaddeus was awoken to the warm and familiar scent of smoke, and could clearly see its point of origin through the openings in the treetops above. The boys crept up, careful not to alert whoever stood at the source of the open flame - and yet when they arrived at the source - it was but a regular clay hut. One whose chimney roared with puffs of smog and smoke deep into the nights sky. And in the doorway of said hut stood but an old feeble lady, no taller than 4 feet - her face one of warmth, and welcoming - it was impossible to think her a 'hag' or a 'witch' thought Thaddeus, and thus the boys approached the old woman with requests to take refuge the night. She accepted, gladly.


The woman's walls were covered in gems and jewels, all glimmering and shining in the lights of the flickering fire. Whilst this initially scared the young men, they were soon to dismiss any real danger upon the kindly reception of food and bed the elderly woman offered. Within no time at all, the boys were set to sleep and the witch dismissed in the mind of Thaddeus as nothing but lies and tricks his parents had played on the boys. "Why make such a kind old woman out to be so wicked" he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep. But nothing is ever as it seems, especially with wicked tricksters and witches at play... having slept for what felt like minutes, Thaddeus awoke suddenly to the burst of a short-lived scream, and then silence. Thaddeus awoke and saw what looked like the cloth of his companions chest ripped from him - and yet his clothing remained in tact. The 'cloth' seemed to almost absorb into the dull gem the lady held in her right hand - a hand now bony and gaunt in nature, attached to the body of a woman with a similar appearance. Her bony face creaking with the sound of the cackling that filled the hut, her eyes fixated upon the gem that now began to glow with an eerie green tone - its structure changing and shaping into a perfect, crystalline kite diamond. Her eyes slowly shifted from the gem now floating amidst her decrepit fingers to the boy who stared in terror. His friends lied limp and lifeless - when had the first been caught? Was Thaddeus going to die? The thoughts that filled the foolish boys head were stopped in an instant, for the witch hobbled over and immediately thrust her hand into the boys chest, yet no skin appeared pierced in any way and Thaddeus felt no pain. Rather, Thaddeus felt as if his heart had been grabbed from his chest, and before him what appeared from afar as cloth now appeared more mist-like in form - he knew, deep down, that this - whatever it was - was the form of his soul. In a flash, Thaddeus' vision left his own eyes and shifted, crystalline strokes of varying size and shape began to form around his new body and soon, it appeared to him as if the world was being viewed through a cloudy screen - and on the other side of that screen stared back the grin of a mouth so vile and foul, one that simply spoke four words: "You belong to me".

Thaddeus, nor his friends, the girl, or the men - where ever seen again. And so it has been, despite centuries of storytelling, that more have disappeared in the Dreadwood. However none have actually met the Soulcager and lived to tell of it, so it is often regarded as a myth. It is even rumored that deep within the wood, the yells and screams of those stuck upon the dusty shelves of the Soulcager are heard, and that if you do hear these screams - the Soulcager is not far behind, and you'd best start running else you'll end up hers too.

Spread

Whilst mainly a tale told in the Elven city of Waranthea, the influence of the Dreadwood Soulcager spreads far and wide through the Elvish originally of Waranthean decent. The Myth is often utilized as a powerful tool parents can use to keep their children at bay, however children who know of the Soulcager's living in the Dreadwood are often unphased by a witch living half way across the continent. For this fact many often change the tale to suit whatever area the children best stay away from - the abandoned mine, the marshlands, the deadly cliffs - all prime locations for the Soulcager should the teller of the tale see fit. However, as the belief in the Soulcager grows so too does the disappearances in the areas shes foretold to hunt occur - and it is for this fact that adults, too, fear the Soulcager of Dreadwood.

In Literature

Adapted into a young adults book by author Gregor Maltrope, "The Mystery of the Dreadwood Soulcager" is commonly available in all Waranthean bookstores - and is even occasionally stocked in elvish bookstores worldwide. Despite it being a hit-selling book amongst the citizens of Waranthea, it does not detract from the seriousness of the dangers of the Soulcager, and a warning is printed both in the beginning and end of the book to avoid the Dreadwood.

In Art

Often many try to parse common gems, be them sculpted or naturally forming, as those that belonged to the Soulcager. Though this obviously is not true - many still fall for the excitement that comes with owning such a rich part of Waranthean history. These gems appear to have a center that shifts and gleams in the light of open flames - however this is simply a property of how said gem forms. Whilst it is incredibly rare and on its own worth a lot, the Soulcager (the name of the gems) has a crystalline form within that reflects the light in the way described.