Dark evil things who's greater power has leached away over the ages. Now as shells of their former selves they are malevolent, violent, shapeless creatures that seek to do harm or trick anyone they come across into giving them things.

The Dark Ones, Those of the Deep Dark, Na Fo-Chois ((nah FOH-khish) The Underfoot)

Being of varying size, more physical than spiritual but lacking cohesive form. When you can get a good view of them they will look horrific as if out of your nightmares. Fear being there greatest tool.

he Hollow Footprint

A footprint:

too deep
too long
facing the wrong way
appearing where nothing should walk
Meaning:

something old passed here

The Offered Coin

A single coin left where it should not be:

crossroads
cave mouths
abandoned wells
forest stones
Meaning:

something asked for payment

or

someone already paid

Never touch it

Split Horns

Broken or forked horn imagery

Often:

goat horn
stag antler split unnaturally
Meaning:

false power
corruption wearing nature’s face

The Black Mouth

A cave, well, or opening with:

no reflected light
wrong silence
unnatural cold
Meaning:

places where they linger

Children are warned about these

The Wrong Reflection

Mirrors or water that:

move wrong
show too much
show someone else
Meaning:

invitation to be noticed

The Untaken Gift

Food, jewelry, or valuables left in strange places

and untouched by animals

Meaning:

bait

or

proof something accepted an offering

The Watching Eye Without a Face

A crude eye symbol scratched where:

no person should have been
Meaning:

being observed by something that should not know your name

The Backward Shadow

When shadow falls wrong against the light

Meaning:

something nearby is not entirely real

Fear, Greed, Ambition, Corruption, Forbidden Bargains, The Deep Dark, Temptation, Hunger, Forgotten Evils

Feed on Fear, Masters of Temptation, Thrive in Forgotten Places

Cannot Easily Cross Warded Boundaries, Names and True Recognition, Sacred Fire and Honest Light

The Hollowing
Description:

A person begins to feel:

emotionally distant
difficult to recognize
spiritually “thin”

People describe it as:

“They came back, but not all of them did.”

Symptoms:
forgetting familiar things
strange sleepwalking
loss of appetite
mirrors feeling wrong
animals avoiding them
Cause:

Usually from:

surviving deep contact
entering a forbidden place
accepting something that should have been refused
Cultural Meaning:

Extremely feared

People may quietly wonder:

did they come back alone?

Coin-Touched
Description:

Someone who has taken:

the wrong gift
the wrong bargain
the offered coin

and carries lingering bad fortune

Symptoms:
repeated misfortune
broken engagements
animals growling at them
impossible bad luck
hearing their name spoken when alone
Cultural Meaning:

Seen as:

debt unpaid

Not cursed—
indebted

The Watching
Description:

The persistent feeling of being observed

and eventually:

being correct

Symptoms:
shadows moving wrong
repeated dreams of the same place
always feeling watched from behind
doors opening slightly
hearing footsteps with no source
Cause:

Usually from:

being noticed

not from doing anything wrong

which is worse

Cultural Meaning:

People do not like discussing this one aloud

Deep-Sleep
Description:

A person becomes unnaturally drawn to:

caves
ruins
abandoned wells
old dark places

and dreams of them constantly

Symptoms:
sleepwalking toward dangerous places
obsession with old ruins
compulsive digging
strange missing time
Cultural Meaning:

Especially terrifying in children

because it implies:

something is calling them back

The Gift Left Open
Description:

A family line marked by an old bargain never properly closed

Symptoms:
repeated family tragedies
one child in every generation “wrong”
inherited omens
specific rooms in old houses feeling dangerous
Cultural Meaning:

This becomes:

family shame

and old noble houses absolutely have this

Mirror-Sickness
Description:

A person becomes disturbed by:

reflections
still water
polished metal

because reflections stop behaving correctly

Symptoms:
refusing mirrors
panic near still water
seeing someone standing behind them

when no one is there

Cultural Meaning:

Often treated quietly and never discussed directly

desperate bargains

corrupt transactions

inherited warnings

Only when sought out

unable to make it back to their plane of origin they were banished to the deep dark places of the world

(nah DOO-rikh)