A Picture's Worth | Of Witches & Specters

Of Witches & Specters

On birds and their species:

Historian # 1:

'[...] The "swifts" are a family of highly aerial birds. [...] from all I have observed and the other accounts I have read, it can be confidently stated that they have developed an amazing lifestyle of catching prey mid-flight. [...] for their negligible size of legs (or no legs at all, according to some accounts) these birds are referred to as "Apous" or footless. [...] Poppiri the hermit druid traced and followed a single Apous, finally to have given up his chase as the bird never landed, not even once in his three months of pursuit. "If I didn't need to, I wouldn't either, ever set foot on these tainted lands, and forever soar alongside angels; forever in flight..." concludes Poppiri.'

Historian # 2:

'[...] For all those who form a covenant with the devil are granted the gift of flight. They are to attend all gatherings, answer all summons and for their "lord", no is not an acceptable answer. What else would drive these little demons to fly endlessly without rest or food, but the fear of their master's punishment keeps them afloat. Be wary brethren, for you may never know which bird that flew by you, was indeed your neighbor's wife in her true form, speeding through the currents to meet her master. For her, no place on earth is too far to traverse to, if it meant kissing "his" feet again...'

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On and about specters:

Historian # 1:

'There are certainly many recordings of bizarre and unexplained happenings in texts and scrolls of almost every country I have visited in my travels, events that cannot be explained without intervention of the supernatural forces; like maybe ghosts or specters of fiendish unseen creatures. But I must state this very clearly here that I have yet to witness any such being or event myself. All I have ever heard of this has always been accounts scribbled by someone who "heard it from a person who knew someone with a family member possessed". I also am willing to make a very bold statement here; perhaps these specters are mere incarnates of boredom and idleness. There is a pattern and a certain set of characteristics, that a town hosting them (those characteristics i.e.) has a higher chance of witnessing the supernatural. 

I might've gone too far already, so I will stop myself here. But I will be keeping my skepticism till the time I myself become the prime witness of any such event.'

Historian # 2:

'The devil worshipers come in many types. But I like to divide them into two major groups namely the servants and the slaves. Servants are those who knowingly and willingly sell their soul to "diablo". These are the lowest of the low, the very worst of humankind. For their own personal and temporary gain, they forsake all that is good. 

Slaves, on the other hand, are the ones who are possessed against their will. Some of these pour souls try to fight this invasion, but most of them simply give in, to avoid the torture demons inflict on their minds.

By virtue of birth, or of tireless effort (like I made), the gift of vividly seeing these slaver demons can be attained. Right alongside the rim of victim's body and face, they appear, creating a spectral image of themselves. You see them forcing words out of a victim, or making them do things no civil being would do. You cannot blame the victim in many such cases yet, the only cure is death...'

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September the 30th

Historian # 1:

On the eve of September the 30th of the year 1639 of our era, I happened to pass by a small village. At the crossroads leading up to the village hung a young woman on a cross, signs of physical abuse and torture visible on her now rotting and bug-riddled body. As I saw this saddening display of barbarity I decided, against all my better judgement, to visit the village and interrogate the matter farther before forming an opinion and scribbling it down.

It was a strange and estranged little village. Their lifestyle, their clothing, their food, and even their language felt a little awry. They spoke in short sentences, using as few syllables as they could, and if forced to speak in full cohesive sentences, they almost always lost their trail of thought. Their dressing was primitive, with few to no stitched clothes as if they haven't discovered stitching yet. And everything they ate had this one particular ingredient (looked like a sort of fungus to me) I am not familiar with. Simply put, food there made me sick in the stomach and it tasted odd. 

I couldn't really put my finger on what made the town so "queer"; I still can't; but as a seeker of truth, I had to investigate. So I did just that. What I could understand from the locals was: the woman at the crossing was a witch who willingly gave her soul to the devil and that they had sufficient "spectral evidence" to officially issue her demise. I didn't know what this "spectral evidence" was and upon my asking, they revealed that a group of young girls can see the people possessed. They point to the witches and they, the common folk, do not suffer them to live.

Before that day, I had always felt a certain pride that I was born in the age of ever growing wisdom and I thought that ignorance of such massive scales were all but extinct. But I was proven wrong that day. This too, like any other age is an age of darkness, when monsters swarm our civilization, and they look like men.

Historian # 2:

On the eve of September the 30th of the year 1639 of our era, I finally made my pilgrimage to the holy land of Sursi that birthed not one, or two, rather six gifted ones with the power to see specters naturally. It was an enlightening experience to say the least. The power of the gifted ones show its colors as soon as you reach the crossroads leading into the village. There, I saw hanged a wicked witch... I saw her true form, the bloody raven that she was... and I saw her specter, as clearly as I see the sun when it rises, right beside her, hanged to another noose. 

To all the critics and skeptics, I implore them to visit Sursi just once, and the power of the gifted ones will reveal the truth to them. The truth, that one day, all mankind will acknowledge...

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On earlier Historians:

Historian # 3:

Our ancestors have made the study of history extremely difficult. One single event is recorded by two different historians with such polar differences in their records that it is nigh impossible to objectively state anything as a matter of fact now. I think perspectives and prior convictions do play a role in shaping the way you view the world, but another factor is lifestyle. For example, this one historian lived all his life moving from one place to another, always on the move, observing and recording things as they happened. His elixir was his travels. Whereas this second one seldom left his room, always buried in his tomes, deriving history from his scrolls. His elixir was Ayahuasca...

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