[The staff held no power in the hands of someone who couldn't control runic magic. It was merely a channeling vessel. With a deep breath, Cu began another story.]
The tale begins in Ireland again. Those with evil deeds hidden from sight feared the Dullahan. A fearsome creature riding on a monstrous black horse, riding with its head under one arm. The head stunk of rotten cheese and looked just the same. With its head raised high, it could see its target for miles. You best hope you weren't its target. If you saw one working, if you didn't avert your gaze soon enough, you, too, would be marked, bathed in a shower of blood -- you might be next to die. If you weren't marked in blood, your eye could be plucked from your skull [He mimicked the motion of someone yanking an eye out of its socket.] by its whip made of a human bones for daring to gaze upon its unholy work. The only thing that will stop a Dullahan is gold, even a pin is too much for it to bear.
A nobleman drew the attention of one of these horrible monsters by killing a family member and leaving them to rot without a proper burial. That's a disgrace and punishable by death. Every night, he was tormented by the sound of thundering hooves on the ground. He knew that meant his deeds were known and he was the next to die. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't eat...for days, he was tormented by a Dullahan seeking him out.
In his fields near the road one night, he heard the sound again and started running. The Dullahan was upon him now and he knew he wouldn't live. The fence before the nobleman was easily cleared by the Dullahan, for nothing could stop the demon. He kept running from it, hoping the heavy iron gates before his home would stop it, but it was no us -- the lock snapped off and an unholy wind forced the gate open. The Dullahan was upon him in no time at all...
But it wasn't the creature that killed him, but his own fear. Dead of a heart attack before he hit the ground. The Dullahan had claimed his soul and moved on to its next target.
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The tale begins in Ireland again. Those with evil deeds hidden from sight feared the Dullahan. A fearsome creature riding on a monstrous black horse, riding with its head under one arm. The head stunk of rotten cheese and looked just the same. With its head raised high, it could see its target for miles. You best hope you weren't its target. If you saw one working, if you didn't avert your gaze soon enough, you, too, would be marked, bathed in a shower of blood -- you might be next to die. If you weren't marked in blood, your eye could be plucked from your skull [He mimicked the motion of someone yanking an eye out of its socket.] by its whip made of a human bones for daring to gaze upon its unholy work. The only thing that will stop a Dullahan is gold, even a pin is too much for it to bear.
A nobleman drew the attention of one of these horrible monsters by killing a family member and leaving them to rot without a proper burial. That's a disgrace and punishable by death. Every night, he was tormented by the sound of thundering hooves on the ground. He knew that meant his deeds were known and he was the next to die. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't eat...for days, he was tormented by a Dullahan seeking him out.
In his fields near the road one night, he heard the sound again and started running. The Dullahan was upon him now and he knew he wouldn't live. The fence before the nobleman was easily cleared by the Dullahan, for nothing could stop the demon. He kept running from it, hoping the heavy iron gates before his home would stop it, but it was no us -- the lock snapped off and an unholy wind forced the gate open. The Dullahan was upon him in no time at all...
But it wasn't the creature that killed him, but his own fear. Dead of a heart attack before he hit the ground. The Dullahan had claimed his soul and moved on to its next target.