I wrote a short horror story set in one of Sepermeru’s taverns and I thought I’ll post it there.

The Tavern

Some visitors don’t go away. They just stay and drink and talk and do all the things the tavern-goers do everywhere from Vanaheim to Khitai. You won’t see anything wrong about them, if you’re not working here day by day. They laugh, but they laugh always in the same manner. They talk, but after a time you realize they repeat things. Always the same things, always the same way.

Others don’t seem to notice it. Look at this man in a red shirt and brown hide pants, yes, the one talking to that Shemite soldier, Elim is his name, I think. Did you see that gesture he just made? It’s the seventh time he made it in the last 10 minutes. Exactly the same way. Hear that laugh? It’s the sixth time I hear it. It’s all the same, with that hiccup at the end.

Listen to what he’s talking about. The last night’s hunting. Nothing odd. Except they’ve been talking for an hour and he told that story at least five times. I heard him talk about it yesterday and the day before and the day before. He wasn’t out hunting. He kept sitting right here in this tavern all night.

I know Elim, he’s a short tempered man, doesn’t like to mingle. Usually just drinks up his poison and leaves, sometimes after beating up someone getting on his bad side. Hates talking and hates people. Not now. Now he’s all smiles and laughter. They talk and talk. Always the same talk.

Suddenly the man in red stops talking. He just freezes, goes silent, stops gesticulating. He looks at me. I see his eyes, they’re empty. So empty. How can I see this emptiness so clearly halfway across the tavern?! He keeps looking at me, his face devoid of expression.

Then he smiles. But it’s not a normal smile. His eyes don’t smile, they’re empty, like shark’s eyes. His mouth goes wider and wider. How can a man smile like that? His smile goes so wide it reaches his ears. He opens his mouth, only slightly, but I can see something wriggling there, like an end of an earwig, some bug’s head with pincers.

Elim does not seem to notice, he’s still listening and laughing and nodding, as if his companion never stopped talking.

Suddenly the man in red snaps back to the conversation with Elim. Then I see his right arm. He’s wearing a bracelet, but it’s not a bracelet we’re all wearing here. It’s different, more colorful and ornate. Oh, Set’s venom, I think I know where it is from.

A few years ago our Relic Hunters uncovered some ancient caverns underneath our town. All filled with ruins of some old civilization. Seb-Nef, one of our priests, said their name was Khari. A six man expedition went down to explore. After three days, only two made it back, shaken and unwilling to talk. They brought back some old treasures, beautiful, but weirdly made.

His bracelet’s ornaments looks exactly like the ones the old treasures had.

Now, I realize that these two survivors were not the only ones to come out of these ruins. Something else came back. Something that had been trapped down there and now is free to haunt these lands once more. Does this land not have enough horrors?

This will not stand. This is our place. We bought it with our blood and sweat. We carved out a piece of civilization, a piece of safe haven, perhaps our new homeland.

I set aside the mug I’ve been wiping dry for the last few minutes, steady my shaking hands and go back to the pantry, where I can hear Saneb, my table cleaning aide, knocking around.

I open my mouth to tell him to go through the back door and bring the town guards to the tavern, when I see that wound on the side of his neck, almost as if some huge pincered bug bit him there. He smiles. Slowly, slowly, his smile widens and widens. Behind me I can hear the pantry door closing. The only thing I feel is my courage and composure crumbling to dust in my soul. The only thing I see is Saneb’s smile widening.

I think I see something wiggling in his mouth.

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Encouragement for to be continued…
Maybe?
Thanks @Nestorian :heart:. Nice one :+1:t6:.

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