I enjoyed this immensely. Were it a game, I'd play through enough times to see all the alternatives, but I'm very glad this one is the one that happened. I felt pretty guilty about voting for Rackle for Part 8, but thought the story would benefit, though not Ludmilla!
So if each character was a child of a Haunting from the rhyme mentioned in Part 7: Ludmilla - Fear, Hamlish - Silence, Taemaeus - Curse, Rackle - Abyss; then I'd guess Petyr - Hunt, and the Knight - Grim? That leaves Night and Luck though.
It would lend itself well to being fleshed out in game form, even if only a visual novel. There's a number of ways it could be expanded without damaging the feel. Though sticking to nine nights would be best.
Did you suspect Hamlish would be safe?
An interesting note regarding Rackle, had you visited him earlier he would have done a much better job concealing both his abnormality and his lust. Choosing him would result in what this teller's notes called the bad 'good' ending. Similar to Hamlish's in that Ludmilla gains survival, a husband and a child. All three being wrong of course. The story did indeed benefit from a moment of vulnerability from Ludmilla. Had you gone to Taemaeus instead that night, you would have gotten a manic rant on the supremacy of Curse, which while entertaining wouldn't have been as disturbing for Ludmilla or the reader.
You're correct in your guesses. Night and Luck will be featured in the full... a joke, unless this teller had a collaborator, he'd likely not make a game of it.
Going by this teller's notes, also not appearing in the story were children under the Hauntings of Death, Moon, Horror and Pride. This teller freely admits he forgot about those last three being Hauntings. In fact, he doesn't recall off hand what exactly they covered. Though Moon is easily understood.
The identity of each of the men was determined from the start along with a line fitting near the end
The Knight's was: ...but under that helm was only a maw.
A bad end, either looking for him or having charmed him to stay, neither would end well.
Taemaeus: Rejoice in your Curse my love!
A 'good' bad end.
One in which it is left in question if Ludmilla is even the same being in the end.
Hamlish was the good end, which you read. His defining line being: I am no longer a child of fear, having silenced it.
Rackle as discussed was the bad 'good' end. His line simply being: A human evil. At one point, he was going to be fully a pure child of fear.
Petyr is arguably the most evil one, as he didn't need to kill you and make a ward from your remains, but as his line shows: No longer human...
Lost his humanity in sense beyond physical. A bad end.
On the whole, very satisfied, though a better job could have been done in the charm or the abnormalities of the men. The conceit of the horror was to force you into a situation where, even knowing something was terribly amiss you had to take a hand in the end. The Knight, Petyr and Rackle were perhaps a bit too unfriendly of options.
We'll return to Brisganne next year in a different longer story, but perhaps something could happen before next Halloween.
What kind of novel would you prefer?
A classic tale of consuming vengeance, a hunter losing his humanity as he hunts those that robbed him of loved ones?
Another tale of the struggles of the children of Fear?
Perhaps a Vampire Lord driven to the brink by the infiltration of an Abyss cult on his town?
There's quite a number that can be done. For a setting that once upon a time was made as an apology and excuse to do something Halloween themed. It's fermented quite well.
This technically is the second tale this teller has told of Brisganne. Though the first on this substack.
My reply to this is woefully overdue, but I've thought about it a lot all this while.
I was pretty confident in Hamlish, but after him I was favoring Taemaeus until the second visit to him since he used hypnotism and that is a hallmark of vampires. Then my second choice was actually the Knight since he seemed so tragic and saved Ludmilla from Rackle. At the very beginning Petyr seemed attractive but interacting with him dispelled that idea right away!
All the premises for future stories in this setting sound great!
Petyr could have done with some extra appeal to complement his savage harshness.
Glad that the Knight's nature slipped under somewhat, this teller did worry he was too ominous or obvious.
The true trick of Taemaeus was that while he was vampire, he had abandoned Night for Curse, possibly could have leaned into that, presenting being turned as a viable path of survival while hiding his abnormality. Alternatively, making the vampirism more subtle might have been good.
Hamlish could have done with a little more doubt.
Still, to hear that the knight was your second is satisfying, as all ends with him are very bad.
Quite a while until this year's Halloween piece, but certainly looking forward to it.
I enjoyed this immensely. Were it a game, I'd play through enough times to see all the alternatives, but I'm very glad this one is the one that happened. I felt pretty guilty about voting for Rackle for Part 8, but thought the story would benefit, though not Ludmilla!
So if each character was a child of a Haunting from the rhyme mentioned in Part 7: Ludmilla - Fear, Hamlish - Silence, Taemaeus - Curse, Rackle - Abyss; then I'd guess Petyr - Hunt, and the Knight - Grim? That leaves Night and Luck though.
I'd readily read a novel set in this world.
Gratified you enjoyed it.
It would lend itself well to being fleshed out in game form, even if only a visual novel. There's a number of ways it could be expanded without damaging the feel. Though sticking to nine nights would be best.
Did you suspect Hamlish would be safe?
An interesting note regarding Rackle, had you visited him earlier he would have done a much better job concealing both his abnormality and his lust. Choosing him would result in what this teller's notes called the bad 'good' ending. Similar to Hamlish's in that Ludmilla gains survival, a husband and a child. All three being wrong of course. The story did indeed benefit from a moment of vulnerability from Ludmilla. Had you gone to Taemaeus instead that night, you would have gotten a manic rant on the supremacy of Curse, which while entertaining wouldn't have been as disturbing for Ludmilla or the reader.
You're correct in your guesses. Night and Luck will be featured in the full... a joke, unless this teller had a collaborator, he'd likely not make a game of it.
Going by this teller's notes, also not appearing in the story were children under the Hauntings of Death, Moon, Horror and Pride. This teller freely admits he forgot about those last three being Hauntings. In fact, he doesn't recall off hand what exactly they covered. Though Moon is easily understood.
The identity of each of the men was determined from the start along with a line fitting near the end
The Knight's was: ...but under that helm was only a maw.
A bad end, either looking for him or having charmed him to stay, neither would end well.
Taemaeus: Rejoice in your Curse my love!
A 'good' bad end.
One in which it is left in question if Ludmilla is even the same being in the end.
Hamlish was the good end, which you read. His defining line being: I am no longer a child of fear, having silenced it.
Rackle as discussed was the bad 'good' end. His line simply being: A human evil. At one point, he was going to be fully a pure child of fear.
Petyr is arguably the most evil one, as he didn't need to kill you and make a ward from your remains, but as his line shows: No longer human...
Lost his humanity in sense beyond physical. A bad end.
On the whole, very satisfied, though a better job could have been done in the charm or the abnormalities of the men. The conceit of the horror was to force you into a situation where, even knowing something was terribly amiss you had to take a hand in the end. The Knight, Petyr and Rackle were perhaps a bit too unfriendly of options.
We'll return to Brisganne next year in a different longer story, but perhaps something could happen before next Halloween.
What kind of novel would you prefer?
A classic tale of consuming vengeance, a hunter losing his humanity as he hunts those that robbed him of loved ones?
Another tale of the struggles of the children of Fear?
Perhaps a Vampire Lord driven to the brink by the infiltration of an Abyss cult on his town?
There's quite a number that can be done. For a setting that once upon a time was made as an apology and excuse to do something Halloween themed. It's fermented quite well.
This technically is the second tale this teller has told of Brisganne. Though the first on this substack.
My reply to this is woefully overdue, but I've thought about it a lot all this while.
I was pretty confident in Hamlish, but after him I was favoring Taemaeus until the second visit to him since he used hypnotism and that is a hallmark of vampires. Then my second choice was actually the Knight since he seemed so tragic and saved Ludmilla from Rackle. At the very beginning Petyr seemed attractive but interacting with him dispelled that idea right away!
All the premises for future stories in this setting sound great!
Happy to receive a reply like this.
Petyr could have done with some extra appeal to complement his savage harshness.
Glad that the Knight's nature slipped under somewhat, this teller did worry he was too ominous or obvious.
The true trick of Taemaeus was that while he was vampire, he had abandoned Night for Curse, possibly could have leaned into that, presenting being turned as a viable path of survival while hiding his abnormality. Alternatively, making the vampirism more subtle might have been good.
Hamlish could have done with a little more doubt.
Still, to hear that the knight was your second is satisfying, as all ends with him are very bad.
Quite a while until this year's Halloween piece, but certainly looking forward to it.
Thank you.