Tale of Scale River Mill | Salt and Sacrifice Wiki

"When the stranger came to Scale River Mill, the village had already been in a desperate state for as long as the villagers could bear."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 1.

"A bad harvest meant a lean winter, but Scale River Mill had weathered it all in the past five years: drought, flooding, crop blight, chitterpests, ransoming raiders, and all manner of grifters."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 2.

"So when the stranger arrived, the townsfolk were not welcoming. He wore a patchy coat of furs, ill-fitting and dirty."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 3.

"His face was forgettable enough, though his skin had a pallid waxiness to it. His speech was slow and thick, though always deliberate."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 4.

"His slender fingers never quite found rest. He seemed old, but his skin was like that of one much younger."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 5.

"The stranger's proposition was straightforward: room and board in exchange for a tale and a blessing."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 6.

"A chunk of bread and a pile of hay in the stable would suffice, he insisted. Such offers were common."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 7.

"The villagers had exchanged charity for blessings time and time again, and yet the village's curse seemed only to grow."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 8.

"And so it was that every single villager that the stranger came across showed the stranger no hospitality."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 9.

"The stranger remained in the square until nightfall, pleading with any who would come near, but the stranger found no friend that evening."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 10.

"The stranger was not in the square at next dawn. Some villagers breathed a sigh of relief: no good came from a traveler in search of charity, but even less good came when that traveler was scorned."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 11.

"But as the sun was reaching its highest point, a familiar figure was seen yet again, shambling toward the square from the direction of Cole's Lake."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 12.

"If the stranger's previous reception had been cold, on this day it was downright hostile."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 13.

"There were rude gestures, muttered curses; the smithy spat noisily, then made a show of scratching his rear."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 14.

"The stranger, undeterred, repeated his pleas. As it was before, they were not met. And as some feared, the first calamity struck soon after."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 15.

"The butcher's son disappeared that night, as did two of the farmhands. Suspicion was immediately cast on the stranger, who again appeared in the late morning."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 16.

"The furs he wore were different today, as if he'd hastily assembled his dress each morning. His face was just as pallid as it had ever been, his fingers just as busy."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 17.

"This time, the villagers were more direct. They accused, yelled, spat, and shoved. The stranger received their abuse, all of it."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 18.

"His still-forgettable face made inscrutable expressions, his tireless fingers wandered. He didn't protest, didn't argue, just received."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 19.

"Whenever there was an exasperated gap in the villagers' abuse, the stranger would simply reiterate his original request: room and board in exchange for a tale and a blessing."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 20.

"The heated exchange continued until the butcher landed a fierce blow square on the stranger's nose, sending him staggering to the ground, blood gushing down his face."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 21.

"The other townsfolk seized on the moment, dragging the dizzied stranger to the outskirts of the village, where they threw him into a dung heap and left him with a series of colorful curses, a faceful of spit, and a warning to never return."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 22.

"More villagers disappeared on the night that the stranger was chased out of town. The townsfolk were fiercely vigilant for the stranger's return, but no fur-clad figure appeared the next day."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 23.

"Anger and anxiety gave way to dread and terror, as more disappearances occurred each night, night after night."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 24.

"There were over one hundred villagers before the stranger arrived; within a hexad of his arrival there were no more than seventy."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 25.

"When the stranger finally did return, the village had transformed into a place of uncontrolled fear and hatred."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 26.

"Whatever frail sense of community had collapsed, and every sibling, parent, child, and lifelong friend eyed the other with the utmost of suspicion."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 27.

"But just as he had before, the stranger entered the square and voiced his proposition: room and board in exchange for a tale and a blessing."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 28.

"The stranger was seized with dizzying ferocity. Whatever pent-up hatred had turned the villagers against one another now united them."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 29.

"As they dragged him to the tree, he repeated his proposition; as they tied the rope around his neck, he repeated his proposition."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 30.

"And as they swung the rope over the branch, he repeated his proposition: room and board in exchange for a tale and a blessing."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 31.

"But then they pulled hard, his feet lifted from the earth, his thick voice ceased. His busy fingers wandered long after his feet stopped twitching."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 32.

"The stranger was left to hang through the night. The villagers wept, hugged, laughed through tears, hung their heads, wept more."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 33.

"They slept more soundly than they had in a hexad. But their peace was short-lived."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 34.

"In the early dawn of the following day, cries of alarm surfaced a lurking terror: the hanged stranger had vanished."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 35.

"And when the chaos of this revelation had subsided, there was another familiar discovery: still more villagers had disappeared on the evening that they hanged the stranger."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 36.

"Fear set in like a thick fog: cruel, cold, dark, and suffocating."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 37.

"The relentless superstition, fear, and anger that dominated the villagers' every waking moment over the last hexad was nothing compared to what happened after night fell that evening."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 38.

"The moon was full, and a thick mist had crawled its way up from Cole's Lake, settling on the cursed village that was Scale River Mill."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 39.

"Through the moonlit fog, a figure could be seen shambling toward the town."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 40.

"Two, three, a dozen, then more. They moved as if in some great pain, but advanced without ceasing."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 41.

"The villagers smelled what came in the mist first; it was the smell of drowned, rotted things."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 42.

"It stank of washed-up fish, half-taken by nature, slimy with muck, eyes bulging, swarming with flies."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 43.

"And as the figures in the mist drew nearer, as the bloated, worm-eaten faces drew recognition from friends, family, children and parents, the hushed gasps of fear gave way to bone-chilling moans of horrific anguish: the vanished villagers had returned."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 44.

"And so Scale River Mill met its end: those that came from the lake were tireless, fearless, and without remorse."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 45.

"They pursued without ceasing until every living being in the village was as cold and still as the bottom of any lake."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 46.

"The stranger was among them when they emerged from the fog, and the stranger was with them when they returned to the lake."
- Tale of Scale River Mill, v. 47.

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