Moonlight Over a Ruined Village

            For tonight’s tale, we follow a lone fox as it emerges from its burrow. It has just healed from wounds dealt to it in the past, and it needs to hunt to regain its strength. So the fox ventures out to capture its prey. After a successful hunt, it returns to its burrow. It is that satisfied it has secured its survival for the immediate future.             However, the prey is far from normal. It was infected by some unknown force that animates it into a grotesque mockery of life. The prey captures the newly healed fox and drags it from the safety of its burrow. Then, the fox, who some of us may know by the name of Tomisaburo, is confronted by one of his former victims. Tomisaburo is then dragged through the streets to serve as an example to all of the denizens of the ruined village. The journey is a hard one for him, as he is forced to endure beatings and humiliation. The fact that all of it is justified doesn’t lessen the weight of his burden. His ultimate destination is unknown to him, but he is sure he doesn’t want to go there.             Along the way, they encounter the town drunk. He is more than familiar with Tomisaburo and his past crimes. The drunkard accompanies Tomisaburo as he nears the end of this gruesome procession. Though the conditions are far from ideal, the two of them eventually reach something of an understanding and reveal their honest opinions about each other. But it is far too late. The bond of camaraderie they form is tainted by the sense of doom that overshadows the end of their journey. For amidst the drunken ramblings of the town drunk lurk hints of the doom that awaits Tomisaburo at the end of his journey. And for him, that end has arrived.             This tale contains descriptions of beatings, vampirism, zombification, antisocial behavior, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and the use of profanity. Listener discretion is advised.  

            For tonight’s tale we follow a lone IT specialist as he whiles away his life working for a pharmaceutical company. However, this is no normal pharmaceutical company. For it has government contracts to produce chemical weapons that can be used to remove the bones from the living. Fortunately for out IT specialist, he knows all about those contracts. In fact, he is not even an IT specialist. He is a spy that was sent to that company to find those very chemicals. He was sent by none other than the spider deity, who has claimed control over the mountain village and the river village.             In his capacity as lord of these villages, he aims to find a cure for the victims of their cruel experiments. So he made his best disciple into his chief specialist and sent him to obtain the means to do so. However, between our specialist and the chemicals he needs to make that cure lurks a horror beyond imagination. For those chemicals are being kept in the domain of the creature known by its creators as the Skin Doll. This creature is the result of the horrific experiments being conducted at the facility, and is being kept alive for nefarious purposes.             Our specialist will have to enter the domain of this creature and ultimately deal with it. But out specialist has died before, only to be reborn as something beyond human. By the order of the spider deity, he fears no darkness. For the cult of the spider has claimed lordship over the entirety of both of these two villages, and that includes the denizens of the places too dark to even be imagined.             This tale contains themes of mutilation, medical horror, bureaucracy.  Human resources departments, office culture, occult activities, and profanity. Listener discretion is advised.

            In this episode, I will talk to you like a normal person and give you some insight into what it’s like to do field work in these two ruined villages. Please be warned that I will resort to the use of course language to do so. I may also mention violence, occult activities, and antisocial behavior. For those reasons, and probably others that I am too far gone to even notice, listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, we revisit an incident that had a monumental impact on both the River Village and the Mountain Village. Yet we will not concern ourselves with that tale, for it was not true. Not only that, it was a shameful falsehood intended to cover up the folly of the wolves of the mountain. That had been charged with protecting the mountain, and they had been found lacking.             This is the tale of the young man who forced the wolves of the mountain to own up to their ineptitude. Our hero was a proud resident of the mountain village. He was proud of its rich history and cultural heritage. His ancestors called to him through these tales. For the mountain village was founded by fiercely rugged people who thrived amidst the supernatural elements of the strange, shadowy mountain. His ancestors made homes for themselves where others feared to even tread. For they dared to form an alliance with the dark elements of the mountain. Our hero stared into the dark places of the mountain, hoping to see what his ancestors saw.             But the dark places faded away when the tourists arrived. Soon, the tales our hero grew up with became entertainment for the throngs of tourists who come to the mountain to gawk at things other people told them were important. Our hero could no longer accept the fact that his village was becoming nothing more than a tourist attraction. So he found the worst tourist of the lot and whooped his ass. He whooped his ass good and proper. He whooped that ass in the spirit of his proud ancestors. And for that act of resistance to overtourism, he was expelled from his village.             Cast out of the light, he sought out the darkness. Yet he never suspected that the darkness had been creeping closer and closer to him all of his life. As he makes his way from the village, the cult of the Spider claims him for their own. They offer him a chance to join the darkness at the heart of the village. So he is faced with a choice. Should he make peace with the modern world, or should he embrace the inhuman forces that lurk in the darkness. The decision he ultimately makes shapes the fates of both villages. For the cult of the spider has come to power, and their members are everywhere.             This tale contains profanity, overtourism, violence, antisocial behavior, occult elements, and references to excessive alcohol consumption. Listener discretion is advised.

            For tonight’s tale, I explain why this week’s episode is late. I also give you a bit of insight into how these episodes are made, and what it's like to deal with the denizens of these villages. Though this is not a full episode, I still managed to include profanity in it for some reason. Listener discretion is advised.