#also apologies that these will sometimes be posted after midnight and therefore technically a day late

[myramysticmoon]

Inktober Day 1 Part 1

Welcome to the first day! Happy October everyone! This first bit of writing I'm pretty proud of. I've always loved bits of folklore like this. Though disclaimer, this isn't an actual bit of folklore. Any similarities are coincidence. Would be funny if I predicted a new cryptid, though. Anyway, I hope you enjoy 💜.

Prompts: Gargoyle, Mountain, Legend

Lists: Official list, kniftykat's list, a-chaotically-small-lunta's list

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There is a village in the mountains west of here. I’ve visited it before. It’s a beautiful place, especially in autumn when the trees are painted gold and orange and crimson. Its people are equally as beautiful and diverse, too. Though, I’ve found the best people for travelers like me to talk to are the ones who love to share their stories to those who would lend an ear. Barkeeps, friendly and long-time residents, staff at the museum or the tourist center, and people who just look like they’ve lived a lot of life. Their stories are always interesting, but one sticks out to me above the rest. Everytime, it’s mentioned at least once. This village has it’s own legend.

    The legend always starts out the same. “Have you heard of the Gothwind Gargoyle?” Most times, the answer for me is yes, but I’m not one to turn down hearing a retelling. They often proceed to provide a basic explanation. Early in the town’s history, there was a rather famous cathedral that people from around the area would visit. On this cathedral’s roof sat four gargoyles, one for each corner outlooking the rest of the town, and one major one at the base of the tallest spire. It’s this major one that was particularly ornamented. Lion’s mane, talons, bat-like wings, draped in robes and with rubies for eyes. It’s this same one that disappeared in a particularly bad storm in the late 1800s. Now of course to skeptics, it was known that it had likely just fallen and broke into pieces that were later cleaned up. The roof was never subject to much repair and refurbishment, apparently. However, to those more superstitious folks, this wasn’t just a disappearance. This was a case of storm-brought animation! Thus started a search for this gargoyle and where it had gone. Though unfortunately besides a few false leads nothing much had come of the search, and after a year the event had lost its spark.

    Fast forward to a group of young adults in the 80s who had come to stay at the village inn. One night on their visit, they had decided to go out ghost hunting. Y’know, as you do when you’re young and in a town with a lot of history. And what better place to start than the surrounding forest and mountains? At the least, it would be a nice walk. Though what they experienced was a bit more than just a walk. In fact, it was a flight. They had been messing around, not being that serious, when a huge figure came rustling out of some trees on the upper side of the mountain they were hiking on. In a moment they all had witnessed a large, winged, bipedal creature soaring over them and into more forest below and ahead. A moment of mutual silence agreed that it was time to run back to the car. After that, the group asked around the village the next day and found out about the disappearance of the statue over a hundred years earlier. The story was soon shared, and once again the village buzzed with talk of the gargoyle and the Gothwind Cathedral it came from.

    Now the story of the gargoyle is well known all across town, and many people seem to have their own experiences or have family or friends with one. People are more than ready to share what kind of fright they had or what sounds they heard or sights they saw. While there are people who brush over it when told, most take it seriously. I think it’s the want for something more to be out there that drives these kinds of legends home for people. I’m certainly no exception. Now did I personally experience anything? Nothing that couldn’t be explained. However, I do fully believe that gargoyle is still around that village in the mountains. Protecting the town and its residents for as long as it’s around.