Vakumyr

Stolen Voices of Forgotten Victims

"The Uncanny Valley is undeniable proof that at some point in our evolution we needed to be afraid of something that looked human, but wasn't. However, what's more worrying to me is the possibility that we still do."

— Lore Knight

This all starts with a Valkyrian folk tale named "Silence of the Forest". It's the oldest recording of this thing I could find, however, I have reason to believe that this isn't the first mention, only the first time it was named. The writing is a cautionary tale, no doubt intended to spook children out of going into the forest alone, that speaks of some entity called the Vakumyr. My understanding of the name being "Vaku-", the equivalent of putting "Valkyrian" at the front of a word, and "-myr", meaning "mimic". According to the tale, the entity takes the form and voice of a child's mother to lead them to the edge of the forest, only to reveal itself as a demon just before taking them. I want you to keep this in mind.

"Their False Return" is an Elven story exploring a cultural fear that is rarely talked about. The dream of dragons returning haunted by the possibility that they won't be the same. The story follows the events of a single night, during which two Elves are hunted down by a demonic dragon. The creature is unnamed and frequently switches forms in an attempt to find what scares them the most. The Elves don't survive, they're tricked out of hiding when the demon mimics both a sunrise and the voices of the search party looking for them, its true form is revealed just before the story ends; the way it's described strikes me as some kind of Dracolich overtaken by the Corruption.

"The Voice in the Fields" was, unsurprisingly, my first exposure to the subject. A Knight urban legend spread mostly by farmers about a family discovering an abnormally tall scarecrow they don't remember ever having in the first place. They set it up in the fields and forget about it, at least until the anomalies start happening. The sound of faint, ragged breathing, the corpses of animals found in unexplainable places, strange lights from across the field, and eventually the realization that every night it gets closer and closer to their home. The story ends with the scarecrow appearing at the front door, revealing itself to be a demon, and the family never being heard from again. The only trace of what happened being the screams for help you can still sometimes hear in the fields.

To most, these stories are just that, stories. Sure there may be real-world equivalents to these creatures but something doesn't sit right with me and never has. These stories are too damn consistent. An entity that mimics forms and voices in order to both lure victims and scare them as much as possible, reveals itself just before the kill, and mirrors the fears of whatever culture happens to have writings on it. I've only explained three examples but I assure you there's dozens from all over the world; some being stories, others being anecdotes, and all of them describing the exact same thing. Not only do I think all of these are the Vakumyr, I wholeheartedly believe it's still out there somewhere.

Old Concept Art

Oniran    Stories & Lore    Lore      Vakumyr

Personal Encounter

Maybe it was abysmal luck, maybe it's cause I dug deeper into its existence, but I'm certain that I encountered the Vakumyr and the only reason I survived is because I knew I was alone in that forest.

See, I talk to myself a lot. It helps me focus and organize my thoughts while on the road since I don't always have travelling buddies. It was in the dead of night and I was on my way back from investigating The Hermit's Tower. I was recording my findings while on the move, talking to myself as I did so, when I heard my own voice repeated back from behind me.

I was about to brush it off as an echo of some sort, that's when it started screaming for help. Against my better judgement I rushed towards the voice. What I found honestly made me wish I just ran into the Vakumyr itself, slumped over against a tree was the body of someone...important to me. Beaten, lacerated, and with missing eyes. It had their voice. I knew it wasn't them, I knew that no one came with me, and I knew that everyone avoided this part of the forest in the first place. So I conjured a wall of fire between us and ran.

That's when I started my research, but after these findings? I think I'm going to sit this one out. I'd rather not fuck with the primordial embodiment of fear.