One of the biggest pranksters in all of Pandea, some call caligoul the living embodiment of mischief. This creepy cat loves nothing better than lurking invisibly in corners and popping out whenever someone ventures nearby. At one point in time caligoul were considered a bad omen. It was believed that if you saw one, you didn’t have long left to live. However, that superstition quickly dissipated when pheliscus started moving in to towns and cities. More pheliscus meant a dramatic increase in the number of caligoul that would appear, and no dramatic increase in the death toll. People quickly forgot their apprehensions towards caligoul, and quickly started to fall in love with this ghostly trickster.
Caligoul are the shadow of the past lives of pheliscus, they are born when a pheliscus uses its rejuvenation power and loses one of the rings from its tail. The life of a caligoul will end whenever the pheliscus it spawned from loses its final tail ring, and its last life ends.
The House in the Woods
I was once approached by a parapsychologist. A paranormal investigator that specialised in studying ghosts and spirits. She had heard of an old manor house in the woodland finger that lay derelict and crumbling. Locals claimed that the area around the house was devoid of life, that everything nearby had been devoured by an evil spirit that haunted the area. Lydia, my parapsychologist friend, wanted to prove the stories wrong. She was certain there would be a more reasonable explanation, and I was inclined to agree.
From a base in Lumbar we began our search for the infamous building. Despite many warnings from the villagers, who all refused to help us find the house, we headed into the trees in what we were confident was the right direction.
As we walked, we discussed theories about the true nature of the phenomenon. The descriptions gathered from the villagers would usually point me towards a famton. A giant insatiable spirit that manifests in areas of famine and mass starvation. A highly dangerous critter to face, but they almost exclusively appear in the desert finger, so to find one in a house in a verdant forest would make no sense.
Lydia’s theories ignored the supernatural entirely. They ranged from a historical forest fire and a forgotten dynasty to an ancient grudge and salted earth. For a parapsychologist, she was the biggest sceptic I had ever met.
She was just clutching at the straws of a theory about overactive bearverax when I stopped.
“What? It’s completely plausible.” She frowned. I pressed my finger to my lips.
“Listen.” I spoke. She stopped. After a moment she raised an eyebrow.
“What is it?” she asked. “I don’t hear anything.” A sly smile crossed my lips.
“Exactly.” At my words, her brow contorted into a puzzled wrinkle. “There’s never nothing.” I pointed out. “What happened to all the critters?” Her eyes swelled in realization.
“We must be close” She smiled, practically bouncing with excitement. “Come on!” All chatter stopped as she flew off into the distance. The time for theorizing was over, soon the truth would be revealed.
The house certainly looked long forgotten. Vines crawled up crumbling brickwork, slates slipped down the moss-covered roof, and cracks and holes littered the rotten wood frames of the windows and doors. A tangle of brambles that might once have been a garden gereeted us as we approached. From the reports, I had expected something more desolate. The house was long abandoned, and the silence was eerie, but lush greenery still pressed in on every side. If this was a famton everything, animal and plant, would have been devoured. My mind raced, looking for another solution. If the woodland critters were avoiding it, then the house must have been home to some terrifying, out of place predator. Something from deeper in the finger perhaps, or a secret illegal pet of one of the villagers. I was about to tell Lydia to proceed with caution, when I heard the creak of a door. She was already on her way inside. I darted after her. She would need my expertise. It was definitely some sort of critter behind this, but which one?
Inside, the walls looked somehow less stable. Every small breeze from the outside was amplified by the cavities of the building. The whole house seemed to sway as we moved through it. A crash sounded from somewhere ahead. Lydia dashed forward with me struggling to keep up behind. She dived through a door and vanished from my sight.
A blood curdling scream rang out from the room she disappeared into. It pierced the air, silencing even the steady creaking of the house. A cold wind danced across my spine. I had no idea what could await me, but Lydia was in trouble. Primed to retreat, I poked my head around the door frame.
Teeth. Rows of sharp pointed teeth waited to greet me. My legs froze. Lydia’s shriek still rang in my ears. I couldn’t move. The gaping mouth moved forwards, covering my head. This was the end. The worst part was, I wouldn’t even know what killed me.
I yelled, closed my eyes, and punched. I heard the snap of jaws closing. My body went numb. My nose exploded with pain.
I staggered sideways as my fist connected with my face. I wasn’t dead. My eyes blinked open as a rubbed my cheek. A small purple blob floated in front of me. Its one enormous green eye blinked and a sinister, yet somehow innocent grin stretched from one pointy ear to the next.
Caligoul. The house was haunted, but a playful cat spirit didn’t Explain the local’s fear. Caligoul like jokes; which, as I just discovered, can be terrifying, but they were pretty harmless.
“It got you too then?” Lydia’s laughter echoed from the corner. Mystery solved I guess.” She was pointing to a pile of tiny bones. A second caligoul floated through a closed door and added to the mass grave. “looks like they’ve over hunted.” I frowned. Life is rarely that simple.
“Caligoul don’t eat.” I pointed out. “They feed on arcane energy. They have no stomach.” She picked up a melodent skull.
“Looks like these ones have a bit more of an appetite.” A mischievous smile grew on her face as she gripped the door handle. “Or at least, whatever they’re feeding does.” She threw the door open. The horrific stench of death cascaded out, washing over us. My stomach lurched in protest, and a fountain of vomit spurted from Lydia’s throat.
Behind the door was a floor littered with the decaying corpses of small rodents and birds. A haze of Caligoul floated in and out, carrying fresh prey and dropping their kills into a steel cage at the back of the room. A moth eaten Pheliscus sat, dazed, within. Two rings flickered on its tail, and it barely flinched as an aeleotit fell from the sky and landed on its head. I ran to the cage.
“Oh you poor thing.” All my revulsion had vanished. The plight of this critter far outweighed my own comfort. Lydia hovered in the doorway.
“What are they doing?” she asked.
“Keeping it alive.” I replied. “This must be their Pheliscus. If it dies, so do they. Even ghosts have a survival instinct.” I pulled out my notebook and began scrawling furiously. “We have to get it out of here. I don’t suppose you know how to pick locks?” She rummaged in her backpack. One hand clamped over her mouth and nose. From inside she produced a pair of bolt cutters and tossed them to me.
“Mystery solved indeed.” I smiled, satisfied as the padlock fell to the ground and the Pheliscus sped out of sight.
Not So Haunted After All
The villagers of Lumbar are at ease now. They even gave me the house as a thanks for my part in solving the mystery. It took a lot of cleaning, and an entirely new floor, but the smell has gone. I never did encounter that Pheliscus again though.