Aura

At a quick glance, Aura are indistinguishable from the visual distortions one suffers at the onset of a migraine. They are a persistent 'cognitohazard': witnessing an Aura immediately and irreparably harms your psyche – a dire price for a quick glance.

To avoid the effects of an Aura, it is crucial for you to not observe it. Instinct or Insight of 3 is required to sense that something is off, and to avert your gaze in time. Witnessing an Aura immediately deteriorates your mind, decreasing either Knowledge or Insight by 1 each day thereafter.

Black Dog

Heralded by a chill down your spine, the pale and empty eyes of the massive Black Dog observe you with ill intent, devoid of life. Each of its heavy steps drag on, accompanied by the metallic clang of the iron chains which failed to constrain it.

physique: 4 instinct: 5 knowledge: o insight: 2

The Black Dog is a supernaturally persistent stalker, albeit a slow one due to the chains that weigh it down. Once encountered, it will never cease pursuing you – but for as long as your Physique is 2 or higher, you can keep a distance to it. It cannot enter closed spaces, which makes indoor spaces the only ones safe for rest.

If you should fail to outrun it, the Black Dog will begin to tear you asunder before your last breath has left you. Its bone-crushing bite inflicts a Major Wound. Your only way of escape is to give it pause by inflicting a Lethal Wound or Debilitating Pain upon it – no wound is grievous enough to slay it, but you will gain 3 Encounters' time to search for shelter and recover... or to merely delay the inevitable.

Child's Laughter

Child's Laughter is an initially unnerving, but ultimately harmless entity. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to when or where it appears, but many consider the joyful, disembodied giggle to be a sign of good luck.

physique: 0 instinct: 0 knowledge: o insight: 1

If Child's Laughter appears in a Location or a situation that a small child would consider scary, it wails horrifically instead. This terrified, blood-curdling screaming inflicts Intense pain and causes all animals to flee the location, after which Child's Laughter also flees and vanishes.

Coffin

It is perfectly fit for you.

A Coffin's appearance is a bad omen. Turn your hand of cards face-down for the rest of the day, so that their backs are facing you – you must play all your cards 'blind'.

Cold

A chilling breeze passes by you, as if caressing you with its cold fingers – and following it comes a slow descent of snowflakes, laying a blanket of white to everything around you. You exhale a shaky, misty breath.

The weather has turned frigid in the location you are in. During daytime, the Cold is tolerable so long as you stay on the move – you cannot rest here without shelter and a source of warmth, as otherwise you become Chilled. During night–time the Cold becomes dire, and you cannot play any outdoor Encounters without becoming Chilled.

Decay

The air suddenly feels... burdened, akin to a sweltering hot summer's day, yet without the heat or the moisture. You catch a sickening mixture of scents – sweet, earthen, bitter and foul – as everything around you begins to Decay.

As the foul airs of Decay pass by the location you are in, everything in its vicinity starts to rot. Food Items spoil, carcasses are reduced into foul liquids, and Wounds fester. If you have any Wounds, all of them become Infected. Even though Decay stays in a location for only a day's time, its effect on the location remains.

Dog

A medium-sized mutt of mixed breed. Hungry and wary, it keeps its nervous eyes fixed on you.

physique: 2 instinct: 5 knowledge: o insight: 1

Travelling alone without a pack, Dogs generally avoid people – though due to thousands of years of coexistence, they will always, on some level, seek connection with humans. Food goes a long way to bridge this gap of distrust, earning you a friendly face and a wagging tail.

However, not all Dogs are safe to approach. When hostile, a Dog attacks with its teeth without fear, inflicting a Moderate Wound. This bravery is quickly dispelled with a single Major Wound's worth of damage, or by inflicting Severe Pain upon it.

Eclipse

A sudden darkness falls, as the Moon and the Sun align.

For the duration of one Encounter, all other Entities behave the way they would during night–time. If the Eclipse is encountered during night–time when the sun is not visible, it instead occurs on the 3rd Encounter of the coming day.

Fabricarnated

Fabricarnated are entities that do not come about naturally: they are constructed from a combination of organic and inorganic materials, and given life through occult means. No two Fabricarnated look alike, as they are constructed from whatever materials their creator had at hand at the moment of their creation. When you encounter one, the topmost card's suit in your discard pile determines whether it will be mostly organic or mostly inorganic, as their attributes differ.

Mostly organic Fabricarnated:

physique: 3 instinct: 4 knowledge: 1 insight: 2

Mostly inorganic Fabricarnated:

physique: 4 instinct: 2 knowledge: 2 insight: 2

Fabricarnated inherit most of their personality from those who made them, which makes them quite humane in both thought and action. They are capable of speech but cannot read, and know how to use human tools, even if cumbersomely. Fabricarnated are seldom hostile and as they do not need to eat, it is nearly unheard of to see them kill other beings on their own. That said, they will defend themselves if needed, inflicting Moderate Wounds by whatever means at their disposal.

Fetish

You find a strange, crudely crafted object – you can scarcely tell what it is supposed to represent, but you can tell it was made with intent. Almost like a small statue or a figurine, it has been put together of mismatched household materials, of whatever was available to its crafter, to impose magical might over that which it depicts.

Fetish objects can take on different forms, draw a card to determine its shape and effect:

♥ This Fetish takes the shape of the animal associated with your drawn card. For as long as you are in possession of this Fetish, that animal instinctively keeps away from you. You may harm the Fetish to inflict a Wound on the animal it represents, but a Major Wound’s worth of damage destroys it.

♠ This Fetish takes the shape of an inanimate object, like a children’s makeshift toy. You may spend this Fetish in place of an inedible Item you have once had, but only once, for it is of poor make.

♦ You cannot tell what this Fetish is supposed to be, no matter how long you look at it. There is nothing you can think to use it for, save for kindling.

♣ This Fetish is in the shape of a human. Carry it with care, for it is now a stand-in for you. Harming it harms you in turn – until a Major Wound’s worth of damage destroys it. Other beings with Knowledge of 1 cannot distinguish between it and you, and can be distracted or mislead with the Fetish. Losing the Fetish causes you to become Lost.

Fog

An impossibly thick Fog shrouds everything in its pale, clammy embrace.

The Fog covers the entire area of the location it has appeared in. Finding your way around within it, unable to see more than a few feet ahead of yourself, makes it impossible for you to make sense of your surroundings – as such, you may only play Encounters that take place indoors, or you will suffer the Lost –affliction. The Fog dissipates come the next morning.

Godstone

At a quick glance, the Godstone does not immediately stand apart as different from most other glacial erratics – it is both tall and rugged, imposing against its surroundings, but peculiarly, running across its sides, are strings of carvings akin to innumerable small, shallow cups.

The cups beckon to be filled with liquid offering, but not just any offering will do. The Godstone welcomes only that which either keeps man alive or kills him, and so either a whole bottle of hard alcohol, or enough blood to count as a Moderate Wound, make for suitable offerings.

In exchange, the Godstone will either:

1. Banish one entity of your choice from one the locations you have explored
2. Cure an Affliction of your choice
3. Allow you to draw five cards to your hand

You may make an offering to the Godstone only once.

Hare

Hares are prey animals with sharp instincts and a formidable stride. Hunted by all, their instincts have honed to spot danger, before danger ever spots them.

physique: 1 instinct: 5 knowledge: 1 insight: 1

A Hare will flee the moment is feels spotted. Seldom seen in the open, it rather feeds right by suitable underbrush for it to vanish under. As such, it is more common to hear a Hare hide than to actually catch more than a glimpse of one. They are never hostile.

Haunting

Great and accumulated agony has tainted this place, and now no living being may know peace here.

In a location affected by the Haunting, nothing seems out of place during daytime. But when the sun sets, the horrors come alive. Any attempt to sleep in a location affected by the Haunting is cut short by horrific nightmares. Draw a card – its colour determines the nature of the Haunting.

♥ ♦ Items behave unnaturally in this location, flying violently at you, crashing windows and breaking on impact. Shuffle your hand and draw one of the cards blind: if the item associated with it is capable of inflicting damage, it will attempt to attack you. If it cannot, it trashes around before suddenly vanishing – place the card into the discard pile. If you hold no cards in your hand, draw a new card from the bottom of the discard pile instead.

♠ ♣ Add a hostile entity associated with the drawn card. The entity is tied to the location of the Haunting, and is only present during night-time. Even if slain, it returns each nightfall.

Hollow

Empty husks, the Hollow are bodies that have lost that which once made them human. Generally not dangerous, they merely wander aimlessly, lost to the world. They seldom engage with their surroundings, though sometimes the way they stare towards buildings, or the way they sit on the ground in groups, gives the impression that some part of them must remember, still, what it was like to be a person once, and long for it.

physique: 2 instinct: 0 knowledge: 0 insight: 0

When first added to a location, the number of black cards in your hand determines how many Hollow are present – but always at least 1. They tend stay in the location they are in, though they may follow you to other locations for no reason other than seeing your movement. They will walk into and over anything, they can focus on only one thing at a time, and cannot tell living apart from the dead.

When hostile, Hollow attack without any concern for their own well-being. Incapable of using tools, they rely on what remains of their decaying bodies to inflict harm, through biting and beating. Each of their attacks inflicts a Moderate Wound. Due to their low intelligence and non-existent self-preservation instinct, they are easy to distract.

Limb

A severed human Limb, lying on the ground.

physique: 1 instinct: 1 knowledge: 0 insight: 0

When undisturbed, it merely lays on the ground, unmoving. But when approached, it shows some signs of lingering life, twisting erratically for a moment, before settling down again.

Memory

You see not an entity, but instead a moment, occurring as if it were a play. A scene from your past, from the life that you left behind, a Memory haunting your present.

Draw a card to determine the nature of the Memory:

♥ The scene that plays out to you is one that pulls at your heartstrings, a warm and treasured moment. If it were not over so soon, you could have spent however long embracing it. Diminish the severity of your Pain by one step, for 2 Encounter’s time.

♠ You wish that you could have gone on without having to see this – one of your lowest points, worst mistakes, played out to you as if in cruel mockery. As if it didn’t already haunt you enough in the early hours of the night, coming to you again and again in vengeance. Discard a random card from your hand, and what remains is your hand for the rest of the day.

♦ You follow the scene that plays out, one of those seemingly important yet far-distant memories you had not given thought to in so long – how had you forgotten this? And yet… the memory does not feel all that familiar, but you struggle to tell if it because you’ve misremembered it. If your Knowledge is at least 3, you can dismiss this Memory as being false, an illusion – but if your Knowledge is less than 3, this new scene replaces a memory you once had, changing your sense of self.

♣ You watch this scene from your past, one of the last moments you had with someone else before you came to this place... but something feels uncanny, wrong. That person keeps stealing glances at you, like an actor distracted. Until they no longer pretend not to look, the Memory fading as they walk towards you, the look in their eyes both unfamiliar and malicious – replace the Memory with a hostile Hollow.

Noose

A floating noose heads your way, its infinitely long rope extending into the skies beyond the reach of human eyes.

The Noose is persistent, perpetually seeking to fulfil its one purpose, one goal: to hang you. Instinct of 3 is required to spot it descending upon you before it loops around your neck, and begins to pull you up. Because it is just a rope, it is easy to cut through, provided that one has a sharp tool at hand – but if caught empty-handed, you will meet your end and hang for as long as your body holds together. When cut, the remaining part of its length is left hanging from the heavens, and the loose noose can be repurposed as a short rope.

Owl

Immediately recognisable for its haunting, soft calls, the Owl surveys its environment, listening to each and every sound in its vicinity, its golden eyes sharp.

physique: 1 instinct: 4 knowledge: 1 insight: 2

The Owl is a silent hunter of the night, and as such, it cannot be spotted during day-time. But come nightfall, this predator sets off in search of prey. This phantom of the night does not feel threatened by most things around it, and as such, it is not disturbed by your presence either. It is never hostile.

Pig

Pigs come in various sizes, anywhere from the size of a dog up to being larger than a man. They will readily feed on almost anything they can find.

physique: 3 instinct: 4 knowledge: 1 insight: 1

When encountered, the number of red cards in your hand determines how many Pigs there are in the location, but always at least 1. They are generally not hostile, and will flee whenever they run into a human – though they will not hesitate to go after whatever food laid out before them. They are incredibly fast despite their size, and will outspeed you. Despite their great speed and mass, their main method of attacking threats is by biting, which inflicts Moderate Wounds. They are smart enough to cease their attack if a Moderate Wound is inflicted upon them.

Wolf

You often hear them before you ever see them, their howls piercing through the silence of the night.

physique: 3 instinct: 5 knowledge: 1 insight: 2

The number of Wolves you encounter doubles each time you encounter them. In your first encounter, you will come across just one, but the next time there will be two, then four, and so on. Naturally shy creatures, they generally avoid people – until they find safety in numbers and outnumber you 2:1. The safest way to avoid them is to travel in a group.

When hunting or hostile, a Wolf will inflict a Moderate wound with its bite. When injured, an individual Wolf will not head another attack, but will instead wait for its prey/target to move first and charge in after. If there are no uninjured Wolves left, they will lose their nerve and scatter.