Ashborne Choir
When cities burn, their ruins do not always fall silent. Sometimes, the flames leave behind voices - shards of memory, grief, and yearning - that refuse to extinguish. From such echoes is born the Ashborne Choir, a phenomenon as much as a threat, a congregation of spectral sound woven from collapsed civilizations.
The Choir does not appear as figures, but as voices in harmony where no throat exists. To wanderers, it begins subtly: a lullaby in the dust, a hum between broken spires, a chant beneath the breath of the wind. But the longer one listens, the more dangerous the resonance becomes. Each note gnaws at the listener’s sense of self, drawing them into the unfinished chorus. Survivors speak of companions who simply stopped walking - standing still, mouths open, singing words they never learned.
Ontology of the Choir
The Ashborne Choir thrives in spaces where memory outweighs presence. War-torn amphitheaters, fallen temples, marketplaces where entire bloodlines vanished - such places are ripe for its arrival. It does not need worshippers; it creates them. The more voices it claims, the stronger its song becomes.
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Whispers: A single haunting voice. Harmless, but unsettling.
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Chorus: A dozen echoes, pulling at memory. Saving throws against despair are required.
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Canticle: A full psalm, deafening and irresistible. The Choir writes its hymn into the bones of those who listen.
For the Player
Characters confronting the Choir face more than a monster: they face their own forgotten moments. The melody dredges up personal failures, unfinished vows, or silenced loves. The true danger is not physical death, but being sung into the Choir until no distinction remains between self and sound.
For the Storyteller
The Ashborne Choir is best used as an environmental threat. Let players hear it before they understand it. Reward those who resist its pull with glimpses of truth - perhaps the Choir sings of futures that never came to pass, or of ruins the characters never visited. Its greatest weapon is temptation: the knowledge hidden in harmony.