DarkmasterN
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Drawlloween 25
🕑 Added 2022-10-25 12:51:35 +0000 UTCToday's prompt is Phantom.....
This is a Vide, also known as a faceless gentleman, a Noman, or Phantom Aristocrat.
The Vide are a strange group, first described in several journals from 1682 belonging to French aristocrats that took part in a party in Versailles at the court of Louis XIV, in which several attendants described a very strange guest. He was described as....
"A gentlemanly figure, stood in fine tails and shoes that glistened with the light, as shiny as steel and wielding a cane propped before him. He held about him the air of a proper gentleman, and he spoke as if of the highest echelons of society, understood among those in attendance yes, however he was given a wide berth and other attendants kept their distance from him for one foreseeable reason that I still cannot explain. He had no face. Not so much that there was nothing there, as the strange gentleman still had eyes and teeth, however the eyes seemed to shine from a black void beneath his powdered wig, and just beneath, as if held suspended in the dark itself was what appeared to be a set of teeth and gums that sat nestled in the shadow. Surely you will believe that I jest, however I am not the only one writing of this scenario and I know already of three others whom have submitted quereys as to what this strange daemonic influence could have been..."
Other journals describe the strange entity in more detail, stating that he would laugh loudly in a strange accent, and proclaim stories of various victories in lands no one had ever heard of, and when mentioning a place that they had heard of before, he would list conflicts or leadership that did not exist. Many were taken back by this strange creature's lack of a face, some intrigued, and others morbidly curious. They say he would turn slowly, his floating eyes shifting and peering at a creature while the teeth would better emerge from the darkness in what everyone believed would be a bite, and looming over everyone as he stood nearly 7 feet tall. A wheezing, raspy breathing would come from him as he sat silent, with the sounds growing ever so louder the longer it went on, until he would inevitably and abruptly interrupt anyone else telling anecdotes or stories with a hearty and warped laugh before telling his own outlandish tales again. If another was speaking or telling a story, the strange man would keep his eyes on him for the rest of the story with a look of malice and ill content, causing said person to hear that wheezing again, even when the gentleman is speaking.
Several officials in attendance that had called him a phantom or a creature were met with the man's blank gaze. When met with his gaze for long enough they would laugh and act as if they were joking, and continue laughing about it afterward for hours, bringing it up that it was just a joke. For some this continued on for the rest of their life, with them muttering "It was only a joke" to themselves and laughing at least a few times per day until the day they died. A few attempted to initiate a fight or attack him. One who struck the Phantom Aristocrat with their cane, found that despite his head seeming to be an empty void, the cane found purchase on a object that felt harder than steel. He excused himself, turned around and leaped upon the man, silently as he proceeded to beat him until his head was a pancaked pulp, and then returned to his conversation, making a joke about the scenario to which everyone laughed. It wasn't until the end of the night once he had gone that everyone realized what had happened to the man, and when they would think about it, the heavy wheezing would return in their minds, making them feel as if being observed. The other man who challenged him to a duel was met with a similar stare and like the others. The mysterious gentleman agreed, and they stood back to back, taking several paces before the phantom reached into his coat and removing a pistol before shooting him in the chest, The man, once shot, laughed and said it was only a joke, and continued through the party as if he hadn't been shot. He too was found dead after the party, with his eyes and teeth missing, along with the gums.
Some recounted the tales that the mysterious man told, one involving flying ships across the Aldeberan, of great expeditions to the plateau of Leng, and of clashing with pirates en route to the moon. He spoke of the decadent halls of Carcosa, and of meeting sweet lovers in Buyan. Of collecting riches greater than one could imagine in the land of milk and honey, or clashing with the Khaa'styr- Vosh and stealing their Vandrex crystals away as spoils of war.
At least one report stated that when a drunken attendant insisted that he had done none of these things, the gentleman stood and placed a strange door knocker on the nearest doorway and knocked three times and allowed the man to step through, and upon doing so, the door led to a strange world where worshipping crab like things dragged the man away while ripping him apart. When the night ended the gentleman did the same, stepping through a doorway into another opulent home and bowing as he bid adieu.
A few minor political images and drawings of the event came up aftwerward, however it went mostly unnoticed and those who pushed the issue were treated as being insane.
Over the years, other sightings of creatures like this have popped up, and through voice, body shape, height, and attitude, it has been determined that it seems to be a race of creatures rather than a singular entity. Faceless women and children have also been seen at various aristocratic parties, and all of them acted in a similar manner and caused people to hear deep, difficult breathing each time, and they continued to get that feeling at random ever since, especially if they said something offensive to the entity.
Stories from those who traverse the dreamlands have spoke of sailing ships and expeditions filled with these Nomen, or Vide as they seem to be referred to, and some have seen them arrive to do business. It is believed that they may hail from Carcosa, and be followers of the King in Yellow as they are known for often asking if one has "Seen the sign" and tend to be a fan of the performing arts and oratory as well as music.
Why these creatures appear to us, what they want, and what they are truly capable of is unknown, and may never be known....
Comments
Asneakyturtle
I'm reminded of a Victorian Mr. Popo.
