Horseman

## Headless Horseman

> *"Be careful...creatures lurk within the mists."*
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## Storyline

The Listener, lost on the way to the city, is stopped by the Horseman before they walk into the mists and the cursed land it hides. He explains that the land was cursed by a lich king and that he himself was executed for trying to stand up to him. Now the mists draw in travelers for the monsters inside to hunt.

After he takes off his helm and reveals his headless state he shares a bit of his background. He was a swordsman and, as a boy, given the duty of guarding someone of royal stature. He had fallen in love with them but never told them before going on a crusade against the ich king. When the king cursed the land he was trapped here with the rest of the village and now they live in an endless night, twisted into some kind of dark creature along with the other monsters that roam the mists. He's taken it upon himself to protect the unwitting travelers who come through here, putting his old skills to use.

He bids the Listener to stay close to him for the monsters grow curious at their presence. He will guide them into Honeywood, his hometown, where other creatures (people?) will be delighted to meet someone new who is also alive.

## Personality

The horseman is driven by a strong sense of duty to protect travelers that wander into the dangerous mists of Honeywood. His headless state is motivation to make sure no one else suffers the same fate as himself. He seems quite sane for a being forced into immortality, using a dark sense of humor to cope with his crippling loneliness along with finding new hobbies. He's survived the many years of his death by planning ahead and staying calm - keeping his head as it were. He still recalls his old love for the royal he guarded and deeply regrets not telling them how he felt before his execution.

## Trivia

### Headless Horseman

* The headless horseman was executed via guillotine. The lich king keeps his head as a trophy but he hopes to retrieve it and be whole again.
* He only wears a pumpkin on his head for social gatherings and wears a helmet the rest of the time.
* Before the village fell it was a place where people rejected anything different.
* Developed a morbid sense of humor to cope with his endless death. He tries to live by the motto of "treat every day as if it were your last".

### The Listener

* Presumably on the way to Runika when they got lost on the way there.

### Others

* Honeywood is the village the necromancer Ortas lived close to.
* The cursed land is covered by a mist tied to the blood of the necromancer/lich king. It allows people to come in but traps everyone inside, living and dead. Dead spirits come back to live in an endless torment and nighttime. Eldritch beings prowl the land that can drive someone mad by sight alone.
* The necromancer's narcissism led him to pursue lichdom and completely destroyed the place.

### Fan Theories

* The Headless Horseman is Lorcan - he was the guard for a royal that visited Honeywood as part of a diplomatic visit.
	+ The royal he fell in love with was the Mad Emperor's intended who took over ruling the Empire.
* This takes place far in the future long after the current storylines have ended (as of this writing these include: *Strange lands, stranger people, Arcane Academy,* and *Runikan Royal* (unofficial title)).