While I recently dug into some Alemannic folklore, I discovered a different spin on the “fairies/spirits drowning people” tale, the Dolden. Essentially these malevolent spirits/ghosts resemble children caught in trees above stretches of water. At night they will call out for help, pretending to be trapped children, but they only wish for the helpful people to approach the tree they sit in and then fall into the water below where they drown. According to the myth, the Dolden were once mortal children who left to drown in a flood and now punish humans.
Did none of them stop to think that killing the people that try to help trapped children might be contributing to the epidemic of people being unwilling to help trapped children?
They come from a time before people realized that revenge was an endless cycle. Like the old testament was full of that, where good and evil were mostly framed in terms of “good people are us, evil people are our enemies, and it is good to cause suffering to the evil people. Also, sometimes circumstances make one of us evil, until we stone them or something”.
Yea, I was mostly joking. It’s also a bunch of children who are not well known for understanding the intricacies of social systems. They are also fictional, so there’s that. I do appreciate you adding that context, but I figured I’d explicitly state I was joking in case someone assumed I was actually blaming fake children for their own misfortune. I just thought it was funny because they’re not even taking revenge on people who would have wronged them. It’d be one thing to trick people who decide to ignore them into drowning, but they’re tricking people who decide to help. It’s like the opposite of revenge. It’s more like “if I can’t be saved no one can be”, which is admittedly a very childlike attitude.
While I recently dug into some Alemannic folklore, I discovered a different spin on the “fairies/spirits drowning people” tale, the Dolden. Essentially these malevolent spirits/ghosts resemble children caught in trees above stretches of water. At night they will call out for help, pretending to be trapped children, but they only wish for the helpful people to approach the tree they sit in and then fall into the water below where they drown. According to the myth, the Dolden were once mortal children who left to drown in a flood and now punish humans.
I have a buddy gearing up to run a Vaesen campaign, the Dolden sound like the exact vibe he’s going for. Ah, this campaign is going to be fucked up :)
Did none of them stop to think that killing the people that try to help trapped children might be contributing to the epidemic of people being unwilling to help trapped children?
No good deed, amirite?
They come from a time before people realized that revenge was an endless cycle. Like the old testament was full of that, where good and evil were mostly framed in terms of “good people are us, evil people are our enemies, and it is good to cause suffering to the evil people. Also, sometimes circumstances make one of us evil, until we stone them or something”.
Yea, I was mostly joking. It’s also a bunch of children who are not well known for understanding the intricacies of social systems. They are also fictional, so there’s that. I do appreciate you adding that context, but I figured I’d explicitly state I was joking in case someone assumed I was actually blaming fake children for their own misfortune. I just thought it was funny because they’re not even taking revenge on people who would have wronged them. It’d be one thing to trick people who decide to ignore them into drowning, but they’re tricking people who decide to help. It’s like the opposite of revenge. It’s more like “if I can’t be saved no one can be”, which is admittedly a very childlike attitude.
Good point. I will mention it to them next time when I drown under one of their trees.
Thank you, that is helpful