Hello my Dear,
It’s time for a little story about one of the creatures of Bramble. Is he worth fearing, or does he not pose a threat? Sit back my dear, let me tell you about a man known as the Nacken.
Is it my imagination? Is my head playing tricks?
Why is it so hard for me to resist?
What a piece of music, what a tune coming from these depths.
I just want to bounce, follow it, and rest.
Nacken, The Dancing Fool
He once was just an ordinary, but troubled, soul who just wanted to share his love for music with the whole world. Although an ordinary man, he wasn't considered “normal” amongst the local town folks. As a child, he often broke out into dance every time he heard music walking down the streets, and inevitably got the nickname “The Dancing Fool”. Ever since he has been mocked by the people of the town, his hate towards them has been growing steadily. He slowly became more and more isolated with only his love for music keeping him company. Music became his sanctuary.
One day, our ordinary man needed to get out of his isolated home to get some food from the town he had rejected for so long. He needed to silence his hunger. And apart from delicious food, there was one other thing in that God forsaken place that he actually looked forward to - a beautiful, angelic-like girl managing the food stand. She had always been warm and kind towards him, even if others in the village were not. So he took the courage, ventured out, but it wasn’t too long before he started getting harassed and beaten by the people in town. They repeatedly yelled at him to dance like the fool he is. And suddenly, something broke inside this ordinary man. Hehad had enough of the put downs, and he craved revenge. He picked himself up and told the beautiful woman by the food stand not to come to the town by the end of two weeks from now.
During these two weeks he was practicing his violin, neglecting any other health needs, slowly deteriorating and submerging into his own music. He needed to suffer to succumb to the power that music could give him. When the two weeks passed, he went into town with only one goal in mind - vengeance. Once he reached the town square, people started to gather around him. He picked up his violin and before anyone could approach him he started playing. When the music started, all the people in the town began to dance, uncontrollably. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t stop. Eventually, they all danced themselves to death. Our now not so ordinary man was so lost in playing his violin that, when he eventually stopped playing, all he could see were piles and piles of dead bodies around him. His vengeance was complete. What he wasn’t prepared to see was that the beautiful girl from the food stand was also amongst the dead. Although he asked her not to come to town that day, it seems she didn’t listen - and he didn't notice. With a huge amount of guilt and pain in his heart, he left the town for good to wander off deep into the woods, and all he carried with him was his violin.
If you hear a sweet tune in the woods, it could be the Nacken playing your last song…
I will tell you another story soon my Dear. Now it’s time for bed. And whatever you do, do not go into the forest at night.
Sweet dreams,
Dimfrost Studios