▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ Master of Nothing
▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ Stav Kepler Wickham
▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ ▰ agender
Stav looked into their broken mirror and straightened their bowtie. They admired their traditional Icelandic outfit, which they were wearing for the festivity day. Today in Stav's town it was heritage day, a time full of dancing, singing, shopping and food. Stav loved the annual festivities. This year would be the first they would spend in their new house, which they built themself out of an old, abandoned lighthouse. This was important, because Stav would get a perfect view of the bonfire that would take place at night.
Happy with their appearance, they set off on a walk to the village. On the way there, Stav tripped but didn't think much of it, catching themself before they fell and happily continuing on. It wasn't until they tripped the second time... the third, the fourth... that they realized something was weird. They sat down on the soft grass to get a closer look at their boots. The boots had a slight heel, so they supposed their unfamiliarity to heeled shoes was what caused them to trip, and, yet again, set off towards the village.
It was a long day of excitement when Stav got there. Their favorite part, naturally, was the food, consisting of many of their favorite fish dishes and pastries. They came back with enough food to last a month! And although Stav was new to the village and didn't know any of its residents, they found many of them quite pleasant after striking up conversation with almost everyone at the festival. Loving to talk about themself, Stav mentioned several elements of their life to their new friends, stressing especially that they were new to the area. Almost every one of them had something to say about the area: "The beach is breathtaking!" exclaimed one. "You're going to love the community!" commented someone else. "Where do you live?" asked another.
"In the lighthouse by the port." Stav explained. "I think it's called 'Staður gleymt Sailors'? I'm still learning Icelandic so I'm not quite sure what that means, but I assume something pretty, right?" Stav asked.
The inquisitor shook her head, suddenly looking solemn. She bowed her head and didn't speak, but smiled ever so slightly.
"Why? Is something wrong with it?" Stav wondered, genuinely concerned. They spent a good sum of money on the lighthouse, though most of their money went directly to repairing the antique.
"It's... why, it's haunted." the woman murmured. "It's called 'Place of Forgotten Sailors' because many sailors died under its watch, though no one discovered that until recently."
Stav grinned. "Oh? I don't think I mind so much. I don't believe in ghosts."
The woman's eyes shone nervously. "Well you should be. They may not matter wherever you're from, but here they are very real. Don't speak about them lightly or it'll irritate them more."
Stav laughed. "Whatever."
"I'm serious!" The woman grabbed their shoulders and looked them straight in the eyes. "Take it from personal experience, okay? The first you'll meet are Aki, Dagmar, and Emil. Hinrick might bump into you, but only if he feels like it. They are the warnings. Then comes Jóhannes. He's who you should really fear. 'Best sailor in Scandinavia until the storm took a good toss at him. He had a wife nobody knows the name of now. She didn't trust him and told him that if he never returned after a trip, she'd take another for her lover. And this was a big threat, since Jóhannes truly loved the silly girl so much. He was so mad after his death that she didn't wait a day before dating another, and he's been bitter ever since. He blames the waters for his pain, and the lighthouse that owned them."
Stav knit their eyebrows. "What do the first four do to people?"
The woman smiled. "Oh, mostly just simple things like tapping the back of your shoulder or tripping you so you fall."
Stav's eyes widened. They cursed themself for even half believing in the story. But, perhaps their falls on the way to the festival weren't just a coincidence. Come to think of it, they hadn't tripped since leaving their property. "How do I get rid of them?" they ask.
The woman pointed behind Stav. "There's a shop over there that sells protection relics." she explained. "One of those may ward them off for some time."
Stav rolled their eyes, realizing that the whole story was just a scheme to get money. He bet anything the woman worked at the relic store! Of course, he didn't buy anything. But he wished he would've.

Stav on their first ghost hunt! They actually started ghost hunting because their own home was haunted by a ghost; they live in an abandoned lighthouse close by to where the depicted scene takes place.