[littlemanpoet]

Glirdan was in mourning. Kath was gone, killed by werewolves. His father Sleepy was gone, lynched! Caranlondien and Lommy had been taken by werewolves. And his mother, Roa, was dead, but only because the good wizard head killed her so she could not create any more werewolves. He wondered if she had turned him into one and he didn't know it. He looked at his fingers, imagining claws, his arms, imagining them covered in fur. No, he didn't think so.

The wind blew off the salty sea, sending clean and scoured air his way. He was glad of it, for the Cursed village was becoming no place he wanted to live. He imagined that they would be voting for the next person to lynch. Let them vote! He would have none of it. He walked on. As the sun set he considered going back to town, and least to find out who had been lynched. He had no stomach for it. He kept on walking.

As darkness descended, all that could be told was the thundering waves crashing against the rocks strewen across the shore like bits of meat not consumed by the maw of the sea when it had eaten Numenor and the westmost shores of Luin in a gulp. Glirdan swallowed hard. He did not like thinking about great maws, huge gulps, and ravenous appetites. He turned his mind back to Kath and dreamed of her walking down the street, of her playing her lyre, her sweet voice, her-

He turned. Had he heard growling? A black shadow seemed to loom behind that rock. Suddenly snarls and claws and pain. He screamed.

***********

As dawn arrived, the villagers made their reluctant trek to the Watcher Rock. There lay Glirdan's body, or rather the largely skeletal remains of him. Only his head and feet and hands had been left unravaged; so they could identify him. They had no need to wonder if they had taken his heart; there was nothing left but a ribcage messy with scraps the werewolves were too indelicate to clean off. When they tried lift the body it fell into many bones, and not a few of them lost their last night's suppers. Nevertheless, they buried the bones in the graveyard, next to the one of Oddwen, already carefully decorated with a flower garden by Lalaith.

************

~ The Tally ~ (3)

Three werewolves
Five innocents

~ The Dead ~ (19)

Elempi, father of Diamond of the Battledore, killed on Night One
Loki the leech collector, lynched on Day One: innocent
The Saucepan Man the barkeep, killed on Night Two: innocent
Nogrod the retired jester, lynched on Day Two: werewolf
the phantom the loud, unpredictable, adventurer: hunter
Naria the servant who empties and cleans chamber pots: werewolf
Celuien the Healer and Cupper, lynched on Day Three: innocent
Lhunardawen the jeweler, committed suicide on Day Three: innocent
Cailín the match maker, mauled by werewolves on Night Four: innocent
Valier the gardener, planted and stoned in her garden on Day Four: werewolf
Firefoot the artist, frenziedly eaten on Night Five: innocent
Nilpaurion the ne'er do well hubby of Dancing Spawn, head almost ripped off by werewolves: innocent
Alcarillo the old retired sea captain, drowned on his boat on Day Five: werewolf
Lommy the little girl who steals other children's candy, broken and consumed on Night Six: innocent
Caranlondien the Sled-Team Driver, skewered and kabobed on Night Six: ranger
Roa Aoife the weaver, burned by fire on Day Six: the evil wizard
Gurthang the stable-hand, contorted by evil magic on Day Six: the good wizard
Sleepy Ranger the former wanderer, lynched on Day Six: innocent
Dancing Spawn of Ungoliant the Baker, flayed through the back on Night Seven: hunter
Kath the minstrel: flayed where she lay on Night Seven: seer
mormegil the retired mariner and current mayor: virtually beheaded by the Hunter on Night Seven: werewolf
Oddwen the filthy, insane street urchin, lynched in a game of tag on Day Seven: innocent
Glirdan with the giant crush on Kath, killed and eaten by the seashore on Night Eight: innocent

~ The Living ~ (8)

Diamond of the Battledore
Kitanna the beloved of Eomer
Feanor the shepherdess with a love of alliteration
Zali the seamstress and beloved of the phantom
Jenny Hallu the unmarried maiden & aunt
Lalaith the frivolous aunt and guardian of Oddwen
Eonwe the freeloading husband of Lhunardawen
Eomer the adventurer & lover of Kitanna