Lady of the Jungle

Deep in the Laerin jungle, there is a spirit that is simply called the Lady. When she was still alive, the Lady was a beautiful and enchanting girl with long red hair and a warm smile. She would break the hearts of men and women alike wherever she traveled, and eventually settled down in an old Hazra village called Moonedge. Now, the lady was known for her wanderlust, and even with a place to stay, she often took short trips around Stormhaven Bay. One night, as she walked down the beaches, she looked over and saw the dark jungle. She thought to herself that it might be interesting to take a look past the treeline. As she passed the threshold into the trees she became even more curious, and kept walking deeper and deeper, where she was lost forever.

Angry and lonely the Lady now appears to people at the edge of the jungle, and lures them inside with her beauty and promises of a nice visit at her house just a few hundred feet past the treeline. If you refuse her offers, she will leave without another word, but if you make the mistake of following her in for just a few feet, trying to leave will anger her and she'll rip you to shreds from the inside out. Some have followed her to her "home," a collection of trees that have been twisted together as they grow to form a hut, and have heard her tell this tale. Most who visit with her never leave, their bodies becoming weaker until they die of dehydration, too enchanted by the Lady to notice their predicament. Those who have the will to leave do so without more than a sorrowful goodbye from the Lady, who will leave them to find their way back without her guidance.

The town mentioned in the tale, Moonedge, existed up until two hundred years ago, when a plague hit the town and the survivors deserted it. The Lady herself, has been seen by scholars in the past, though there is no confirmation of the truth of her hut in the woods or her personal story as the reputable sources that have written on the topic have always declined her offer to follow her.

The story has been heard all throughout Arheim, and is the most popular ghost story in the three kingdoms.

Most of the details of the story remain consistent no matter where you are in Arheim, as there is some truth to the tale. The shape and material of her hut, along with the way she kills those who only follow her for a short while is often argued about by sailors along the coasts.

Books, scholarly articles, short stories, poems, and penny dreadfuls have all used her as source material in the past.

Songs and plays have been made about the Lady, and they make their way back into popular culture every forty years or so.