The Hush

"The first mistake an outsider makes is thinking the Hush are just stories. The second mistake is noticing them. The third mistake is asking what they want. I have never met a man who lived long enough to make a fourth."

— Gerralt Morné, Arin storyteller

The people of Areeott have always understood that they are not alone. Not in the way of crowded cities and markets, but in a deeper and more unsettling sense. There are things in the world that do not belong to any nation, do not follow the laws of gods or kings, and do not speak with voices that can be trusted. The people call them the Hush. No one knows where the name began. It is spoken carefully, meant to quiet rather than summon, for everyone knows that speaking too clearly of something draws its attention.   The Hush are not ghosts, though they are sometimes mistaken for them. They are not demons, for they do not bargain, tempt, or ask for worship. They are not fae, though the caution around them is much the same. The Hush are older than all of these, watching from the quiet places of the world. They do not seek mortal company, but once noticed, they do not leave.   The oldest stories say they are remnants of things that never fit into the world. Some call them lost gods, abandoned when no one spoke their names. Others call them echoes of promises broken so fully that the world itself remembered. Some say they are the weight of magic pressed too deep into the land to ever fade, surfacing only when the moment allows. No story agrees, but all share one truth. Once you see the Hush, they have seen you.   Travelers in the mountains sometimes find themselves on roads they do not remember taking. The wise keep walking. The foolish turn to look back. Then they see a figure standing between the trees, too far to be clear, but watching. It does not move, yet if they blink, it will be closer. The roads of Areeott do not always lead where they should, and those who wander from the known paths often return changed, if they return at all.   The Hush are not bound to form in any way that makes sense. Some take the shapes of people, but poorly. Their heads tilt too far, their mouths move before words catch up, and their eyes do not follow a conversation as they should. Others wear the shapes of animals that do not belong to this land. Their fur is too pale, their limbs too long, their movements too smooth. Some have no shape at all. They are only a presence at the edge of sight, a whisper when no one else is near, a breath against the neck in an empty room.   The people of Areeott keep to the old rules. If a voice calls from the trees, no one answers, for if it is truly someone they know, that person will step closer. If a strange road appears between two landmarks, no one takes it. It will not lead where it claims. When a traveler arrives with vacant eyes and a voice that is not their own, the people look to priests and cunning folk, those who know what lies beyond the veil of certainty.   There are signs when a place has been touched by the Hush. Candles flicker where there is no wind. Water shows reflections that do not match. A long-abandoned house suddenly bears signs of life. The air grows heavy, not with peace but with waiting, as if something listens from just beyond the ear.   Outsiders call it foolishness. The scholars of Avindor dismiss it as superstition, a way to explain fear of the dark. The people of Areeott do not argue. They do not need to. Whether or not outsiders believe does not matter, for the Hush believe in them. In time, they learn.   There are no prayers to keep the Hush away. No charms, no offerings, no bargains. The only rule that matters is the hardest to follow. Do not notice them. Do not speak of them too clearly. Do not acknowledge them when they stand too close. Once they are in your mind, they never leave.   The Hush have always been here. The people of Areeott have only learned how to live around them.

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From The Corner of Your Eye

"Outsiders think the Hush are just one thing, a single shadow lurking at the edges of the world. They don’t understand. The Hush are many. Some walk like men but do not know how to wear their skin. Some follow like beasts that were never meant to exist. Some do nothing but wait, and it is those you should fear most. The Borrowers will leave you hollow. The Night-Faced Ones will take your truth. The Hushed Hunters will follow until you forget why you were running. The Beckoners will call, and if you answer, you will never belong to this world again. And the Hollow Walkers? The Shadow Lost? The Echoes of the Shattering? Those are not creatures. They are wounds. You do not fight them. You do not stop them. You only hope that you do not step too close."

— Ysalde Fenn, hedge witch of the High Roads

The Hush are not one kind of being. They do not share one purpose. Some watch, some listen, and some wait. Each is shaped by something that came before, whether a life half-remembered or a mistake that never faded. The people of Areeott never speak of them directly, but those who encounter them know the difference.   The Borrowers are easiest to mistake for ordinary folk. They wear the shapes of men and women, but never well. Their smiles do not match the mood of the room. Their hands linger on things that are not theirs. They move with slow patience, as if they never expect to be noticed. They are drawn to loss. They linger in abandoned homes, among families where sorrow clings. Some say they only take what is already forgotten. Others claim they make sure something is missing.   The Night Faced Ones make no attempt to appear human. Their faces are smooth and empty. They do not speak. They do not react when spoken to. They stand at the edges of places where truth has been buried. Some say they are drawn to lies, appearing where deception has shaped lives. Those who see them often find it hard to speak honestly afterward, though no one knows if this is curse or consequence.   The Hushed Hunters are rarely seen but often felt. They take the shapes of animals that do not belong in Areeott. Their fur is pale, their limbs too long, their movements too deliberate. They do not chase, but they follow. New footsteps appear beside one’s own, and at night there is the sense of breath too close behind. Those who are followed do not always vanish, but they are never the same again.   The Beckoners wait along the roadside, lifting a hand as if to call someone forward. No one knows where they lead. Those who follow do not return, or else they return unable to speak of what they saw. Most know better than to acknowledge them.   The Hollow Walkers are not aware at all. They are not individuals but echoes. Memories that have taken shape, replaying themselves over and over. A woman waits at a door that no longer exists. A soldier marches down a road long abandoned. They do not react, they do not change, but if they realize they are being watched, they may try to take someone with them.   The Shadow Lost were once people. Whether they stepped off the wrong path or wandered too far, they are no longer what they were. Thin and stretched, they linger at the edges of places where the world grows thin. They are drawn to warmth, though they no longer understand it. They do not intend harm, yet harm follows them.   The Echoes of the Shattering are hardest to name. Some say when the world broke, it did not break cleanly. Fractures remained. From these came the Hush that are not spirit, not soul, and not creature. They are remnants of something that should not exist. When they are near, things fall apart.   No one can say how the Hush came to be. Some call them lost wanderers. Others abandoned gods. Some whisper they are mistakes that never faded. The people of Areeott do not ask. They do not try to explain what was never meant to be explained.   There are no wards against the Hush. No charms or prayers can keep them away. They do not demand anything in return. They only take what is freely given. A glance held too long. A step onto a road that was not there yesterday. A door left open after dusk. Once noticed, they do not leave. This is why the people of Areeott do not seek to understand them. They only learn to live around them.

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