World: Alfheim
Diet: Life force
Height: 9’6″
Lifespan: ?
Habitat: Bridges
Activity Cycle: Nocturnal
Anywhere the devil owl’s cry can be heard, whether it be the middle of a city or the most remote of woods, lone travelers risk a meeting with a forsaken spirit, the haunting damablanche. Some say they are the souls of maidens caught by devil owls after they threw themselves from bridges, others that they are merely the living embodiment of the pull that bridges have on people who cross them, drawing them to their edge to gaze into the abyss below. Whatever their origin, these spirits fill handsome ballgowns with their stretched forms, manifesting from the mists to demand a dance from those who pass.
There is no easy way forward when approached by the pale lady, for there are two forms of this spirit. One will kill anyone who accepts the dance, draining away their life force with her touch, but will fade away if rejected. The other does the opposite, letting those who give her a dance pass unharmed and savagely mauling those who refuse with her talons. The only way to tell the difference between the two is to look at their hands. The first type has fingers with no claws or nails at all, while the second type’s fingers are tipped with black claws, sharply hooked for tearing flesh more than slashing it.
More spirit than flesh, a damablanche cannot usually be destroyed in combat. They only appear to hunt solitary travelers and vanish at will, meaning they are rarely in any danger. Both types may be lured with music, so long as only a single person plays, bringing them to a grey mage. With the defense of the spirit that a grey mage can place upon themselves, they can give the damablanche their final dance, sating their souls and putting them to rest.
