The Lych Walker
Fantasydark3 audio scenes
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1 chapter • 3 scenes
Summary
A young gravedigger in a remote mountain village carries the dead along an ancient corpse road to the distant parish church, until the spirits he escorts begin whispering warnings of a plague spreading from the very institution he serves—forcing him to choose between sacred duty and his village's survival.
Characters
Merra Fenholt
Prior Cassian
Daven Ashwood
Settings
The Corpse Road
A narrow mountain path winding through mist-shrouded forests and across barren ridges, barely wide enough for pallbearers walking in pairs. Ancient coffin stones mark resting points where moss grows thick, and carved crosses weather into obscurity.
The Mother Church
A towering stone cathedral dominating the valley below, its gothic spires reaching skyward while its foundations hide a sprawling crypt. The church's well stands in the courtyard, now sealed with iron chains, and the air inside carries the cloying sweetness of incense masking something fouler.
Thornhaven Village
A cluster of stone cottages huddled in a mountain valley, with steep-pitched roofs and small windows shuttered against the cold. The village well sits at the center, surrounded by herb gardens tended by Merra, while Daven's cottage stands apart at the valley's edge near the corpse road's beginning.
Story Structure
1
The Complete Journey
Daven Ashwood's transformation from dutiful lych walker to autonomous moral authority, as he discovers corruption in the church, confronts institutional power, and chooses compassion over blind obedience to save his village.
1
The Complete Journey - Complete
Daven Ashwood journeys from dutiful obedience to moral autonomy, discovering the church's corruption, confronting Prior Cassian's demand for silence, and choosing to save Thornhaven Village by breaking with sacred tradition.
1
Whispers on the Road
Daven walks The Corpse Road carrying a village elder's body when the dead begin whispering warnings about plague in the church's well, which he dismisses as exhaustion.
2
The Prior's Demand
Daven confronts Prior Cassian about the sealed well and spirit warnings, but the prior demands his silence to preserve church authority, revealing institutional corruption.
- Story ID
- story_q3hixD4w54xl92Ny
- Created
- December 29, 2025
- Art Style
- dark-realistic (photography)
- Status
- published
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