Prologue: A warm welcome.

In a world where magic has become commonplace, it is to be expected that traditions featuring myths and miraculous phenomenons would lose their mystical properties in the eyes of the people. And when you asked someone how the souls of the deceased cross the after-life and enter the circle of reincarnation, the most educated will simply answer: "Easy, it is the great Yama-sama ! Who else would that be ?" while anybody else will speculate that it doesn't exist or that it must be thanks to some sort of magic.
This is how blindly humans and other races have come to believe in this new form of power.

Initially there were only four races in cohabitation on this planet, however as the desire for adventure and/or for conquest rose in the minds of many, encounters and of course conflicts, happened at some point. But just as obviously, alliances too were formed in the midst of all the tribulations.
What it means is that from the four initial races born in this world, many more have come into existence thanks or because of the eras of peace, depending on who you ask. Which leads to the different customs and traditions born around the world.

One of them, initially named " The Samsara festival", and now more commonly known as "Halloween", is a celebration held in order to guide the souls of the departed and to pray for their reincarnation to lead them to an always better life.
As such, people do not usually mourn the death of their peers on this day, instead they try to celebrate as much as they can and to think of death as nothing more than a small respite for the deceased before they are reborn in their brand new lives.


"Hey you ! What's up with the dark hood over your face ?!"

"..."

"Hah! His face must be too ugly to show, no doubt!"

"Oh the looooser!"

"Hahahaha!"

"..."

"Hey if you can't even answer when someone calls out to you, you won't ever be able to call for help when Yama The Great Reaper will come for you!"

"It's the "Grim" Reaper, Grim ! Not "Great", you're so stupid."

"WH-? I-I know that! I was just giving the stranger a false name so we could mock him later!"

"You say that but your face is all reeed !"

"Tha-that's not true ! Hey come back here I'll beat you up!"


"...How noisy."

In this small coastal village, stuck between a large mountain range, a forest and the sea, it seemed like the children of humans still believed in the myths and gods of legends, thought the hooded man. Resuming his walk down the path leading to the center of the village.

You could hear the excited cries of children running around the stalls and houses lining up the main avenue, as well as the shouting of both the people working on what appeared to be decorations for the different installations, and the parents scolding their children or apologizing on their behalf. Everyone seemed busy and you could read the tension on many faces.

The village, built on dark brown earth, that same variety they used as soil to grow vegetables, used only two paths. One that lead from the port, west of the village, to the foot of the mountains on the opposite side, and one that crossed it down the middle and went from the forest to the north, to another mountain to the south.
It might be easier to call these streets, but considering the modest size of the place and the fact that there was nothing worth calling a pathway like you would see in most other villages and in towns especially, calling these paths felt more fitting.

While he was absentmindedly thinking about trivial matters, the hooded man still must have known where he was headed, because he was now in front of the largest building of the village.
It was only three stories tall but it looked way more refined than any of the houses or establishments around.

"Welcome to the Artisan Guild, what are you here for ?"

"Good morning, as promised I have come to deliver the potion sample the Guildmaster commissioned."

The hooded man produced a small flask filled to the brim with dark green liquid from his breast pocket and put it on the counter.

"Oh then you must be the rumored Alchemist huh. I'll be right back."

The barely formal speech the guild attendant gave the hooded man seemed to be the common way they used to converse with one another in this village. Be it merchants, villagers or guild attendants, everyone must have known each other for generations, so they did not bother with manners anymore.
They might even have forgotten how to behave with strangers, the man wondered. And before long the guild attendant came back empty handed.

"All good with him, so here is the advance on the promised payment for one hundred and fifty more of those. If you could count again just to make sure."

"..."

"I count thirteen silver pieces and fifty coppers, that's three silvers too much. Here."

"Oh no you don't need to worry about it, it's our parting gift."

"Parting gift ?" that sounded ominous. Although it could simply be their way of setting the mood for the celebration, he thought.

"It's just as it sounds. Since not many travelers come around here, we like to show them our appreciation when they go out of their way to do business with our modest establishment. This way they should remember us and might even want to come back some day."

So there was a proper reason.

"I see, but this is quite the the gift in this case. And while I wouldn't want to sound overbearing before this kind gesture, I'm not sure about accepting this much. I would argue fifty coppers would be enough to convey the intention." 

That sounded a little too good to be true, but then again such a peculiar village ought to have its own ways of dealing with outsiders. Especially for this kind of occasion.

"The guild's money is only ever used for this kind of process since we live off trading amongst ourselves. And we also ship our vegetables and metalwork to be sold on the mainland every month, so our income remains quite steady in fact, so don't worry about it really."

"I see. Then I'll gladly accept your generosity and promise to deliver what was asked of me as soon as it is done."

"Sure, we'll be waiting."

"Alright, until then."

"A pleasure~ " elbow on the counter with his head resting on one hand and wearing a slight grin, he waved with the other at the hooded man's back.


As part of the celebration for the departed, people often like to play pranks on one another and to tell unsettling stories to the children, since it helps them put their minds off reality.
And in this village especially where traditions and myths have yet to vanish from those children's minds, the preparation leading to the singular day it all revolves around is sure to be hectic.