Dungeons.
When it comes to games, specifically RPGs, dungeons are the place you up and roll into for experience. Great place to find loot too!
But can they be creepy?
You bet your ass!
Know how we talked about some of the creepy monsters from FF? Namely Malboros? (Called Morbols in FFXIV?). Well there’s definitely more creepy material from the game, and it can come from both monsters and dungeons. And there’s *plenty* of creepy dungeons.
One of dungeons I wanna talk about is Haukke Manor.
A little history leading up to this place. So at this point, you’ve gotten a chance to bear witness to one of the major antagonists of FFXIV: Ascians, also known as the Paragons. They’re goal is to bring chaos and destruction to the world to balance it out. Dastardly deeds, summoning primals...whatever it takes to bring about chaos.
At one point, you try to pick up their trail, as they basically go dark when you take out Ifrit (yes, THAT Ifrit). Your investigation leads you to the city of Gridania, and a slew of murders and disappearances of young maidens within, and in the surrounding towns. You find that each victim has their face mutilated, and a pin stuck to their chests, with the crest of one Lady Amandine. After talking with a former butler of the lady, you find that she resides in her home, Haukke Manor...which is supposed to be abandoned.
Given the fact that she her vanity was so great that it made her go nuts when she got her face disfigured, it’s hard to not understand why.
With courage, you and three others brave it’s halls.
There’s a *lot* to see here. Since it’s a dungeon, you and folks tend to move through it as quick as possible (quicker still, as the expansions come out), but you can tell it was an abandoned place. Furniture draped in cloth, cobwebs cluttering the corners, and various rooms in a state it disarray. And that’s just the main floor.
The *basement* isn’t what you call a basement and more of an *actual dungeon*. Numerous cells with *numerous* torture implements, from racks to axes, n’ pokers and guillotines. On the floor, slick, dark puddles could easily mistaken for blood.
The top floor is Lady Amandine’s room...with the good lady inside.
The rooms are bad enough, but the denizens of the place? Worse. Floating eyeballs, wisps, skeletons and succubi. Couple that with a dash of imp and it’s quite the devilish place.
Floating eyeballs though...that shouldn’t be bad yeah-
...
...I stand corrected.
Oh! And the music that you hear when you first see the good Lady?
...You hear that several more times.
I’ll tell you ‘bout a major one later :3.
--Choco (10/29/19)
Pictures by me! FFXIV by SquareEnix. Video from Youtube.