Illustrations to short fantasy stories for personal project 
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Widow Mask
In Gristan, there is a sacred tradition: a woman at a wedding must wear a special wedding mask made especially for her. In later married life, she is required to wear it on all major holidays and events. After the death of her husband, the mask is not accepted to wear, it is considered a bad omen and bad form. But there is a legend about a widow who loved her husband so much that she did not stop wearing the mask after his death. The gods, angry with the widow for violating such an important tradition, cursed the mask, fusing it with the woman's face. She was forced to wear it without being able to take it off for the rest of her miserable days. It is said that the mask took over the widow's mind, sending her terrible visions, which caused her to eventually go mad and commit suicide.

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Silent singer's sitar
You don't know who he is, where he comes from, or why, but one day you will turn around and face his blank, vacant gaze, and hear the dark and ominous song of his sitar. And no matter how fast you run, no matter where you hide, he will always be behind you, and the melody that he plays will ring in your head, foreshadowing misfortune. You can't escape it, even if you pull out your ears, you'll be damned, only the singer's fingers will stick out of the strings.

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Punishing arrow
Once a man came to the dharan, known as the masters of enchantment. The man was frustrated by the betrayal of his brother, who stole his beloved and married her, he wanted a bloody reckoning, but was afraid of punishment for this crime. Therefore, he turned to the dharan to create a weapon that would hit his brother, but did not point to this man. For a long time the masters thought about the wonderful weapon of revenge, searched for solutions. Finally, they created special arrows: hit the one who releases them. The man took the arrows and gave them to his brother as a sign of alleged atonement. Brother accepted them and went hunting. A few days later, he was found dead with an arrow in his back. No one ever figured out how this could have happened, they thought it was another hunter who accidentally shot him. And the man who was delighted with arrangement, lived a long and carefree life with his beloved.


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Witch's comb
The Duchess had a son, but from birth his face was struck by ugliness. Nevertheless, the Duchess loved her son more than anything in the world and tried to brighten up his life. One day, he decided to marry and woo the beautiful daughters of other dukes, there were six of them. But they only laughed at him and rudely rejected his proposal. He returned home, shrouded in sadness and anger, smashed mirrors so that he could not see his reflection, and asked his mother why she had given birth to him so ugly. The Duchess, seeing her son's suffering, decided to take revenge on the proud girls. No one knew her terrible secret - the Duchess was a witch. She enchanted six combs, which she sent to the daughters of the dukes as a gift. They accepted them enthusiastically, but as soon as they tried on these combs, they immediately turned into forest animals and ran into the woods.

Never be rude and arrogant with people, because their mothers may be vengeful witches.

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Dark moon incense
Dark moon flower - a plant that grows high in the Lassar lands mountains. When burning it, a pleasant sweet smell is formed, but which, if inhaled for a long time, instills a oppressive feeling and bad thoughts in the head. It is used by followers of the Dark Moon cult (after which the plant is named), because they believe that only when they are in a state of emotional depression, they can honor their god. Some of them spend days in special incense burning rooms, so as not to allow even a hint of a good mood. The highest demonstration of loyalty is ritual suicide, when a person is so immersed in bad thoughts that they no longer see the meaning of their existence

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Cursed Relics
Published:

Cursed Relics

Published: