Hungry Choir
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<title source="Name"> <default>Hungry Choir</default> </title> <image source="Image"> </image> <title source="title"> </title> <label>Alias</label> <label>Age</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Status</label> <label>Type</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Affiliation</label> <label>Family</label> <label>Occupation</label> <label>First Appearance</label>
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The Hungry Choir or Devouring Song is a Ritual Incarnate based out of Kennet and the surrounding area. It is now Bound to Brie, its power diminshed. <ref>“I worried you weren’t coming back,” Brie said. She had thick black lines painted on her now. To keep the source of the ritual bound within her body. The body was diminished enough she could talk without risking its escape. It wasn’t like it could hobble away, when there was scraps of meat on bone and little else.
-Out on a Limb 3.7 </ref>
Nature[edit]
The Hungry Choir is a living ritual, a self-organizing pattern of rules spread out over a wide area, not defined by any of their physical manifestations.
The song itself (see below) cannot be copied into text without making errors and transposing words.
Though the Choir cannot speak, it does have some degree of intelligence:
- It was able to recognize there was an outsider listening to a conversation and indicate a need for silence.<ref name=":0">“Calm down,” the woman with the toque said, putting a hand on his arm. “Don’t panic.”
One of the children grabbed her sleeve, holding a finger to his lips. All went silent, but for the distant chatter of people and youths
just outside the doors to the Arena, and the faint singing, which
wasn’t one of the two children here. Louise looked and saw more children in the dark between the trees. All, child and adult, seemed to be looking at Louise now. - excerpt from Blood Run Cold 0.0</ref>
- It blocked the Kennet trio from its website after the Kennet Others collectively promised not to harm them.
- It reacted to the trio interfering in it's ritual by trying to ensnare Avery in it's website later.
- It "taunted" the trio with a transformed Gabe after they failed to save him, although why is unclear.
Origins[edit]
Unknown, but speculated to be created by an Incarnation seeking to spread their concept and power, like most Ritual Incarnates. Charles is also another prominent suspect in the creation of the Hungry Choir. <ref>“Or… or someone here used whatever curse she left behind after her death as power or a central point to build the ritual around, right?” Lucy asked. She set her eyes on Charles.
-Out on a Limb 3.7 </ref>
In reality, it turned out the Hungry Choir was made from Yalda the Black Dog, using her and her curse as a core to the ritual. <ref>“How would you interfere?” Matthew asked. “The choir is strong.”
“It’s Yalda,” Lucy said, her voice firm.
-Out on a Limb 3.7 </ref>
The Ritual[edit]
You sign your full name up to the website. No matter what time it is, you are now in the ritual world and it is midnight.
You must then follow the singing to the ritual site, and join the other eight participants in singing the Devouring Song. Part-way through, an animal will appear; you have to eat some of it before the song ends.
The Devouring Song
“A song for your supper,
A morsel for a melody,
A ballad for your board,
A chorus for your collation,
A tune for your tuck,
A refrain for your refreshment,
A piece for the potluck,"
(repeat)
(All) “A song for your supper,"
"If the tune is merry enough, will the dish be sweet?
If the song is jolly enough, will the plate be neat?
And if the ballad is lively enough, can we hope for meat?"
(All) “A song for my supper!”
“How shall we cut it, if we have no knife?
With our teeth, and with our nails,
Digging in, and singing out!”
(All) “How glad we are to dine!”
(All) “A song for my supper!”
“I’ll come to the table, every phase this moon.
And ne’er again find myself picking--up a spoon!
Nor fork, nor blade!
Nor plate, nor cup!
Oh I’ll have stayed fully supped, and sated since this tune.”
(All) “A song for your supper!”
“I shall not miss a single beat, or else I’ll offer tonight’s treat.
I shall not miss a single word, or else I’ll be the one who’s served.
And we’ll tell you, that on these nights. Oh, we shan’t fail to take a bite.
To you alone, I’ll share this…
If a single meal I miss…
Then I shall be but skin and bone…
And I will be a mess,”
(All) “Oh, this shall be a mess!”
“A song for your supper!
A ditty for some din!
A crooning for some chow.
A helping for a hymn.
A song for your supper!
A morsel for your melody!
A ballad for your board!
A chorus for your collation!
A tune for your tuck!
A refrain for your refreshment!
A piece for your potluck!
(All) “A song for your supper!”
“Come moons eight, I’ll be surfeit,
Full even when I’m emp-ty,”
[text missing]
(Waifs join) “Come moons eight, they’ll be surfeit.
Full even when they’re emp-ty.
Or else they’ll be…
forever a waif,
barred from the horn of plen-ty.”
On completing the ritual, you gain a tattoo corresponding to the phase of the moon, and any injuries gained during the ritual magically become healed-over injuries you had since birth.
The eighth time you attempt the ritual, you're given a different version which involves a different song and removing parts of the other contestants. If you complete the ritual eight times for the eight phases of the moon, you will be forever satisfied - no need to eat or drink, no negative effects on your body from overindulging, and fate will arrange for you to have endless supplies of whatever food, drink, or drugs you desire.
Rules[edit]
These rules are enforced by the Waifs, which will attack anyone breaking them.
The rules governing Hungry Choir participants are drawn from the wording of the song:
- "Have no knife" - no weapons. Sufficiently armoured clothing risks breaking this rule. The waifs will attempt to take the item, only attacking if it's held onto or used.
- "Not miss a single word" - no speaking, even single-syllable cries, that isn't part of the song.
- "Not miss a single beat" - once the song starts, failure to sing along is punished.
- "Shan't fail to take a bite" - you must eat some of the sacrificial animal before the song ends. This is required to complete the ritual.
- Although not strictly a rule, you must follow the singing to the ritual site or the waifs will drag you there.
On anyone's eighth night, the song and rules are different. They include that:
- You must eat seven specific body parts from each of the other contestants.<ref>“It took her a while to get back to her place after. The winner, the
sobbing girl, took seven parts from each of the seven contestants.
Reagan isn’t in good shape. She’s blind, and she’s convinced she’s going to die, and the other six aren’t much better off. The next night is tomorrow.” - excerpt from Stolen Away 2.7</ref> One of the parts that must be claimed from each contestant is one of their eyes.
Manifestations[edit]
Waifs[edit]
Small children with horrible teeth and bloody mouths. Often accompanied by a sourceless sound of children singing<ref name=":1">She saw a figure in the trees, moving through foliage faster than someone should be able to, given the slope and the undergrowth. Not much bigger than them.
[...]
A child, a couple years younger than them. Despite the recent run, the boy didn’t heave for breath, and was almost motionless. He wore mismatched clothes that looked like they had been picked from the lost and found, and his mouth was hanging open, with blood smeared across his lower face. With the open mouth, his teeth were visible, half of them missing and the other half broken with black and brown at the edges of the breaks.
There were others nearby, it seemed. Verona could hear distant singing.
[...]
There were a lot of kids in the woods, along with the occasional adult. Some had clothes that looked like outfits, others were mismatched. A couple were naked, smeared with mud or blood. Some had their mouths open, others had their mouths closed, but an awful lot of them had blood around their mouths.
The singing was louder now, and Verona couldn’t see the source of it. Sing-song, playful, like a song that might get sung at the grade school, or a Christmas song with zero Christmas in it. She couldn’t make out the words. - Excerpt from Lost for Words 1.1</ref><ref name=":0" /> and/or humming.<ref>One of the children might have been humming or singing. It was hard to hear. [...] The damn children weren’t talking, weren’t playing. They just stood here and there. None of them matched in the clothes they wore or the groups they came from, none reminded her of locals she’d seen, and none moved their lips, though the singing and humming in the background persisted. The words of the song were indistinct. - Excerpt from Blood Run Cold 0.0</ref>
Immune to injury and superhumanly strong. After the ritual abandoned Kennet, they lost their super-strength, but were still essentially unkillable.<ref>Brie had said the kids were strong. They didn’t seem any stronger
than ordinary nine to twelve year olds. [...]
But none of the children died. Even the ones that Ms. Durocher’s creation was clawing at were getting back up. - excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.z</ref>
Superhumanly fast and don't tire.<ref name=":1" />
Anyone who fails the ritual is doomed to be devoured by them, and have their remains become another Waif.
Waifs can often be found hanging around in the Ruins when not manifesting in reality.<ref>“Who would go to the ruins? What Others are comfortable there?”
The two goblins talked over one another, Verona held up a hand, then pointed.
“The Choir has a bunch of kids there most of the time,” Gash said. - Excerpt from Stolen Away 2.7</ref>
Observers[edit]
Also called Witnesses.<ref>
Witnesses, men and women with no faces, only toothy maws with darkness instead of mouths and throats. They rose to a standing position from within clusters of children.
[...]
One of the witnesses with its fanged toothy mouth was pounding on the barrier.
[...]
Witnesses were converging on the others. Adult-size. Some of the waifs weren’t children, but just sickly, skinny adults. - excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.z</ref> People with mouths for faces. Appear only in the ritual-world, corresponding to people in the real world. Don't do anything but look creepy.
Flyers[edit]
The Hungry Choir spreads itself with magical flyers that manifest and seek out victims, generally people with issues around food, self-image, or addiction. Those who are not susceptible can't read them. They look like a misprinted combination of an ad for a buffet and for a musical show, with a lengthy nonsensical URL at the bottom.<ref>First image: Flyer, on paper in a dusty rose color, what appears to be two photocopied images are overlaid, with much of the text unreadable. Text reads as follows:
Text in black outline marks a title stating: ‘Eat an [unreadable]’ and ‘All you can’
Black text overlays the last lines, with ‘[unreadable]R Song’ and musical notes.
Middle section: ‘Breakfast, Lunch & Din [unreadable]’ and ‘For only $ [unreadable] – the earlier musical notes overlay the unreadable portions.
Overlapping images appear, but they’re badly degraded and show the people in the pictures as silhouettes only. One appears to be people at a table. Another appears to be a person holding a microphone.
‘[unreadable/nonexistent text] …imited [unreadable; Justiego guesses ‘seats’] available.’
‘When: Eight Nights:’
‘Eat so well you’ll [unreadable]’
‘Take another bit[unreadable]’
‘Bring nothing [unreadable]’
‘Hungry bell… [unreadable]’
Eight bars of text are illegible, six on the right and two below or overlaying the ‘hungry bell…’ line. Justiego picks out the letters ‘Las’ in one of the two below.
At the bottom, it reads: ‘Make your reservations online at:’ with the website address scratched out. - (1.6 Spoilers) Flyer & App</ref>
Website[edit]
An impossible website detailing the ritual, the same pink-grey color as the flyer, with a sign-up page. It's poorly laid out and contains distorted images. The website never appears in your browser history, it's source code is nonsense and cannot be copied, even by hand.
The Choir can transform other websites into their own in order to trick a target.
Universe[edit]
During the ritual, the participants are transported to a distorted version of the universe. All clocks and similar displays show a distorted countdown to "dawn" and the end of the ritual (speculated to be a count of remaining heartbeats.) TVs show a mess of distorted images; websites and apps are gibberish; photos show the Observers where normal people should be. There is no food or drink. Geography and layout is altered. The moon in the sky flickers between different positions.
Community[edit]
An online community exists dedicated to researching and strategizing for the ritual. Although easily dismissed at first as some kind of multimedia horror story or game, their websites contain a great deal of detailed advice, as well as links to the Hungry Choir website.
They have developed a system of hand signals to communicate without violating the "miss a word" rule. Some use specific medications to help endure eating raw flesh torn free with their teeth and nails without vomiting.
History[edit]
During the contest for the Carmine's throne Charles used the doll that carried Yalda's Curse to gain claim over the Choir and use it to win the contest.<ref>“Do you know what he might have dug up? I know you stopped to check it was buried, at two separate times.”
“The doll,” Verona said.
“The doll,” Maricica confirmed.
“What doll?” Raquel asked.
“That held the curse for the Choir,” Verona said, looking up and over. “Why?”
“Claim,” Maricica answered. “Let me go. I’ll leave you to wait for the contest to finish.”- Excerpt from Summer Break 13.13</ref>
It was destroyed after Charles became the new Carmine.<ref>I’ll tell you now, I’ve done away with the Choir. There should be no more deaths as a result.- Excerpt from Summer Break</ref>
References[edit]
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