The Ghost Of Struckeros

It all started when we went to the Struckeros castle, for an archeological survey with my friend Vlad.

We found some evidence that ancient relics of a bygone royal dynasty whose worth could be millions in the antique market, could be inside it. This was a deal we couldn’t resist, and without hesitation we set off to the countryside, to find this castle. On the way to the castle, we stopped to take rest in the nearby town, Sylvania. Not knowing much about the castle other than a small picture in a book and obscure internet articles, we decided to learn more about this mysterious place from the locals. Hearing the name Struckeros, the locals instantly became hesitant to speak about it and referred to a wise old man living in a shack not far away from the castle grounds. Our curiosity peaked even further, seeing how this place remained so elusive even to them.

We went to the shack and knocked upon the door. He came out, alarmed, with a cross in his hand.”Thy spirit, why you be so persistent? Oh. Its some real humans for a change. What you need?”

“We need to know some information about the Struckeros castle. We’ve heard some ancient relics which are of priceless value in the antique market are inside it.”

He was not happy. “Don’t you dare mention that name!”

“But why?”

“Don’t you know the legend of the Struckero dynasty?”

“No”, we replied, curious to know more about its history.

“ Long ago, this castle used to be inhabited by the glorious Struckero royal dynasty. They had a mighty empire, conquering lands as far away as Wosteras, where they simultaneously defeated 4 factions at once. But on their last conquest, they massacred and pillaged a whole village packed with innocent refugees fleeing from a village. The general mercilessly drew his sword and was about to chop their leader, Ron Spring’s head off, but he didn’t know that Ron was a master of the mystical arts. Ron put a powerful curse on the Struckeros, saying the dynasty would perish and their souls would never leave the earth, jailed in the castle forever. The general still killed him, thinking it was a joke. But the curse prevailed. The dynasty collapsed, and soon, the castle fell into ruin. But when all the people inside the castle died, no one could bury their bodies. No undertaker was ready to bury their corpses, as their friends all had disappeared, trying to collect them for their last rites. It’s hence said from that day when there is a full moon, the Struckero’s murderous souls patrol the castle, pulverizing any stranger who set their foot in it.”

We asked him to guide us through the castle, but he refused. So we decided to pull this gig on our own.

“You are walking straight into their ravenous claws. This is suicide. Back out while you still can, kids.”, he warned us.

So, we ignored his warning and went straight to the entrance of the castle. At the entrance, we heard the screams of the dead, and shadows flickering in the dark. We could hear battle chants and the stink of decaying corpses was in the air. We stepped on something soft, and we cowered back in fear. It was the body of Stevens, the archeologist who last had published an article about this castle, from which we got to know about it. We heard footsteps, the sound of someone in full armor, marching towards us. We ducked behind a tapestry, to see who was coming. To our surprise, a complete regiment of knights marched in our direction, but there were no limbs or faces. Only armor. The prophecy was true. We tried to run away, but we rammed straight into something solid. On looking upwards, we saw it was the old man, now clad in the royal robes of the cursed empire. To our fear, we realized, the Struckeros didn’t vanish completely. “ You kids missed one thing about this story. One Struckero member was cursed to live forever, to guard its treasures, and it’s me, Baron Von Struckero, the general who cut Ron’s head off”. Before we could react, he drew his golden sword(ironically the same antique which we were looking for our survey), and our eyes were shut forever.

When we woke up, we saw our headless bodies down on the ground. “Now, you too, will join me, and remain the eternal guardians of this castle. You can never escape. Tell this tale to anyone who intends to visit this place, and remind them of the futility of their intentions to unravel the mystery of this castle.”

So we joined the army and completed our survey. We even managed to publish with the help of Struckero. Ironically, we became the ghosts and started haunting others preventing them to enter this castle. Our article became famous bringing fame to us, making us the famous ghosts in the army of Struckeros.