Wicker Jack - The Scarecrow
Don’t look it in the eyes. Don’t call it by name. And never wander the fields after dark — or you’ll hear the rustling.
Role in Its Society:
Wicker Jack was born from old blood magic and binding glyphs used by hedge witches to protect their crops from marauding beasts and bandits. Over time, these spells curdled with neglect and malice, warping Jack into something hungry for fear, no longer simply a ward but a predator that protects by punishing.
It now haunts forgotten farmland across Veridya — especially the Moonglow Savanna and the Duskhaven borderlands, drawn to cursed soil, failing crops, and whispered superstitions. Folk tell of a scarecrow that shifts rows when no one watches, that mimics laughter it shouldn't know, that turns fields into graveyards for trespassers and liars.
Appearance Description:
Wicker Jack is lean and angular, shaped like a man but sewn from fear and folklore. His frame is composed of bundled twine, dried roots, and weathered burlap, stitched with barbed wire and bramble thorns. His face is an expressionless sack, twisted into a grin with cruel stitches. His eyes blaze like jack-o’-lantern embers, and his cloak is woven from black crow feathers and dead vines. When still, he vanishes into the scenery. When he moves, the rustle of corn and whisper of straw shouldn’t be that loud.
Backstory:
Wicker Jack was originally created by a reclusive harvest witch who sought to protect her people from raiders and starvation. But when the village betrayed her to inquisitors, she cursed the fields and fed her dying breath into the scarecrow she had created. That sacrifice twisted it beyond intention.
The curse spread to other lands through old farming rites—those that unknowingly invoked Jack’s name in ritual, calling the Hollow Watcher to stand once more. Jack isn’t evil by alignment, but he is relentless. His purpose is clear: trespassers die, and those who invoke him must feed him fear… or worse.
