medieval · horror · historical · death · disease · 1300s · tragedy · supernatural · village setting · fear
**Scene: Eldenford, Autumn 1347 – The Calm Before** Mist clings to Eldenford’s fields as dawn breaks. Children chase geese by the stream; the blacksmith’s hammer clangs rhythmically. Smoke from chimneys carries the scent of barley bread. Father Osric rings the chapel bell for harvest prayers. Old Edith sells cider, gossiping of a southern illness. Few care. In the manor, Lord Edwin reads a grim letter: *“dead men... black swellings.”* A cold wind blows. Birds fall silent. At night, a rat dies in the granary. Unnoticed.