From the travelling collection of
The Mystical Caravan
The Reliquary · Cabinet Catalogue
Danger level
Item R–6216–390The Instrument of the Seventh Listener
A pale wooden four-stringed instrument whose Harvest Moon melody attracts one listener too many.
- Classification
- Spectral summoning instrument
- Origin
- A village inn among fields and dark hills
- Estimated date
- Unknown
- Collection status
- On display
- Materials
- Pale honey-colored wood; stretched hide; four strings
- Condition
- Intact; strings may hum without contact
The Curator’s record
Admiration is permitted; performance is not. Count both nearby visitors and their shadows before opening or closing the display.
Provenance
Six villagers traditionally gathered to hear the instrument each Harvest Moon. During the final performance, a seventh shadow appeared and the musician vanished. The instrument survived beneath the abandoned inn's stairs and passed briefly through several owners before reaching the Caravan.
Observed activity
When played before six listeners, a seventh shadow appears and approaches the musician as all four strings sound. It may continue playing without assistance. Owners have reported unfamiliar shadows and delayed movement in their own silhouettes.
The Tale of this object
The Seventh Listener
Season 3 · Episode 08In tonight's story, an old Harvest Moon tradition brings six villagers together to hear a curious wooden instrument played beside the fire. But when the bow touches its strings, the gathering attracts an unexpected guest... one visible only by the shadow it casts.
Enter the Tale