The Ring of Viscount de Moriere

By Crusader1307

 An interesting "tale", which falls neatly into the niche of "Urban Legend", the story of supposed French Nobleman, The Viscount de Moriere, is difficult to prove (if it ever will be). Strange and disturbing, it goes as such. With "The "Reign of Terror" in France in the late 1790s, many of the Aristocratic Class were imprisoned and either tortured to death, or executed outright. Some survived. The Viscount was one of them. He owned great Vineyards outside of Paris, and was known to be kind to his Servants and field workers. So enraged that most of his friends had meet such gruesome fates, he plotted revenge against France's so called "Freemen".

He employed huge numbers of field workers, possibly around 300. Each and every week when they would come for their pay, he would have his "loyal" Household Staff trap them in his Receiving Hall. The Viscount would then behead them (telling others that after being paid, they quit). This retribution went on for many years until The Viscount died. But his revenge did not stop with his death. All around the Countryside, Children began being found dead - drained of their blood and baring the unmistakable "teeth bites" of the supernatural creature known as The Vampire.

A last surviving relative of The Viscount came into the Region to lay claim to the Family Title and fortune. Disturbed by the tales of how The Viscount may have been responsible for the deaths of the Field workers years earlier, he also heard of how locals blamed The Viscount for the death of the children. It wad assumed that he had "returned from the dead", cursed by God for his countless murders. As a way of settling the matter, the new young Viscount, The Mayor and several witnesses opened the Family crypt. The old Viscount's coffin was badly deteriorated. Opening it, they were shocked to find a quite young and uncorrupted body! In keeping get with tradition, a cherry wood stake was driven into the body. His corpse was burnt and his ashes scattered into the river. The murders stopped. No paintings exist of The Viscount. His very existence was effectively erased, save one curious artifact. A ring, purportedly taken from his body, is in "private Ownership"......or so it is said.