The Ripper of Devil's Gorge

The mountain village of Duivelskeel looks peaceful in the evening light: smoking chimneys, children at play, an inn full of warm glow. But the moment the sun drops behind the peaks, the shutters slam, the doors bolt, and families whisper their way through a headcount of who is still inside. For three full moons running, they have found a neighbor torn apart on the cobblestones at daybreak.

The killer does not come from the forest. It is a neighbor, a face that bakes bread by day or teaches children to read, and turns to claws and hunger by night. No one knows who, and the fear has turned Duivelskeel poisonous: accusations fly, old feuds flare up, and the smith is already grinding a silver knife for whomever he trusts the least. One wrong word could bind an innocent to the stake.

You have three nights. By day you question villagers, unravel alibis, and hunt for the detail that does not add up: a scar, mud under the nails, a stare that lingers too long. By night you must survive whatever prowls the streets, while the innkeeper warns you to trust no one, not even her.

On the third night the truth surfaces: the curse is no accident but a punishment, pronounced over the village years ago, and De Verscheurder van Duivelskeel is not one person but passes from host to host. You must choose: kill the beast that happens to wear the shape tonight, or break the source of the curse and save its bearer. The climax plays out in the moonlight on the village square, an enraged mob at your back and the claws of De Verscheurder right in front of you.