E is for Evil Eye

One's bad luck can often be tied directly to the curse of the Evil Eye. Any unfortunate occurrence can be directly tied to the sinister glare, whether the accursed is aware of the individual that bestowed the Evil Eye or not. A bad card game in the tavern. Tripping on the curb and spoiling a mark as you pick his belt pocket. Spilling your ale. Each may be the Evil Eye at work.

Evil Eyes are thought to be commonly the act of the bitter old crone slighted in the street as she lifts her arthritic finger in your direction. But the curse can be scratched into door thresholds or the dirt of the path to the privy. The act of observing the curse transfers its effects. Once cursed, only the most fraught undertakings can lift an Evil Eye.

Old Worlders will undertake the most outrageous efforts to remove an Evil Eye. The Naked Mud-Wallowing Goat Dance or The Bare-Bottomed Chicken Smack are two cited methods in the works of the heretic cunning woman Ingrun Frolich. Both so popular as to be events in villages across the Empire on full moons and during the rainy season. Ingrun Frolich is said—as reading her works is a heresy—to eschew forgiveness from the one that cursed you. You may be twice cursed!

The performance of the Bare-Bottomed Chicken Smack is said to be nigh, and the reason, when one might see an accursed carrying chickens under their arms. The only sure method of avoiding the Evil Eye is also said to live blindfolded.