Codex - Void Miscellany

#24

April 7, 1602 (Easter): Claiming “divine right,” Captain Juan Miguel Muñoz de Castillo led 80 Spanish soldiers on a nighttime raid on the Zuni village once located in what is now Canby Memorial Park. The conquistadors slaughtered over 300 men, women, and children. The Spaniards demanded gold from each of the few survivors, and when none was surrendered, they cut off the thumb from both hands.

April 5, 1609: Franciscan missionary Delmonico Castafael records that the Spanish fort once located in what is now Canby Memorial Park was attacked at night by an unknown number of “savages”, killing everyone inside. The friar noted that both thumbs of every Spanish soldier were missing. Strangely, no gunfire was heard at the nearby mission house, nor were there any signs of a raiding party’s approach or departure.

2 Likes
#25

Aug 17, 1987: A group of 419 New Age spiritualists gathered atop Tombstone Mesa to see in the Harmonic Convergence, and usher in the “collapse of the false structures of separation.” During the celebration, 19 individuals threw themselves off a cliff, where they plummeted 200 feet to their deaths. The Degoya County medical examiner noted that all 19 had the same abstract geometric tattoo on their left shoulders, and that all had high levels of peyote and LSD in their systems. Oddly, nobody ever came forward to claim any of the bodies or their cremains.

3 Likes
#26

October 28, 1911: [Degoya Clarion] Local sportsman Hector Ramirez reports seeing “a great, black, flying creature with a mouth like a crocodile and huge bat-wings” near Wilbur’s Ford on the San Degoya River. Ramirez said that he was duck-hunting when “the monster swooped out of nowhere and grabbed a bluebill out of the air.” Ramirez says he fired both barrels of his shotgun at the monster, but it was too far away to hit, and that the gunshot “scared it off.” Anyone else who sees this creature is urged to report it to the County Department of Fish and Game.

7 Likes
#27

These are amazing and deserve more than what a single mouse-click on a heart icon can communicate, so here’s a bunch of extra words to lend weight to the sentiment.

4 Likes
#28

January 1, 1990: Andre Sanders a local teenager goes missing some time during the night of the new year celebrations. Alex and Camilla Sanders, his mother and father organize a search party with the local police and the rest of their neighborhood, but no trace of him is found. A month later while returning home from work his family finds his dismembered remains neatly arranged on his bed in a natural sleeping position, with a note reading "You should have looked harder : ) " stapled to his forehead. The suspect remains at large.

3 Likes
#29

Approximately 28,000 BCE: The first pact was made between the Flame Keepers and the Sky-Stone Dwellers, activating places of power in the desert wastes that would keep the bone-wolves and other Great Hungers at bay, so that no harm would come to the children and that the people would sleep at night again, dreaming the Dream of their bright future under the watchful stars.

6 Likes
#30

Here is more incredible inspiration!

last-legal-hanging-in-new-mexico

and

Wikipedia list of hanging trees

I used them to inspire this…

July 12, 1884
Madame Dora Dubois of Chloride, New Mexico was hanged for the first degree murder of Joseph Sweetman after her last defiant words,

“He deserved it”.

Joseph had been investigated for the theft of silver ore from Madame Dubois but no evidence was found at the time. The day after the hanging Joseph was found dead with his skin a bluish grey color from argyria (silver absorption).

3 Likes
#31

1919: Walter J. Hennison founds the Ra-Do-Lyte company, producing patent medicines infused with radioactive salts from the defunct Broken Cactus Silver Mine north of Degoya. Ra-Do-Lyte Curative Mineral Water was its most popular product, and by1926 the bottling plant produced over 75,000 gallons per month. Ra-Do-Lyte went bankrupt in 1930, and its long-abandoned factory was listed as an EPA superfund site in 1982. A 2004 study by the CDC estimates that over 1200 deaths can be linked to ingestion of Ra-Do-Lyte products.

5 Likes
#32

In much of the state of New Mexico, one can ask for one’s burrito, sopapillas, huevos rancheros and the like to be prepared with “Christmas,” and it will be presented slathered in both green and red chile sauces. This is not true in Degoya County. This flavor combination is known there as “The Orphans” and outsiders who ask why are met with sad smiles and silence at mealtime.

6 Likes
#33

April 14, 1829

A brawl between two locals was stopped by a group of passers-by. Argument was determined to be over money one owed to the other. This debt was to be paid in full on the 13th which, the debtor claimed, was the day on which this altercation occurred. Onlookers were split on the issue of current date and another heated argument ensued. This was put to rest by the optic telegraph operator who was able to verify that this was, in fact, April 14th. With this part of the puzzle settled, gathered realized that none of them can recall their whereabouts on the 13th. Even the operator couldn’t come up with a single message handled the previous day.

Whether debt was settled is unknown.

2 Likes
#34

2017: MMA welterweight, Mira Riviera competes in a match with an offbrand promotion in Degoya. The bout takes place in a circle of pickup trucks’ headlights in the desert. Her opponent is a deformed,savage brawler. Riviera finally manages to get her opponent grounded but the ref won’t stop the match.
‘Kill her’ comes the cry from beyond the headlights. ‘Be our champion.’
Riviera fled and only tells this story when very drunk.

7 Likes
#35

1984: Over summer, four junior high kids, calling themselves ‘The Mystery Gang’ are caught by police trying to burn down the Municipal Library. The kids insist that they’re trying to stop a terrible evil and that the library’s Antique Texts section is key to its schemes.
They disapprear a day after their release, never to be seen again. Librarian Esther Whateley expressed her sincere hopes for their safe return.

5 Likes
#36

There are 24 hours remaining to submit to this Miscellany! If you have anything else in you, please post it soon!

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#37

Summer, 1988: Five local children vanish while out playing on their bikes. Missing for 58 days. Found in a disoriented, excitable state just outside of town near the old flooded quarry insisting they had returned from some strange “other” place but swear they were only gone a few hours.

3 Likes
#38

June 4, 1946

The ranchers of the A-Slash Ranch reported overnight finding 40 of their steers dead, all with a cauterized hole burned straight through their middles. Authorities are investigating further.

1 Like
#39

July 1953: The quiet hamlet of Haresville is terrorized by The Riot Motorcycle Club. Emerging from the desert in a violent frenzy, drowning the town in mayhem, arson, and murder. Abruptly returning to the desert three days later. The few survivors reported preternatural howls, unspeakable acts of gruesome brutality, and their eyes…their inhuman eyes…
Official reports blame drugs and communism.

3 Likes
#40

1937: The Degoya County life-size replica of the Biblical Ark was stolen, some say by hand. The reverend William Hendrox started the project in 1931 as a combination charitable works project for migrant labour and demonstration of the glory of God, but by 1937, it was still only a skeleton. Then, in March, a dust storm swept across the whole region, and when it disappeared so too did the Degoya Ark - only the reverend and a dozen or so workers made it out of the site alive, and only one of them wanted to talk about what took the ship away. The reverend praised God; the workers buried him.

6 Likes
#41

1909: For approximately two minutes on September 20 at 3:12 p.m., the entire county falls asleep. Many expectedly suffer serious injuries, with four fatalities confirmed. Those most maimed or scarred due to the proceedings become known as Accidentals. While stories of comically odd predicaments initially circulate around tables and in newsprint, the tales that spread over time are those of Accidentals who were in no position to be harmed and nonetheless awoke with affliction.

5 Likes
#42

I assume the last part there is supposed to be “the workers cursed him” not “buried” him?

1 Like
#43

@Deckard and @Speak_the_Sky How would you like to be credited? You can DM me if you prefer not to say here.

1 Like