Unfaces

The Shape That Forgets Itself
Filed under: Salt Hollows Fauna | Dream-Echo Entities | Memory-Loss Hazards
Contributor: FDG Field Archivist No. 5
Last updated: May 2025

Overview

Unfaces are not technically fae, animal, or ghost—they are best classified as dream-echo constructs, often forming along the shallow marsh-borders, lost beaches, and memory-deep thresholds of the Salt Hollows.

They appear humanoid—at first. But where a face should be is only absence, filled with what the viewer most fears to forget.

They are not hunters.
They are not shapeshifters.
They are the reflection that never looks back.

Appearance

Height: Roughly human; varies between 5–7 feet
Form: Silhouettes made of brine-mist, kelp shadow, or salt fog
Face: No features; instead, the viewer sees either:
- A blurred void
- Their own face beginning to dissolve
- The face of a loved one who no longer remembers them
Texture: Often mistaken for fabric, smoke, or liquid until touched—contact is chilling and memory-scattering
Movement: Drifting gait, feet never fully touching ground or sea

Behaviour and Abilities

Identity Erosion Field

Proximity to an Unface slowly disrupts the viewer’s:
- Memory recall (especially names and faces)
- Internal narrative (“Why am I here?”)
- Emotional anchors (the sense of loving or being loved)
Speech becomes difficult; subjects begin trailing off or losing nouns

Mimetic Luring

Unfaces often appear to those in mourning or deep confusion, mimicking:
- A recently lost child
- A partner’s familiar posture
- The body language of the self
When followed, they lead the victim into increasingly dream-distorted terrain, where time and identity thin

Memory Leeching

Physical contact or prolonged eye focus can result in:
- Partial or total memory loss
- Recovery of altered memories
- Emotional confusion—e.g., weeping for people never known

Folklore and Signs

The One Who Waited Too Long

Marshland fae legends speak of a man who stood on the beach for years, waiting for someone he couldn’t remember. An Unface visited him daily. When his name was finally called, he couldn’t recognise it—and stepped into the sea.

Faces in the Fog

In certain Kentish villages, there are warnings against walking alone during tide-mist. “If you see someone you forgot to mourn, do not speak to them. Do not let them hold your hand. Do not ask their name.”

Unmarried Silence

In some trench cults, Unfaces are believed to be souls that were never claimed—stillborn names, broken promises, forgotten selves. Offerings of mirrors with cracked glass are made to “seal” them into stillness.

Effect on Earth and Human Minds

Mild Exposure

Difficulty recalling names or locations
A sense of being watched by someone familiar but unplaceable
Recurrent dreams of drowning in fog while someone calls your name—but with no mouth

Prolonged Exposure

Total loss of identity or biographical memory
Implanted memories of other people’s lives, sometimes believed as true
Hallucinations of “missing limbs” or “missing people” that never existed
Emotional inversion—victims stop recognising love, grief, or shame

Summary for Field Operatives

Trait	Detail
Threat Level	High psychological and cognitive risk. Passive but corrosive.
Signs of Presence	Featureless humanoids standing still in fog. A sudden inability to remember names. Dream trails vanishing as you try to follow them.
Containment Risk	None. Cannot be captured or held. They are place-bound echoes. Interaction increases manifestation frequency.
Engagement Advice	Do not follow any humanoid figure into fog, even if it appears familiar. If you believe you are speaking to someone you’ve forgotten, retreat immediately. Use mnemonic anchors: field journals, visual tokens, name-inscribed artefacts. Work in pairs. If your partner begins to forget your name—abort and extract. Do not wait to see what follows.

“I remembered him only when I saw his shape.
But when I said his name, the shape shivered.
Then I wasn’t sure if it was ever his name.
And then I wasn’t sure what mine was.”
—Journal Excerpt, FDG Incident Log 901, Fogwatch Hollow Event