Rosa Penumbrosa

A folk legend from northeastern Brazil, said to have emerged during the Great Drought of 1877. After losing her entire family to starvation and disease, Rosa is said to have dug into the dry earth with her own teeth, too weak to use her hands, and buried the bodies. In her grief, she cursed God and was condemned to an eternal, cursed existence. Her eyes turned to dust, and her body became unnaturally thin — too alive to be dead, too frail to be living. According to folklore, she appears before periods of extreme drought, haunting the land and the dreams of those who suffer. Those who dream of her often wake with a dry throat, the taste of earth, cracked tongue, and suddenly, dies of dehydration.