Page 38 - Hunter - The Vigil

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O ORIGINS OF DARKNESS|THE DEAD, THEY WALK
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Task Force: VALKYRIE is frequently accused of using “death
squads” to eliminate rogue members, though its operatives ve- Origins of Darkness
hemently deny such activities. Even smaller compacts, such To be clear: nobody can say for sure where they came from.
as the Loyalists of Thule, have been suspected of using as- Hunters are forced to come up with their own answers as to the
sassins to silence rogue members who are believed to know origins of monsters. Are they a fairly recent phenomenon? Some
too much about the group’s clandestine origins. One such believe that. Some claim that with the debauchery and evil of the
assassination is believed to have occurred in Prague during last couple of centuries, we broke something. Maybe humankind
the latter years of the Cold War, when a prominent occult- accidentally cracked one of the Seven Seals imprisoning evil, or

ist named Janos Kadinsky was found poisoned in his flat just perhaps our own indulgences invited chaos into the world (for
a month after publicly breaking with the group. The Loyal- every action is an equal and opposite reaction).
ists of Thule denied any involvement with Kadinsky’s death, Others, particularly those who belong to the disparate
claiming the scholar had suffered a breakdown and commit- compacts and conspiracies, claim that creatures have stalked
ted suicide. Nevertheless, such coincidences lead many hunt- the shadows since time immemorial. Maybe they poured free
ers to believe that powerful compacts and conspiracies won’t from Tiamat’s torn belly. Could be that when Cain bludgeoned
hesitate to punish those who violate their rules. Abel or the Lightbringer toppled from Heaven’s grace, it trig-
Often, rogue hunters have no recourse but one another after gered something, corrupting the innocence of the world. Some
they’ve chosen to break with their former colleagues. Freelance speculate that monsters have simply always been with us, as
cells composed of rogue hunters from a multitude of different much a part of the world as wolves and owls and sharks.
groups have enjoyed considerable success over the years, com- Do all monsters come from the same place? Could they pos-
bining skills, abilities and stolen endowments that create a very sibly share a similar origin? Many hunters certainly hope so. A
effective team. Ironically, these renegade cells are often the ones common origin indicates a common solution, be that a cure or
most ruthlessly hounded by their former masters, who see them as a plague or a shared weakness. Wise hunters, though, see that
a grave threat to the stability of their organizations. the horrors of the World of Darkness do not share one face, and
while it’s easy to lump them all together, doing so is a sure path
to getting dead. You can’t treat a rotting, walking corpse (slouch-
Threats and ing toward ol’ Bedlam) the same way you’d handle a man whose
Targets bones pop and skin shifts so he can become a huge wolf or a rav-
enous vulture. Some things hiss and scream beneath a jet of fi re,

where other things seem to feed off the flames. Other creatures,
This is a world under siege. Humanity is entrenched in a war, like vampires and werewolves, supposedly drop when capped
a shadow war, an invisible war, a conflict so clandestine that few with silver bullets, but fire one at a keening poltergeist and the

are even aware of it. The darkness has taken form. Monsters have hunter’ll just put a hole in the wall.
crawled free from chaos and walk within the herd, masked as one Hunters who want to stay alive know they have to be
of us. Bad magic bleeds from cracked city streets. Curses and ill ready for everything. They have to recognize the many faces
omens flit about, free as blackbirds. Dark emotions take shape, of the enemy, and they damn well better adjust.

grow skin and bones and a very bad face.
At the heart of the Vigil, the core of the hunt itself, are
the foes hunters face. They’re what this whole deal is about. The Dead, They Walk
Some hunters want them neutralized. Maybe that means The reason the undead repel and fascinate us in equal
ending their reign with the downswing of a fire ax. Maybe measure is not hard to see. They’re dead, yet they still

it means neutering their powers, keeping them “alive” but walk. That implies supernatural influence (which is mys-
harmless — like a supernatural lobotomy or castration. It terious and interesting, sure) but above all, it deals with
could even mean trying to cure them, trying to rehabilitate death. For thousands of years, humans have been fasci-
them so their human souls can return to decadent flesh. Other nated by death. Many cultures and religions share beliefs

hunters? Well, they know the armies of darkness have power. of what happens after death, and these faiths and super-
Power in magic. Power in ancient weapons. Power in political stitions make up a significant slice of worldwide mythol-
connections, occult lore, and big banks full of money. Some- ogy throughout history, be it the Christian Heaven, the
times, hunters want a taste of that power, and will wade into Hades of Ancient Greece, or the many Hells of Buddhist
the fray looking to grab hold of it. lore. Moreover, modern science has examined death so we
But it’s not easy. The enemies seem limitless. From pathetic know how every cell breaks down, how gases are released
things lying in the sewer, gibbering and wailing, to degenerate and what maggots do to bones.
undead gods lording over entire cities, the monsters have many Death forever fascinates us, because there is no coming
faces beneath many masks. Then again, so do the hunters. back from it, no way to learn more about it until it happens.
In Hunter: The Vigil, throwing a light switch to see the That’s life. That’s Nature.
truth is often the trigger for the monsters to leap. They have The undead are the exception to this rule. Their unlife
fears, just as we do, and they kill those who’ve seen them. Just defies the cosmic and natural cycles. They have returned from

as we fear they might be hiding in the darkness, they fear be- beyond the grave, and they are no longer the people they
ing dragged into the light. once were. Something changed them. Whether demons nest
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