Page 101 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

CHAPTER FOUR: THE UNDYING ONES

spiracy does accurately guess what a mummy’s mission is. What Or at least it did before Santa Muerte showed up.
does a hunter do then? Broadcast the truth? Or work around Cults worshipping ‘Saint Murder’ (not an exact transla-
the mummy to defeat it? tion) have sprung up all over Mexico. In Mexico City, however,
it seems this female reaper has some kind of physical analog.
The Response The Abbey hasn’t really gotten a good look at the mummy be-
hind the cult; they don’t even know if she’s real. All the hunt-
ers know is that the cult seems split into two factions between
More than anything else, mummies represent the idea of drug dealers who murder and dismember people in the name
the unknown and the unknowable. These are, perhaps, the of the Saint and middle-aged mothers and grandmothers who
most ancient creatures to walk the streets of the World of Dark- work hard to make the city safe and protect its children, fallen
ness; they barely remember who they are or why they exist. women, and hardworking citizens. It’s hard to say which fac-
The horrible truth of the undying is that few of them have tion the Saint backs, but considering the unusual successes the
more than the barest clues of their origins and nature. They’re women are having cleaning up their streets, the Abbey suspects
locked into a single-minded pursuit of their current mission. they’re aided by supernatural means.
They lack both the perspective and the knowledge to compre- And that clean-up is causing a real problem in the Abbey’s
hend the broader picture. They’re bullets fired through the mil- revenue stream.
lennia by unknown forces, pursuing agendas incomprehensible
even to their own ancient brains. The Long Night
Hunters who obsess over understanding and gathering The Pharaohs paid for their arrogance, and so will this creature.
knowledge they can and should be frustrated if they study a At the start of the American Civil Rights Movement, the
mummy closely. Most compacts and conspiracies are only able Lord’s Imminent Return Church and Congregation stood at
to provide the most basic of answers as to why a mummy walks the forefront of anti-segregation in Cleveland. This church was
the earth. The undying are clearly following an agenda, but it’s one of the first in the US to obstinately and defiantly practice
one that they don’t understand themselves, and that gap in their faith in front of a mixed congregation, and even went so
their understanding is one they seem incapable of addressing far as to split the pulpit with ministers who hailed from varying
directly. Since hunters have a significantly shorter lifespan than backgrounds and cultures.
any mummy, they simply don’t have the time or the means to Back then, inter-racial tensions were high and the Church’s
understand the depths of the undying’s true nature. active efforts toward segregating its flock was a big deal; it was
Mummies are eternal creatures who cannot be utterly de- a mark of pride not just for the congregation, but for the sur-
stroyed with weapons that hunters have on hand. This darkness rounding neighborhoods — and The Long Night cell that has
that haunts the world is ancient, unknowable, and indestructible. secretly supported the Church since its inception.
If ever there was a creature designed to remind hunters they are In the last six months, however, something has changed.
brief flickers of light against a backdrop of darkness, it’s a mummy.
Slowly, the men and women of color who had practiced acts
of spontaneous devotion at the Church every Sunday have
Compacts stopped coming. They’ve changed churches; they’ll talk to any-
What follows are suggested reactions a local compact may one who asks about it, but be oblique about where they’ve gone
have to the presence of — or run in with — a mummy. These and why. It’s troubling for the community, the Church, and
aren’t meant to represent the only reactions a compact would especially for The Long Night who suspect monsters behind
have. every shadow.
The rarity of mummies, when combined with the fractious It just so happens this time these hunters are right.
nature of compacts, means that sweeping gestures would fall Upon investigating, the local compact has found that their
flat in a chronicle. Instead, Storytellers may use these typical wayward sheep have drifted to more solemn pastures, worship-
responses as either story seeds or as a point of view for players ping on Sundays in a joyless, expressionless Church of the
to consider when their hunter runs into the undying or their North Star. This new place of worship has sprung up overnight
cults. and is strangely difficult to find — even when a hunter spe-
cifically seeks it out. The Church of the North Star’s leader is,
Ashwood Abbey without a doubt, a charming and welcoming man: one who
It can’t be killed? So what? Who says I have to kill it to get what gives off a sort of authority that is hard to ignore. But, to mem-
I want out of it? bers of The Long Night, his services are lackluster, confusing,
To an outsider, Mexico City is kind of a shithole. Since and seem to draw upon scriptures that don’t exist.
most of the Abbey in Mexico City are first or second generation The Long Night of Cleveland will eventually cross paths
foreigners, the consensus among membership is that they’re with a mummy building his cult. The question is: what can the
stuck in a shithole. hunters do about it?
Still, the sex tourism is great, and hosting well-to-do mil-
lionaires hoping to take a walk on the wild side turns a pretty The Loyalists of Thule
penny for the Abbey and allows them the freedom to indulge Once I accused my “boss” of being a mummy. That is, until I
in anything money can buy. met a real one.

100