Page 32 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

THE RESPONSE

I remained there, chained up, for several nights. I smiled when I the target creature attacks the hunter during the next scene, it
heard two of them complaining about their smartphones not working receives a +2 to whatever attack or power it uses.
well. On the fourth morning, when the sun shone through the window Failure: No effect on either the hunter or the creature.
(I expect they gave me a window to terrify me), I tore the blessed chains Success: If the hunter’s player rolls more successes than
from the wall, ripped the door from the hinges, and went in search of the creature’s, whatever magic or force animates the creature is
what I wanted.
muted. The creature suffers a penalty to Initiative, Speed, and
To wit: Does faith saturate every pore of the faithful? If I were to any Physical actions equal to the hunter’s Benediction rating
take, say, an eye from a truly devout person, would I begin to believe, for as long as the creature remains within 30 feet of the hunter.
to see God’s plan? Regardless, the effects of the Benediction end with the scene.
I am disappointed to report that this was not the case. Exceptional Success: As above. Additionally, if the hunter
— from a letter from Imp to “Dr. Brine” is removed from the creature’s presence, or is killed, the effects
The Malleus Maleficarum is more concerned with vam- persist for the rest of the scene.
pires than other monsters. Unfortunately, it’s not impossible Task Force: VALKYRIE
to mistake a Promethean for a bloodsucker. The Malleus may
discover that Prometheans don’t shun daylight (they actually Don’t ask, don’t tell.
revel in it, for sunlight can replenish their energies), and they I can’t believe there was ever a time in this country where that
don’t actually drink blood. But, the Created don’t die natural- sounded like a good idea. I can see how it might have looked like
ly, and they don’t visibly age — just like bloodsuckers. As such, progress at the time, if I squint, but really…don’t tell? That’s not what
the Shadow Congregation tends to target the longest-lived Pro- people do. People talk. They communicate, they tell everything about
metheans; those Created that have been wandering the Earth themselves. They want to. Even when it gets them killed.
for decades. This tends to end badly for all involved. I hooked up with that general last year. “Hooked up” because he
The Church records, to which the Malleus Maleficarum was really not interested in anything but sex, and once I figured that
has access, do reference the Created, specifically the Tammuz. out I bailed. He was getting weird, anyway. “Weird” is kind. “Abusive”
The Golem of Prague, after all, is a tale that has been distorted is better. Right before I left, he said something about making me disap-
and retold to paint the Jews as diabolical mystics. Although one pear. Calling “Valkyrie.”
would hope that modern-day members of the Malleus Malefi- He seemed scared, when he said it. But he was really drunk, too.
carum are a bit more discerning than their predecessors, the I haven’t thought about him in months. I only thought about it today
fact remains that golems do exist, and they are dangerous if an- because I saw that black helicopter.
gered. — from the journal of Walter Wilde
The official Church stance on using magic to reanimate The soldiers of Task Force: VALKYRIE don’t approach the
dead flesh is, predictably, that such gifts come from Satan, and Vigil the way many other groups do. They don’t have to do their
the resulting mockery of life should be exterminated. A cell of own legwork, for the most part. Agents get their orders, they go
Malleus hunters that runs across a Promethean (and correctly in, they do the job, they go home. As such, if TFV is dealing
identifies it as such) won’t likely spare it out of the assumption with a Promethean, it’s likely because the situation has already
it’s an evil undead monster. escalated. A TFV squad might get called out to deal with a large-
scale Wasteland (“toxic waste spill”), a rampaging golem (“PCP”),
New Benediction: Peace of St. Joseph a Frankenstein’s creation that fries a town’s power system (“freak
Joseph of Arimathea demanded that Pontius Pilate hand electrical storm”), or a torch-wielding mob that can’t find its target
over the body of Christ after His execution to gave Him a prop- (“everybody go home, nothing to see here!”). These hunters have
er burial. Laying the dead to rest is an important part of the the advantage of doing a job, and not taking the hunt personally.
Malleus Maleficarum’s work, even if the “dead” in question are Except, of course, that Prometheans make it personal. If the
usually mobile, predatory, and require immolation before the soldiers don’t kill the Promethean quickly, Disquiet can set in,
ceremony. This Benediction saps the vigor from dead flesh, no and at that point, the soldiers will start violating orders. They
matter what force animates it. follow the monster into dark and unsafe places, they take unnec-
NOTE: Remember, Prometheans are not undead. They essary risks, and if the Disquiet manifests as fascination or obses-
are living beings that are typically made from dead flesh. When sion, they might even shoot each other to protect the creature!
that is the case, this Benediction will work on the Created. TFV’s other problem is that they’re very rarely given all
However, it suffers a -3 modifier. available data about a specific subject. How much does com-
Action: Instant and contested mand know about Prometheans? Quite a bit, as it turns out.
But the rank-and-file aren’t usually informed Prometheans can
Dice Pool: Presence + Benediction vs. Stamina + Potency
shrug off damage from conventional weapons, that they can
Roll Results heal by electrocuting themselves (put a different way, they are
Dramatic Failure: If the hunter suffers a dramatic failure, rarely told “don’t use the Mjolnir Cannon”), or that some of
his prayers to St. Joseph go unheeded. Unfortunately, the hunt- them can talk to ghosts. The brass is never exactly forthcoming,
er has still forged an unfortunate connection to the target. If but where the Created are concerned they’re downright tight-

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