Page 69 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

CHAPTER THREE: GHOSTWALKERS

compacts and conspiracies, particularly the
GHOSTWALKERS? Ascending Ones, explore even more fringe
theories. According to one rumor, the strange
figures who haunt ghostwalkers aren’t ghosts
Geist: the Sin-Eaters covers a type of unique supernatural creature at all. They are the ghostwalkers of ancient
in the World of Darkness. Ghostwalkers, or Sin-Eaters, have risen from Egypt, and force modern-day ghostwalkers
the dead yet are still alive — and are surrounded by ghosts. These people to continue their works as they have for
are very different than zombies, vampires, or the revenants described in centuries. Other theories claim Egyptian
the writings of James O’Barr. As a result, there is no common name for deities watch over and communicate with
them. Mediums would not be inaccurate, but the word really does not ghostwalkers, but these references are few
go far enough to describe what a Sin-Eater is and can do. and hard to prove. Another possibility
Players who enjoy chronicles where their cell investigates ghosts suggests that Egyptian scripts were invented
and either helps them deal with their state, or offers the spirits a chance by ghostwalkers and hieroglyphs were
to seek revenge, are encouraged to look at Geist: the Sin-Eaters. passed down to humans out of necessity.
Book of the Dead may also prove a valuable resource, too. Some Hunters may be interested in the claim
campaigns can easily resemble a Hunter game superficially, as that ghostwalkers have their own specially-
ghostwalkers have a Vigil of their own. written language used for communicating
In places where the rules and information conflicts, use the material with each other. How much truth there is
presented in this chapter for a Hunter game. in any of these stories is questionable, but
one thing is true: many hunters take great
interest in these rumors, especially those
who are budding Egyptologists.
powerful abilities, and could have been powerful, if not the After Egypt, it becomes more difficult for hunters to find
first, ghostwalkers themselves. Other figures like Inanna die, where ghostwalkers have been active, or where they might
descend into the Underworld, and return to the land of the have put their stamp on history. Mystery religions in Greece
living; Inanna’s story is similar, but lacks the “returns in a day and Rome aside, haunted activity is sparse in the middle
with a pipe wrench and an attitude” aspect of the haunted. ages. To scholars, it may be that a cultural change took place
Given that ghostwalkers tend to have a kind of laissez-faire within ghostwalker society, where they became more and more
approach to secrecy, it is certainly possible that they existed separate from the rest of the world. A few specific windows,
since the dawn of time, and primitives believed they were gods. particularly during the Black Plague, lead to their appearances
One might even wonder if the ancients were right. in manuscripts and poetry in greater numbers. But overall there
Taking a step back from the divine, other figures journeyed have been less ghostwalkers since the days of the pharaohs,
to the Underworld and returned, and those stories could be or failing that, fewer reports of them. Alternately, reports of
accounts of the Fog Men. Heroes like Heracles and Orpheus ghostwalkers could have been misidentified, too, and could
traveled to the Underworld and back, and their heroics might have been lumped in with demons and other supernatural
be attributed to a ghostwalker’s resilience. But, most heroes who monsters.
travel to the realm of the dead tend to lack ghostly connections as
a whole, and ghostwalkers are surrounded by ghosts at every step. Modern Era Hauntings
More scholarly types tend to dismiss such stories for this reason. During my time with the cursed soldiers in Poland, I saw many
Outside of mythology, hunters who are trying to track strange and many awful things. Nothing, however, compares to the
down historical accounts of ghostwalker activity often find night that the “Mourners” arrived to help us. I had heard of the
themselves chasing shadows. While alert hunters have found Mourners in whispers; I believed they were a particularly competent
ample evidence of ghostwalkers within the past two centuries, but shell-shocked group of soldiers. That night, when we were spotted
previous information on them is fairly spotty and hard to on the edge of the Bledów Desert by Communist military, they proved
verify. Older accounts of ghostwalker activity seem to trace me wrong.
back to Egypt; it’s possibly the oldest site where ghostwalkers They came out of the Bledów howling and crying, but despite our
first became active. Some evidence suggests that a group of attackers being well-armed, the Mourners charged them. Two members
ghostwalkers was so prominent, that when they split into two, bled onto the ground from their wrists, and ghostly soldiers material-
the resulting civil war divided the northern and southern ized from white smoke to aid them. Their leader contorted, his mouth
kingdoms. Most hunters believe theories like this one vastly turned into an enormous maw, and his hands became a pair of toothy
overstates the involvement of ghostwalkers in Ancient Egypt. mouths. Another Mourner cried out in anger, time and time again, his
Just how much ghostwalkers affected Egyptian history is up very rage rent the flesh of the soldiers he was fighting.
for debate, but Egypt’s infatuation with the afterlife, when In seconds, the Russians were scattered, leaving the Mourners and
combined with many accounts of walking gods, suggests that us behind. Their leader, once he returned to his human form, saluted
ghostwalkers had to be involved. us, and gave his team a signal. Then, the Mourners turned and walked
With a lack of evidence and specific references on hand, back into the desert, leaving us all alone in the night, a night that
hunter theories about ghostwalkers have flourished. Some seemed a little darker than before.

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