Page 73 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

CHAPTER THREE: GHOSTWALKERS

haunted location. Slashers obsess about killing and very rarely ex- The biggest challenge a hunter faces is to figure out what,
pect their victims’ ghosts will seek revenge. Since a slasher relies on exactly, a ghostwalker is up to and if his goals conflicts with hers.
fine-tuning his ability to misdirect, charm, and isolate his victims Outside of intent, what powers a ghostwalker has will be far more
in an abandoned warehouse or deserted building, he’s often ill-pre- telling of who he is and what kind of a threat he represents.
pared should the ghosts of his victims come back to punish him. All ghostwalkers can shrug off considerable injuries by re-
Or worse — for his victims to rise from the dead and seek revenge. leasing a white, smoke-like ectoplasm from wounds that quickly
Some gangs of ghostwalkers go out of their way to hunt close. This ability, when spotted, is why some ghostwalkers are
slashers to put them down. Permanently. A cell of hunters and considered to be a similar, but different type of monster called
a group of ghostwalkers could easily team up to take one of “Fog Men.” Far worse, however, is the fact that slain ghostwalkers
them out. Since slashers are typically anti-social, their days are can rise — alive — after they fall dead to hunt down their killers.
numbered should ghostwalkers and hunters start going after This is not an isolated occurrence; it is nearly a certainty that any
them together. Even physically brutal slashers, like Masks, are hunter cell who decides to kill a ghostwalker will almost always see
often horrified by what a group of angry ghostwalkers can do. her again. Vampires, werewolves, and witches all usually stay dead
Given this, it is not unusual for a slasher’s life to end as when slain, decapitated, or otherwise destroyed, but ghostwalkers
brutally and horrifically as her victims’ did. Revenge from beyond rise and keep coming back, each time angrier than before.
the grave is, of course, a ghostwalker’s specialty. Coincidentally, While ghostwalkers are, by all accounts, powerful medi-
that mission may be right in line with the Vigil, too. ums, some hunters also believe their powers are not limited
More about slashers can be found in World of Darkness: to dealing with ghosts. More than one cell has reported seeing
Slashers. They are an excellent type of monster to give both a ghostwalker use strange powers to haunt an area, and may
hunters and ghostwalkers a shared goal. even lash out invisibly at passersby, as if the haunted were liv-
ing ghosts themselves. Other ghostwalkers can dole out hor-
Identifying a rific curses or twist and contort their bodies in monstrous ways.

Ghostwalker Frightening as some of these abilities are, not all ghostwalkers
possess them — which means that hunters will need to come
This is Chester with an update. As I reported, the gang of ghost- up with their own method of classifying and identifying which
walkers called “Jack o’ Lanterns” has come back to Jamestown. Accord- ghostwalkers they consider to be friend or foe.
ing to local legend, they were here in the 1970s, burning buildings and For this reason, it’s essential that cells connect with their
killing people, before heading off to parts unknown. compacts or conspiracies to get more information before con-
Now they’re back. The Jack o’ Lanterns is a biker gang. Their fronting a ghostwalker. Not every hunter is backed by a group of
leader wears a mask that looks like a pumpkin surrounded by blue occultists like the Ascending Ones, though. In many cases, time
flame. Members keep a fire burning on their motorcycles: mirror, is working against a cell, for while the dead can wait — most
ghostwalkers can’t and don’t. Cells who encounter ghostwalk-
handlebars, exhaust. They didn’t waste any time, and started to burn ers may wonder just what they’re dealing with, and by the time
everything in sight. they figure it out, the ghostwalkers will have done whatever it
After coming back, they set fire to an old school, and a church was they wanted to do and moved on.
people were using, though thankfully no one was inside either building When they don’t use their powers, ghostwalkers don’t
at the time. Claire said they performed some ritual around the church seem to be any different from hunters. Unlike most reanimated
then burned it to the ground. Third building, though, they torched a — zombies and vampires — they appear to be living, breathing
house people were still living in. Luckily, the homeowners escaped, but humans. The one clue hunters have to spot a ghostwalker is to
the police never came. John says they’re scared. I’m not so sure. pay close attention to what happens when she triggers her abili-
Before they could do any more damage, I buddied up with twelve ties. Sometimes, a ghostwalker may appear to be possessed, and
other hunters and confronted them. I told them arsonists were not wel- communicates with an invisible ghost out loud.
come here. They told us the living had no jurisdiction over their comings Other times, another figure may appear when a
and goings. That was a little intimidating, but there was no way we ghostwalker uses his powers, right in the corner of a hunter’s
were going to back down. The leader also said something about creating eye. This figure may appear in a flash of lightning or, just for a
a “Necropolis.” I didn’t really understand that. A city of dead people second, reflected in a mirror or a puddle of water. Photographs
sounds bad to me. I told them we were going to escort them from the and other recording devices may reveal that the ghostwalker is
city. Then, all hell broke loose. accompanied by a blurry little girl or a fuzzy soldier, too. When
The ghostwalkers set Randy on fire as a warning and told the rest of shown proof that something supernatural is walking side-by-
us to fuck off. Randy...he just burst into flame. We pulled out our guns side with them, ghostwalkers will typically shut down. They
and charged. The Jack o’Lanterns shrugged off our attacks — even our might mention a binding or supernatural bargain they made,
bullets — and leaked white smoke. We took down two of them, three of but most ghostwalkers won’t discuss the details of their nature
us got away. The Union lost nine people that day. Nine goddamn people. or relationship with ghosts.
Goddamn ghostwalkers are trouble. Nothing but trouble. Kill
them. Avenge us. Careful Speculation
— Last message posted by Chester Roberts, leader of the Hunters who observed ghostwalkers a great deal believe
Highland, Arizona Union on the Union’s message board. that all of them are possessed by a ghost, and that relationship

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