Page 83 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

CHAPTER THREE: GHOSTWALKERS

can’t reawaken an unlimited number of times. The fact few within Cheiron that believes ghostwalkers should be
someone nearby always dies when a ghostwalker returns has indoctrinated into TCG and used as freelance hunters. After
made it difficult to figure out just how many lives a ghostwalker all, ghostwalkers are better a dealing with ghosts than hunters
possesses, but that hasn’t stopped some hunters from trying to are, and that makes the haunted useful. To some hunters,
uncover the secret. ghostwalkers are the ideal agents to dispatch into dangerous
The biggest setback the Cheiron Group has experienced situations, and tend to be ignorant of anything that doesn’t
has been the conspiracy’s failed attempts to harvest ectoplasm. pertain to the dead. Their tendency to be fairly idiosyncratic,
While ghostwalkers clearly contain, channel, and use ectoplasm, however, makes implementation of this idea difficult, as
the conspiracy has learned that their bodies do not produce the does their lack of sustained interest in cooperating with the
substance naturally, not like bloodsuckers do. A vampire’s body conspiracy.
may produce blood with unique properties, but a ghostwalker In general, the Cheiron Group will, if necessary, make the
is more like a conduit. haunted an offer should they cross paths. Fortunately, when
Cheiron knows that the haunted can collect ectoplasm, negotiations go south, TCG isn’t opposed to using one of its
too, and suspect they frequent haunts to draw it from the many company facades to obscure the conspiracy’s true iden-
spirits. They have confirmed, however, that no amount of tity. And, when an offer is made, the haunted may not know
prodding will cause them to manufacture ectoplasm. Also, who they’re dealing with — a secret many TCG hunters should
much to the conspiracy’s surprise, the one autopsy they were desperately protect.
able to conduct showed that the ghostwalker doesn’t have an
obvious place in its body to store ectoplasm. While harvesting The Lucifuge
a dead vampire can give Cheiron vampire blood, no amount of
dissection yields stored ectoplasm in a fallen ghostwalker. Talkative ghostwalkers often claim they’ve made a deal
This frustrating setback, along with the fact that with a potent mythological figure. Maybe it’s Inanna. The
ghostwalkers are now actively avoiding the Cheiron Group, Angel of Death. Osiris. Beelzebub. Maybe it’s an odd or esoteric
has forced the conspiracy to shift priorities. Instead, Cheiron being, like the Laughing Lady or Mr. Bone-Jangles. Regardless,
is field-testing some new equipment to that will allow them this supernatural contract is what has allowed the haunted to
to capture and identify ghosts using sound-based tech. The return from the grave, and the circumstances surrounding the
conspiracy believes that ghosts could be a worthwhile source of haunted’s deal throws up all sorts of red flags for the Children
ectoplasm to explore, but aren’t sure what the haunted will do of the Seventh Generation.
should they ever find out what they’re truly after. While the haunted are rare, the Lucifuge have encountered
enough of them over the years to study and form an opinion of
The Response them. The conspiracy reached the general conclusion that the
Presently, both ghosts and ghostwalkers are a high priority ghostwalkers are, in fact, delusional. After all, the haunted’s
for the conspiracy. Though the haunted have eluded Cheiron claims about how they managed to acquire an angelic or
since the 1970s, hunters recognize that ghostwalkers have a demonic patron were full of shit. Sure, ghostwalkers may think
built-in lure: ghosts. If ghosts can be found or manufactured, any they’ve made a contract with a divine being. The Lucifuge has
ghostwalkers in the area will show up eventually. Some hunters had plenty of time, however, to figure out that there’s a lot the
have discovered that the haunted’s ability to communicate with haunted don’t know.
ghosts may thwart some of their techniques, but overall the Over the years, the Lucifuge herself has collected at least
conspiracy believes it’ll be relatively easy to draw them out of seven different ghostwalker reports describing how the arch-
hiding once they’re found. angel Michael had bonded to their souls. When questioned
Though Cheiron hopes to capture ghostwalkers in this further, not a single ghostwalker knew anything about angels
way, the conspiracy lacks any real understanding of how the or demons worth mentioning. What the conspiracy did figure
human soul works, and that missing knowledge works against out, however, was that whatever ghostwalkers were dealing with,
the hunters. Potentially, there are many important mysteries the entity originated from a nether world — not Pandemonium,
the conspiracy may unlock in the human soul, but should heaven, or any other place the Children of Lucifer had heard
Cheiron wish to uncover them, hunters will ultimately require of. So, despite working very hard to seem otherwise, ghostwalk-
new approaches to get what TCG desires. Any breakthroughs ers were ultimately insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
in the field may translate to another shift in priorities, for if the However, the Lady of Milan does think the Underworld is in-
conspiracy can figure out how to capture ghosts without risking triguing; both as another realm to explore, and for any possible
the lives of its hunters, then ghostwalkers will, no doubt, be implications it might have for the Lucifuge.
easier for TCG to retain and analyze. In the meantime, the At present, the conspiracy has yet to reach the Underworld,
Cheiron Group approaches the haunted clinically, from a some wonder if that realm is actually Pandemonium. Or, if the
biological and physical perspective not unlike the Null Mysteriis, Underworld exists, that Pandemonium is a fictitious place,
and that approach often works to the detriment of both. completely inaccessible to anyone. The haunted don’t seem to
Even in light of the conspiracy’s mission to harvest have any answers, and the Lucifuge don’t really expect them to
ectoplasm and find how it’s manufactured, there are a know anything, either.

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