Page 96 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

THE CYClE TURNS

The Cycle Turns

Though the oldest conspiracies already have an inkling
that mummies exist, newer cells and compacts may now be
utterly focused on hunting them, too. In the last few years,
there has been a noticeable surge in mummies re-awakening.
Remember, mummies operate in centuries-long cycles, and one
of those eras is reaching its peak now.
The larger number of arisen mummies opens the door
for a confrontation with hunters. For all their eternal nature,
mummies are not good at keeping up with technological chang-
es and prefer to leave those details to their human servants.
Hunter groups like Network Zero or The Cheiron Group who
take careful use of those technologies very seriously, may see
an uptick in activity and create a growing pool of evidence that
sharp minds will use to track down mummies and their agents.
The fact that more mummies are awakening now gives
Storytellers the perfect opportunity to shake up a long-running
Hunter chronicle or to kick off a moribund one. This global
event creates the distinct feeling that something new is in the
world, something the hunters have never encountered before.
Mummies usher in change and, with more of them in the liv-
ing world, hunters now have the opportunity to stop, study, or
capture them — however deluded that assumption might be.
Mummies are frightening, deadly foes. For most hunters,
their first encounters with these undying ancients will prob-
ably occur accidentally while they’re hunting another creature
or through talking to their colleagues, co-workers, and friends.
The undying have had millennia to weave themselves into the
fabric of human society, and many mortals are their unwitting
pawns. Indeed, a hunter with a day job could be a mummy’s
employee and not know it. Yet. The shifted worldview the Vigil
brings can manifest as paranoia. But, just because a hunter is
paranoid, doesn’t mean that a mummy isn’t closing in on him.
An individual mummy isn’t a “living” antagonist in the
World of Darkness; the clock is ticking from the moment they
emerge from their tombs. Their ability to function is limited
and erodes the moment they awake from their deathless sleep.
Though hunters may eventually catch on that mummies have a
mission to carry out, they often aren’t aware that their actions
have a time limit. Mummies awake to a purpose that’s defined
by their own agenda or by those who serve them. If the undying
focuses on pursuing those goals and are successful, their time
awake can last years. If they get distracted, or are repeatedly
blocked from moving forward, their ability to hold on to the
living world fades; their tombs pull them back into repose, and
eventually they return to their former, desiccated state.
Due to their nature, mummies can serve Storytellers best
as the “end boss” of an extended Hunter chronicle. However,
Storytellers may introduce their servants into a story to either
misdirect hunters or clue them in on the mummy’s mysterious
nature or schemes. Mummies work through others — human
beings who may or not be aware that they’re part of a cult, serv-
ing the will of a supernatural being. These cults both effectively
extend the range of a mummy’s activities in the world, acting as
a bridge between their ancient minds and the realities of living
in a modern age. Hunters may never even encounter a mummy,

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