《Blood of Beasts》


 Prelude: "Fall, my luminous children, and bring my design to the world"

    ~~~ Overview ~~~


    Once there was peace in these lands, trade routes ranging far and wide, and cities full of life, but that is the past. When the stars fell unto the earth, they carried strange minerals, and from these minerals, many discoveries were made. These minerals granted power beyond anything mankind was capable of, but it quickly proved itself dangerous.


    This power corrupted the minds of most men, and it twisted their bodies into horrific monstrosities; only a few were resistant to the effects. This corruption was not exclusive to man either; it spread to the many beasts of the wild, with much more aggression.


    These beasts and abominations slaughtered their way through the city and village populations who were unprepared; the nobles elected to hide away in their fortified homes with their hired guards while the commonfolk were left to fend for themselves. Knowing they stood no chance on their own, brave souls of the surviving villages gathered together to form the Hunters'' Guild, a force dedicated to facing the dangerous beasts of the dark.


    Though they train vigorously to match the beasts'' ferocity, many hunters are lost to the beastly threat or even corruption, but their sacrifice inspires many to take their place. These trainee hunters must go through high-risk training to weed out individuals who are not suited for beast hunting as well as get the trainee accustomed to the dangers of beasts. It is not uncommon for trainees to quit or even perish during their training.


    ~~~ Underneath the Dark Moon I ~~~


    In the midst of a cold wind, under the Dark Moon, a slim, elderly man with grey hair finds solace beneath a tree. Shortly, a younger, brawny man comes to him and asks, "Again, Henry?" The elder turns his head to face the young man before responding in a gruff voice, "Eh, what else is there to do in my age? I''ve done my time; I''d like to rest for what little time I have left. Now leave me be, Seth." After a long sigh, Seth debates internally and then speaks up, "Alright then, but you must be at the academy for the recruits'' initiation ceremony." Henry groans, "Why must we have these ceremonies? They''re purely for spectacle." Seth, once more irritated with Henry''s reluctance, responds, "It''s for morale; we''ve learned that increasing hunter morale reduces the likelihood of corruption."


    Henry finally caves and decides to go along. "Well, I may as well go now, seeing that you have already spoiled my peace." "Finally." Seth sighs in relief. He then helps Henry up from the ground, and the pair make their way towards the Hunters'' Academy. Along the beaten path, Henry takes time to admire the little beauty and peace around them, for he knew it was only a matter of time before the beasts arrive. "Distracted, are we?" Seth breaks the silence. "You should appreciate the little things while you''re able; you never know when they''ll disappear." Henry responds. "There''ll be plenty of time for sightseeing when this scourge is dealt with." Seth says boldly, "And when is that exactly?" Seth pauses to think while Henry continues, "We''ve hardly learned anything aside from how to kill these beasts, but the beasts are a byproduct of the greater issue." "And that is?" Seth speaks up. "The stars... such powerful things, and yet we know so little. The beasts rose when they fell; that is no coincidence." Henry seems more distant than usual when speaking of the stars.


    The cold wind suddenly ceases, and the cawing of crows alerts the two hunters: "Henry?" Seth says, "I smell it... foul beasts... are you armed?" Henry asks, "Just my sidearm; you go to the academy and bring reinforcements; I''ll hold them here!" Seth answers. "No, this beast is different; you''ll never survive alone. With me, quickly!" Henry retorts harshly and pulls an injection needle from his satchel. He injects the substance into his arm, and it works quickly through his body, filling him with renewed vigor and endurance. As the sound of the beast''s steps get ever louder, Seth and Henry bolt towards the academy.


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    The Hunters'' Academy was a tall, dark wood building with spiked fences and torches to keep out beasts. Recruit hunters and their superiors fill the courtyard and training grounds, honing their combat skills. One of the hunters notice the distressed arrival of Seth and Henry and rushes to meet them. "What''s happened?" he says with a look of concern. "Corruption beast... approaching from the woods." Seth replies in between heavy breaths, "Hunters! With me!" the hunter calls out to the others. The hunters charge out towards the beast, and upon witnessing the beast, many of the younger hunters and even some of the more experienced stand in shock and disgust at the abhorrent sight.


    This beast is unlike anything seen prior; most beasts hold animal characteristics, but this creature seemed to be something more. Its elongated skull bore the fangs of a beast with wide eyes that held the void of space and the stars within them; it had the misshapen figure of a man, warped and twisted, covered head to toe with grey, rotted flesh. "Sir Williams, is this some corruption beast?" one of the young hunters asks his superior. "Yes, Garrett, be on your guard; such things are not so easily slain," he answers. The beast stands motionless before the hunting party; this behavior is not like that of normal beasts; this is certainly a corruption. Corruptions are not easy to dispatch; they act unpredictably and do things that make no logical sense.


    "What''s our first move, lads?" A one-eyed hunter asks with caution, "Surround it; cut off any escape route; it must not leave this place alive." Henry orders, knowing fully how dangerous a Corruption beast can be if left unchecked. The hunters acknowledge and follow his instructions and slowly circle around the corruption beast. "Now! Shoot out its eyes!" Henry shouts. The hunters fire their rifles at the creature''s eyes, blinding it. "Keep out of its grasp!" Henry warns as the corruption beast flails its arms wildly, "Bring the beast down!" The hunters yell and charge towards the corruption beast. Two hunters slice its ankles, bringing the creature to its knees.


    The beast lets out an ear-piercing roar that disorients the hunters, giving it the opportunity to claw at the nearest hunter, Graye, one of the new hunters. An agonized scream leaves him as he collapses to the ground, blood spilling from the deep gashes in his torso. "Man down!" Williams shouts as he recollects himself, "Shoot the bastard; we won''t lose another!". The remaining hunters, with their firearms ready, opened fire at the beast, the volley of bullets filling it with holes.


    With bloodied flesh hanging off its eviscerated body, the beast attempts to crawl its way back towards the woodlands, hunters still firing into its hide. After enough fire, the body of the beast could no longer move, with entrails spilling from its body and violently twitching. A new hunter appeared from the shadows of the trees and approached the crippled beast. "Sever the head and the body will wither," he spoke as he sent his huntsman axe through the neck of the beast, its body twitching for a moment longer before falling still. "What has happened?! How did this abomination slip past us until now? We are better than this," he scolds the group. "If we can hardly keep beasts off our doorstep, how can we expect to do so for the villages?" Amidst the scolding, Henry speaks up, "You are too harsh, Vergil. It was a beast of corruption; you know well enough what they''re capable of."


    "Exactly why we must not allow such abominations to run wild." Vergil retorts coldly before turning his attention to the deceased Graye. "We''ve already lost a hunter, and we are spread thin enough as it is. If we are to survive, we must stop this madness at its source." "What source?!" Williams interjected sharply, "We know nothing of their origin, only that they appeared when the stars fell. Do you want us to go stargazing now for secrets? That is for the astrologers; oh, I forgot, there are none left! They were all driven mad and corrupted." Vergil steps forward before being stopped by Henry. "Save your fight for the beasts, all of you." Vergil backs off and makes his way back into the woods to continue hunting.


    "We will burn the young lad''s remains and send his ashes home. Laurence, have the beast carted off for study." Henry says solemnly, looking down at the corpse of Graye with grief for the young hunter, "It is always difficult to lose a fellow, especially those who had much life ahead of them. Let the loss feed your fight against the beasts. One day they shall be no more than a painful, distant memory, and peace can once again grace our land. Until then, we must push forward and protect what remains of our life."

 Chapter 1: "The stars fall, blackening the sky, corrupting our minds, we are truly lost..."

    ~~~ Collapsing Skies I ~~~


    Dark and littered with infinite luminous stars, the skies have always intrigued mankind. What secrets did they hold? What power? Were there really beings watching us from the deep and endless cosmos? These questions had burned within the feeble minds of humanity for many centuries. For all of history, people from all over have come together to discover the secrets of the stars. While the current studies of the stars didn''t bring much new information that wasn''t already known, the stargazers did note a strangely common occurrence in which stars would shoot across the skies and crash into the earth. While such cases are not unheard of in historical records, this specific case was not normal. The stars were falling at a more frequent rate than ever recorded before, causing much concern among the researchers.


    In an effort to understand why the stars were falling and hoping to ease their concerns, the researchers ventured out towards the crash sites of these stars. A group of these researchers observe a fallen star when one speaks up, "What do you make of this?" he says as he gestures towards the cracked object, a pulsing aura surrounding it, "No idea," another researcher responds, "it''s unlike anything we expected. And this... I don''t recognize this material, a foreign resource?" A pair of the researchers grab their tools and carefully cut out a few pieces of the star to take back to the laboratory for further study and leave the other three researchers. "Strange, there almost appears to be... veins... you don''t think- " the third researcher interrupts the first, "That the stars are alive? That cannot be. It would defy the laws of nature." The first researcher then replies, "We know little of the nature of the cosmos, perhaps the laws of nature are different there." "Hmm," The third researcher ponders for a moment, "Maybe... maybe so, you''re right, we cannot be certain until we uncover their secrets."


    After spending some time near the star, the researchers begin to feel strange. "Is anyone else feeling ill?" the second researcher asks, "Aye, ever since we got here, I''ve had an odd sensation building up in my head." the first researcher replies. "Yeah, I''d reckon we leave and come back later to finish this." the third suggests and they all leave before the effects worsen.


    Upon reaching the laboratory, the researchers still felt unwell, uncertain of what else to do, one of the researchers began to document his thoughts. An excerpt from the document:


    "We''ve all fallen ill ever since we made contact with the fallen star, it is no doubt the cause of our ailment. When we returned to the lab, we tried to alleviate our symptoms with any medicine we believed could offer some relief. It availed nothing. This illness is unlike anything we''ve encountered before; worse yet, our cooperators took some of it back their own laboratory, I have already sent a letter their way regarding the illness, and that they take higher precaution with the handling of the stars'' materials. I can only hope they fare better than us, I fear we won''t be seeing the next week."


    ~~~ Hunter''s Manual #6 "Fallen Stars" ~~~


    An excerpt from the Hunter''s Manual regarding the fallen stars:


    "The fallen stars seem to be the origin of our beast problems. Where else would they have come from? From studying the carcasses of the beasts, it was discovered that the blood of these beasts contained traces of the mysterious fluid that spilled from the stars as they were cracked open. Considering the fact that close contact with the stars would corrupt most, it was not a stretch to assume the same could be said about the fluid.


    Due to the high volume of beasts in the wilderness, especially near fallen stars, it is very difficult to get near the stars without suffering heavy casualties. Therefore, further study on the relation between the beasts and stars is much more difficult."


    ~~~ Den of the Beasts I ~~~


    The hunt is on once more, as a small group of Hunter recruits take on a relatively simple task: hunt down a pack of beasts that have been terrorizing a nearby fishing village. First, they must pick up the trail from the village and gather any information regarding the beasts from the environment and villagers. As the trio enters the village, the head of the group, a tall, young man with dark hair and sharp features, knocks on a door of the leader of the villager, "Evening, what business do you have here?" an elderly woman answers at the door, caution in her voice. "Hello miss, we were sent here by the Hunters'' Guild regarding a beast problem." the tall hunter says. "Ah, yes. They been coming through every night, tearing the place apart, stealing our fish. At this rate, we''ll starve or be eaten ourselves." the woman is quite distraught. "I see..." the tall hunter responds, "Did these beasts leave behind any notable evidence or has anyone catch sight of them?"


    After thinking for a moment, the woman points the hunters towards the storehouse, "I''m afraid not much, anyone who was outside during their attacks would be ripped apart. We would awake to screaming and then nothing, by the time it was safe to check outside, all that remained was a bloody mess. I''m sorry we aren''t more helpful." "No worries, ma''am, we''ll just work with what we have. Just make sure you stay inside until we handle things." the tall hunter reassures. The woman closes her door, locking it up, and the hunter trio investigates the attack site.


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    "You''re getting better at this Ed, you got through the whole thing pretty well" says one of the other hunters, a young woman with short, amber hair. "I guess so, thanks Dahlia." he responds, giving a sigh a relief. Turning to the mangled corpse he asks his third companion, "Artor, anything here look familiar?" The third hunter, adorned in a dark coat and hat, who had remained silent until now, spoke up, "The body is very damaged, can''t tell exactly what these beasts are from the wounds," he kneels down to examine the beast tracks surrounding the corpse, "but I''d assume we''re dealing with some pack hunting beasts, judging by the many tracks and the lady''s story."


    Artor gets up and trails the direction of the tracks with his eyes, pointing towards the Northwest, "They came from that direction, the marsh. And looks likes they went back the same way." Edward and Dahlia nod in acknowledgement and the three begin to follow the tracks. "So, know any beasts that prefer the marsh, Artor?" Dahlia questions, "Eh, not many. And the ones I know of don''t fit with the evidence we have. We seem to be dealing with hound-like beasts, considering the size and shape of the tracks they left." he answers. Heading deeper into the marsh, the thick mud made tracking the beasts slow and difficult, "We''ll not get far at this pace," Edward says frustratedly as he struggles to move through the unstable terrain of the marsh, "perhaps we should try something else. Dahlia, Artor, any ideas?" The two ponder for a time before Dahlia answers, "I am the lightest and fastest, maybe I should go on ahead?" Artor objects quickly with a slight raise of his hand, "I advise against that, we are dealing with pack hunters, if they detect you, there''s no way you could possibly fend all of them off or escape alive." he pulls out a small telescope from his satchel and hands it off to her, "Climb that tree and use this to try and find them, maybe see if they have a den nearby." Dahlia looks up at the tall tree before speaking, "You sure that''s safe?" she says with a nervous look. "No, but the fall shouldn''t kill you," he says bluntly. "My, how comforting." she says sarcastically before slowly climbing up the tree.


    "I wouldn''t worry, Edward will catch you if you fall." Artor adds, "What? Why do I have to catch her?" Edward sharply asks. "I''m the only one here with a gun, if they come after us, I can cover you both for a bit so you can get back." Artor answers. A moment of thought later, Edward replies, "By yourself?" Artor catches his concern, brushing it off with a shrug, "If I die... I die. Just make sure at least one of you finishes the job with these beasts. This is about more than just us; we have a duty to these people." His words resonate in Edward as he gives an understanding nod. The two keep alert to anything on the ground as Dahlia reaches high enough in the tree to take a good look around with the telescope.


    "Not so bad, just don''t look down." She says to comfort herself, pulling out the telescope and looking at the area ahead of them. "Well... that looks like something alright." She takes note of several dog-like beasts, trying her best to get an idea of how they work. They are certainly a pack, and settled deep in the marsh, far from ideal for a fight. "This is gonna be a real pain..." She sighs, climbing back down to her companions below. The two look up as she comes down, dropping to her feet and handing the telescope back over to Artor. "Well?" he says, as she shakes off the nerves of the climb. "Well... you were right, pack beasts, they''re quite far ahead, saw some kind of den deep in the marsh." Dahlia explains all she saw from the treetops. "Hm." Artor ponders on their options, looking to Edward for any ideas. Edwards thinks for a moment before speaking up, "Could we... fight from the trees? They can''t climb right?" Artor looks over at the trees around them, "They shouldn''t... but even still, I''m the only one with a ranged advantage. You two are gonna have to get close to take them out." The three continue to brainstorm some plan of action for dealing with the beasts.


    ~~~ Hunter''s Manual #2 "Hunting Parties" ~~~


    An excerpt from the Hunter''s Manual regarding hunting parties.


    "A hunting party is a group of hunters, selected to best suit each other''s strengths and weaknesses, creating a solid unit of skill. They vary in size, though rarely fall under three hunters. Only the best and most skilled hunters would ever dare hunting with lower numbers or even solo. Some parties will even join together temporarily to take on some particularly dangerous beasts in a group effort.


    Each member of a hunting party is significant, serving one purpose or another. The Head of the party is obvious, they play the role of leader, coordinating their comrades to victory, their mark empowering their mind to make faster decisions under heavy pressure. The Seeker is well equipped and trained for tracking even the most elusive beasts, their sharp senses empowered by their mark to see beyond what most can. The Hunter is the general combative role, trained for most scenarios and well equipped, their mark empowers their ability to adapt to nearly all situations."


    ~~~ Hunter''s Manual #5 "Beast Categorization" ~~~


    An excerpt from the Hunter''s Manual regarding the categorization of beasts, this particular article is about Pack Beasts.


    "Pack Beasts are a relatively common type of beast. They operate in packs of varying size, with at least one head figure, typically the largest of the pack. Most Pack Beasts are hound-like in appearance, though there are a few that branch off from the rest. The Marshmen, for example, appear more humanoid, though behave quite primitively, they are capable of using tools and weapons, making them more dangerous than normal beasts. Marshmen have also been noted to kidnap individuals they find on occasion. For what purpose, one can only imagine, better to slaughter these monstrosities before they can be allowed to continue their vile nature.


    Pack Beasts are characterized by their keen tracking and hunting skills, able to find prey miles away from their den, they some of the more social of the beasts, displaying behavior similar to wolf packs. Pack Beasts can be dealt with by most hunters as long as they stick together, fighting solo is a death sentence. Usually, once the leader of the pack is killed, the rest will flee, so it is often attempted to clear out the pack members before putting focus on the leader, to varying levels of success."