Occult Hunters

**Occult Hunters**, also known as just **Hunters** or **Slayers**, are people - usually humans - who have dedicated themselves to fight supernatural threats and protect humanity from the encroaching darkness.

## Summary

Hunters are usually ordinary humans who, unlike the majority of the population, are aware of the supernatural world and, even more, they fight against them to protect the rest from harm. One of the most recurring reasons for one to go into the hunter lifestyle is a tragedy in their lives that involved the supernatural. However, there are other reasons to decide on being an occult hunter, such as being raised as one within a hunter family or a hunter society like a compact or a conspiracy.

The vast majority of hunters work on a small scale, either solo or in small groups called cells. These hunters defend a small area, such as a town, city neighborhood, or sacred area from supernatural threats. Alternatively, they may dedicate themselves to hunting down a particular type of creature, such as vampires, werewolves, demons, and so on. And while not common, many hunters also feel a responsibility to deal with organizations which either employ or lead by hostile supernatural beings.

Occult hunters typically pass their knowledge onto their children, as they can be killed by supernatural creatures on their regular hunts or ones that look for revenge. When they do so, a hunter lineage is formed. Many hunters also don't - or cannot - reside in a permanent residence as they constantly move throughout the country, looking for potential cases and protecting the people. Most live on the move, and as such, have few belongings beyond essential equipment and supplies which allows them to move easily and quickly.

Those who do have permanent residences don't spend too much time in them, and they are usually distant toward their neighbors in order to maintain their secrecy. Hunter society are stationed almost worldwide, if not in large compacts than in your average hunter cells, and while some would often travel in order to track a case that's occurring in a specific part of a foreign country, most remain within their homeland due to the constant rising of supernatural threats that roam about their residence and neighborhood.

While over 80% of occult hunters are humans, about 14% of them are magicians or have dabbled in the arcane arts, and 6% of them consist of Denizens. Due to their supernatural origins, human hunters frown upon them and many treat them with distrust or thin-veiled hostility. Most hunter groups usually assign a human hunter with their denizen hunter, either to guide them, protect them, or keep an eye on them in case they fall to their supernatural instincts. Almost always, these inhuman hunters have their own reasons for hunting down other supernatural beings or even their own kind, often an inner desire to embrace their humanity, self-hatred toward their inner monstrosity, or a wish for redemption or even repentance for all the crimes and sins they had committed in the past.

### The First Hunter

After Adam and Ḥawwāh were banished from the Edensphere, the Morningstar's followers sought to punish them for their Archon's imprisonment. They corrupted the animals of Tellus Mahte with their infernal essence to transform them into monsters and shaped clay into deformed shapes to create the first demons.

With the birth of monsters and demons, the great disturbance occurred in the natural orders and catastrophes plagued the Old World. However, with their divine endowments, none of these calamities could agitate Adam and Ḥawwāh. As the evils wrecked the world, the Mother of Life and the Father of All rebuilt things. This had been the way things went until the birth of their first son, Kayin.

Seeing the young babe within his mother's arms, Adam made a vow to himself. He walked out of the cave they had called home and saw a creature lazily grazing. Uttering a prayer to the Godhead, Adam sacrificed the creature to Him and crafted a blade from its jawbones. He then raised the weapon up high, before the heavenly spirits, and pledged his eternal life and his immortal soul to the service of the divinity if the Godhead would grant him the right to end the lives of all those who preyed upon the future generations of mankind.

And thus began the monster-slaying career of the so-called First Hunter.

## Characteristics

As a particularly vulnerable species, human hunters must be in their peak physical condition and possess an extensive knowledge of the supernatural before actually combating the unnatural. Across all ages and cultures, hunters have relied on a variety of methods to overcome their physical handicaps and fight against the various supernatural beings that threaten their existence, ranging from firearms to enchanted weapons, to arcane power and knowledge, to advanced technology.

Hunters are skilled fighters, proficient with any firearm, shotgun, and melee weapon they can acquire and many are also expert marksmen. Some may even carry weapons made from enchanted metals that give them an advantage against many ethereal beings. When weapons are scare and they are in a dangerous situation, they must use their hand-to-hand combat or whatever is available as a weapon. Hunters also appear to be proficient trackers and possess prudent tactical skills and an instinctive ability to 'read' behavioral characteristics and manipulate people. In addition, they need to be virtuosos of escape, evasion, and silent movement, when the situation requires subtlety and stealth, such as surprise attacks.

It's shown that hunters possess many abilities that are frowned upon by the laws, including (but not limited to): lock-picking, breaking into security systems, computer hacking, disguised conning, carjacking, and gaining an 'advantageous purchase'. They are well-versed with how the police, fire departments, and various government agencies typically operate and conduct investigations, and know how to both impersonate and evade them effectively. Most of these methods are used to gather information about the cases they're working on, though methods can differ between hunters.

Many occult hunters can read and recall Latin incantations, which can be used to exercise and vanquish infernal beings. Aside from Latin, some are also able to read and/or recite other languages. This is due to the importance of linguistic knowledge in translating ancient and foreign texts to identify a foreign creature and its weaknesses. It's also an unspoken tradition that hunters carry with them journals, or books, with information, details, and methods to kill the different creatures they face. Veteran hunters possess massive and in-depth knowledge on supernatural lore, and often keep the hunter community updated on any new or recent developments regarding certain supernatural events.

## Powers & Abilities

The average occult hunter is completely and utterly mortal. Most hunters have no inherent supernatural powers, and often rely on their physical capabilities, their well-honed skills, and their extensive knowledge on the occult in their battle against unnatural threats. The exception to the rule are hunters in a conspiracy. Those high enough in ranks are granted access to 「Creeds」- a special set of equipment, disciplines, blessings, or other benefits associated with that group that temporarily allows a hunter power equal or similar to a creature of darkness. However, Creeds also impose strict penalties when used, causing everything from derangements to instant death should they turn on their wielder.

## Hunter Society

### Hunter Cells

A Cell is the basic unit of hunter society. They are the smallest group of hunters possible; commonly formed by a local group of hunters looking to protect their immediate area, or to focus on one common goal. There may be a number of cells operating in a city at any time. If a cell gets enough members, or groups of cells gather together for a purpose, then the cell may become a compact.

### Hunter Compacts

Compacts are organized cells of hunters dedicated to a common purpose. They can be everything from a regional organization of hunters to a worldwide group with strict rules and guidelines that its members must always follow. Their numbers are generally larger as they are usually comprised of multiple cells, of which their combined membership can range from just a dozen or so to being well into the hundreds.

Compacts are easy to find and join, and tend to offer a great deal of practical experience, as well as a few resources a hunter on their own might not have had before. These higher-quality resources can sometimes include assets such as safehouses, vehicles, and specialist equipment which can be potentially shared by the compact as a whole. Their scale of operations and geographical reach can range local neighborhoods to whole cities, with the largest compacts covering entire regions. Compacts are also fairly easy to switch between, as most compacts do not have the energy and manpower to hunt down a rogue member capable of disappearing from sight.

While a good deal for an inexperienced hunter, compacts also tend to have a number of weaknesses over the more established conspiracies. Most compacts are relatively new with the oldest only founded in the last century or two. As a result, some compacts lack a true focus and can fall prey to infighting between members. Newer compacts also may have to rely more on hearsay or rumor for information, not having centralized resources to gather data from. They are limited in size, making them effective in one or two areas, but are prone to falling prey to local politics or a stubborn conspiracy. Plus, the supernatural tend to outnumber the members of a compact, so one that attracts a great deal of attention may easily be wiped from the face of the earth by a powerful entity that grows tired of them.

### Hunter Conspiracies

Conspiracies are the highest tier of hunter society. They are vast organizations of great power and influence, be it through government support, religious decree, divine patronage, or simply surviving for thousands of years. Many conspiracies work in secret, away from the public eye, and quite a few are dedicated to keeping the supernatural forces hidden from average people. Conspiracies tend to have more far-reaching networks, reliable resources, and superior knowledge than the smaller, less organized compacts.

Another benefit conspiracies offer over the weaker compacts are「Creeds」- powers developed specifically by a conspiracy that allow it to do things a normal mortal wouldn't be able to do. While they sound appealing, many Creeds come with a steep cost to use. Some corrode the user's soul, some poison the person drawing upon it, and most keep their user from ever having a chance at leaving the conspiracy if the stakes become too high.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* The biblical Adam is considered to be the First Hunter.
* In certain regions, hunters are called by different names, such as Breakers in Scotland or Witcher in Scandinavia.
* Supernatural beings generally see hunters as dangerous mercenaries.
* Many hunters are often mistaken for serial killers by ignorant mundane governments.
* Many hunters also work as bounty hunters for a semi-stable source of income and to pay for their lodging, weapons, equipment, and other supplies. Some even become treasure hunters and tomb raiders for a certain price.
* Hunters tend to keep their weapons close to themselves, as they can be attacked at any moment or to easily transport them to any location they need to go.
* When a hunter dies, it's traditionally to lay down the body on a row of logs with a white sheet over the body before it is salted and burned. This is to prevent the hunter from becoming a ghost or an undead.
* In ancient times, hunters used to pray to pagan gods such as Artemis, Neith, and Ullr, for protection, as they were the patron gods of hunting, both regular and supernatural. In modern times, hunters usually invoke God, Jesus Christ, or the angels. However, some hunters have taken a more atheistic or even antagonistic stance, viewing all supernatural beings (including the divinity) as either malevolent or amoral.
* On occasions, shop owners who are aware of the supernatural, either clear-sighted or something else entirely, will put hunter-specific symbols on their windows to show that they can be of assistance.