The Varusa

The Varusa

The Varusa is a huge monster that haunts the Thistlewood forest. It leaves chaos in its wake and its wanton destruction has brought harm to fae and humans alike. Its origins are unknown but it has appeared relatively recently to cause chaos, and seems to be slowly increasing tensions among the different factions of Thistlewood. The Interns have been chased by The Varusa on a number of occasions and trying to stop its rampage is one of their goals.

## Description

The Varusa appears to be a large cross between a gorilla and a deer, it has vast antlers and powerful muscular hands. It gets its name from the only sound it makes, a repeated howl of the word 'varusa' (commonly heard as an echoing *vaaaaaaa* through the trees). It is known to directly target Wallace and Jermaine Foster and tries to hunt them down and hurt them whenever they venture too deep into the woods.

It is followed by the Brownies; which tend to scavenge from the debris it leaves in its wake.

## History

The Varusa first appeared five years ago. In **episode 9** Jermaine told the Interns that he and Wallace caused it to appear though he's unsure how; he theorises that they disturbed its home. This is possibly contradicted by Siobhan, who told the Interns that The Guardian summoned the Varusa to the forest as one of a number of crimes that the fae want to punish him for. Bertha suggested in **episode 1** that Thistlewood was considerably more interesting before The Varusa appeared.

Since then The Varusa has gained a reputation as a dangerous monster that stalks the woods, both as a fictional cryptid and amongst the more aware residents of Thistlewood, a credible threat. Local teens use it as a scare-story, as shown when the townies lead by Gus Haynes joked about The Varusa taking them away before Remi Gilmore was actually abducted by The Exobear. The teens appeared to not know many details about the Varusa, or had not previously met it, as they thought The Exobear was in fact The Varusa.

When the townies and the Interns found The Exobear, Vada detected The Varusa nearby and suggested that Fliss attract it to distract The Exobear, she did so and the creatures fought. The outcome of the battle is unknown, but The Varusa survived. Vada revealed to Fliss that she could detect The Varusa because it felt like a demonic presence.

Later, Fliss and Vada explored Vada's memories and theorised that the Varusa could be her brother; who was with her when she was summoned to Thistlewood, but had no way to find out more about this possibility. Vada has since said that it feels unlikely.

When the Interns discussed The Varusa with Jermaine, he said that he and Wallace had only met it once and it almost killed them; and that its existence barred them from much of the forest. This is why he and Wallace eventually started advertising for interns again. Wallace appears to be heavily in denial about the entire existence of The Varusa and doesn't believe it's real, to Jermaine's frustration and anger.

Jermaine and Wallace do encounter The Varusa again when the Interns investigate the Citadel in the woods, it chases them to their car and they leave, Wallace had to be physically dragged to the vehicle by Jermaine. Not long after this, at the carnival in **episode 20** Jermaine and Wallace have a furious argument about the creature, and Thistlewood's mysteries and how to act around the Interns, resulting in Wallace hitting Jermaine.

At the end of the episode the Interns chased down the Brownies that were causing havoc at the carnival and they told Thorn that they would only return the stolen items if Cypress spoke with The Varusa.

In **episode 21** Cypress tried to communicate with the Varusa and it ate her. The interns chased the Varusa down and Joshuwa hit it with an extremely volatile combination of his magical powers that caused an explosion that launched the Varusa straight through town.

As they chased the Varusa through town, Cypress found herself in a strange dimension space inside it, alongside Thorn and a mysterious figure that seemed to represent the Varusa's mind. They couldn't remember their name and as the Varusa was being pursued in the physical world, Cypress struggled to find out the figure's name in the swallowed world.

Joshuwa blasted the Varusa far enough through town that several buildings were demolished and it landed in a crater near the Elementary School; where it was watched by Sheriff Haynes and his deputy, as well as a number of townsfolk. Jermaine drove the Interns to the site and Wallace intercepted them, having a huge argument with Jermaine and officially ending the internship to the dismay of the interns. Jermaine dragged Wallace away to try and talk it over in private while the interns decided what to do in order to rescue Cypress from inside the Varusa.

On a gut feeling and guidance from Vada, Fliss tailed the Fosters and learned something that Cypress was also realising - Jermaine was a fake. The real Jermaine *was* the Varusa and the Jermaine in the real world was in actual fact Vada's brother. The interns freed the original Jermaine and fought Demonic Jermaine, eventually vanishing him using a spell. The Varusa effectively "died", returning to its original form of just being normal Jermaine.

## Behaviour

It's a monster that do pokemon yells lol what do you want from me