The Cursed Pacific Vigilantes

A Vigilantes of the Pacific - this man is named Blazina

## Quote

*"Oh god, the Vigilantes...I saw one of em once, I think a few months ago...a decrepit looking man, covered in seaweed, his skin was all wilty and pale, his eyes blank and expressionless. I swear it, I swear that he just, rose out of the middle of the ocean with that dreadful, rusted axe in his hand, and he started walking...no limping slowly towards a building. Me and a whole group of us watched him open the door, walk in, and then a few minutes later we head this dreadful screaming from upstairs, and the next thing we knew, a body flew out of the window and hit the ground. An axe was buried in his face..."* - A Pirate of the Pacific

## Overview

Although their origins are rooted in legend, speculation, or outright mysticism, their influence and presence is well known throughout the Pacific. Known most commonly as "The Vigilantes," they are said to be a group of specifically forty seven men that arbitrate justice throughout the Pacific, avenging murders, rape, pillaging, and other immoral behaviors that would harm the well being of other people. Many deny the original claim that these men pledged to Duncan Heyward himself to protect the freedoms of the people, and that Duncan Heyward supposedly took them to an abandoned cave in an abandoned island to perform a ritual to bound them to justice. There, supposedly, they received not only functional immortality, but also a bound sense of duty that compels them to hunt down anyone in the Pacific causing harm. In this legend, it is said that they know *precisely* when an evil act has been done, and where that person *is*, at all times. They stop at nothing to hunt them down, and will pursue them all the way across the Pacific if necessary. However, many suggest that they simply do their own intelligence gathering in order to track individuals down, and that their exceptional ability in combat is not a result of immortality, but some kind of special training. However, no one denies their connection to Duncan Heyward, who outright and publicly gathered and declared these men to be the feared "Vigilantes," shortly after the Battle of the Galapagos in 2034.

## Public Sightings

The Vigilantes, across multiple sources, all appear to be relatively similar in appearance. Usually disheveled, decrepit, pale, slow and "hollow," they all are commented to be devoid of any life and similar to a walking corpse. Each Vigilante would carry a "medallion of skulls," which is speculated to to be the source of their mysticism. Occasionally they are spotted as simply rising from the ocean, with seaweed falling from their iron helmets like strands of hair. They all carry rusty one handed axes as their weapons, are coated in some plated armor and chainmail, and have a simple iron helmet that likewise shows signs of rust. When they walk they seem to almost limp, and are extremely slow moving, However they still are as aware and mentally similar as actual humans, able to carry conversations and have a sort of grimness to their personality. Many suggest that it would be accurate to say that they are "the same people as before their pledge to vigilantism, just influenced by some mystical force." When talking, they are direct to the point and usually only ask for information pertinent to their target. They stop at nothing to catch their kills, and frequently those that fight back find themselves overpowered immediately, usually by a single swing of the axe. Those that try to fire laser muskets find the shots deflected by the axe, directly reflected back at the shooter's head. It is reported that one time, a vigilante simply grabbed hold of a murderer's head and drowned him in a bucket of water on the dock. Those that attempt to run usually find themselves with an axe in their back, hurled perfectly by the Vigilante. All accounts suggest similar ways of approaching a kill across the Pacific and across individuals. Otherwise, when possible, it is deduced that most killings happen quietly and secretly, as most individuals are caught when they are sleeping.

## History

In early Galapagos history, the vigilantes were rarely ever spotted at all. Even when the Galapagos Colony expanded drastically, crime was still extremely low, and this rate of Vigilante actions stayed the same and was practically nonexistent. It is reported from the span of 2034 to 2036 there is only evidence of one vigilante attack, directed towards a rapist in the year 2035. Only in the years past 2036 did extensive actions of Vigilantes began to be reported, as settlements across the Pacific with more aggressive individuals perpetuating more aggressive crimes became more common. This became especially common during expansion, as reckless pirates often weeded out original inhabitants through violence and chaos. In situations were a large group of people committed an act, they were all slowly hunted down gradually by individual Vigilante. By 2037 their reputation had been made clear to the people of the Pacific, and those who considered acts of criminality were effectively restrained by the sheer fear of Vigilantes. Expansion for this reason actually slowed early in 2037 for a short time, as Pacific Pirates were unwilling to try to wrestle land away from innocent settlers.

However this peace would not last, as in March of 2037 it was noticed that the Vigilantes began disappearing, for unknown reasons. It was later determined in a direct conversation from Duncan Heyward to Anicka Konvicka that Vigilantes only had to serve for two years, and that after the two years their own will and conscience would begin to come back. This was part of the initial agreement in 2034 when Duncan Heyward recruited the original forty seven vigilantes. They may still continue to serve, however this was unlikely as few would like to be bound to such a duty for a long period of time. Duncan Heyward also expressed that finding new Vigilantes was difficult due to the now well known "intense" nature of its obligations, according to Heyward. As a result, by mid 2037, it was said that only eight vigilantes still remained in the Pacific (three being recruited relatively recently), and rest having returned to regular lives as pirates or back to their home countries. One of these was notably Blazina, the wharf manager at Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, who would interact with Anicka Konvicka frequently as she visited the wharf with her friend Jana after school. In this time. Due to the increasingly expansive nature of the Pacific pirates, and the the higher rate of crime due to conflicts between warlords, Vigilantes find themselves unable to rest, as one kill simply transitions into the next with no respite. Vigilantes at this point, truly became a curse.
By 2038, only six vigilantes remain, two of three from the recently recruited having allegedly killed themselves from the nature of the curse. However, these six vigilantes would continue to hunt down the wicked of the Pacific, deciding that they consider it a cause worthy enough for this endless suffering.