RuneScape Forum Archive | ^+^ Vigil's Truth ^+^

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

[Reserves done, nothing to see in this line]

No, me posting this doesn't mean I'm abandoning my other projects. This is mostly inspired writing since I got bored and couldn't bother actually working on Onslaught at the time of posting. There *is* some crossover with the other series in this though, but nothing too major to the point where you *need* to read it to enjoy the whole 5 posts or so it takes.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy. :3

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:22:33 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:20:49 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

13 Novtumber, Year 120 of the Age of the Old Ones.

‘Tis with a trembling hand and faint of heart that I record the events I have witnessed in these aging pages of my diary. Maybe someday, someone will read this and take my words based on their merit alone, and alert others to the truth. It is the only hope I hold at this time, and that thought is what gives me the courage to face the executioners of the Church of the Many Eyed One come the morn.

I guess it would be prudent to start at the beginning of this tale, though I cannot truly say where it had begun. Many years after the Coming of the Four, the destruction of our Old Lives, and the returning of the Old Gods to our heavens, opportunistic monsters had begun to spread across the world once more. To what end, nobody could say, for their motivations are as inhuman as the very gods we chafe under in this strange and unforgiving land.

But what is known, and has been passed down in legend over the last hundred years, is that a group of adventurers had founded a school dedicated to hunting the monsters which plague this world so. Their exact origin is unknown save for two names, which have never changed despite the repeated tales of the bards being spun in many a noble’s court in recent years:

The Vigilants of Aer’Korth.

Their methods were as different as the supposed Vigilants themselves. Men and women borne of shadow and dedicated to no god save the almighty coin were all they shared in common. At least, that and their uncanny knack to somehow show up wherever trouble lurked at the most opportune moment. But I digress, and in truth I write this entry not to spin more yarns of half-truths, truths, or maybe total fabrications of the mind, but to recount what really happened the night of Novtumber 1st.

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:22:45 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:12 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

1 Novtumber, Year 120 of the Age of the Old Ones

Please forgive my crudely formatted experiences. I thought future readers would do well to have an appropriate timeline for reference, but yet space is too limited to provide a full history of the truth behind the Vigilants and what has come to be called the Wild Hunt in the lands of Morytania.

So, here begins the tale at last. I must disclose this discourse is only my version of the events which follow. I may not have the full story, but by Karamthulhu’s grace, I know what I saw with my very own eyes.

His name was his name was Mikolaj of Kern. He was a Vigilant, a professional monster slayer and curse breaker for hire. He had come to the Lands of Drakan to answer a call to rid the region of a monster known as a Villisika Karju: A wereboar, in our tongue.

For many weeks, the lycanthropic servant of St Cornell had harassed Vampyre forces along the borders of what used to be ancient Misthalin and Morytania. The crimes of the Vampyres were many in the years following the last Final War, but just what had driven a Karju to attack the Condemned was a mystery to even the foul seers of Drakan’s court, and despite his repeated attempts to hunt down and destroy the creature, the Vampyres had nothing to show for their endeavors save for a few more bodies to add to their alchemy lab testing stock.

But as with all Vigilants, Mikolaj had trained for many eons to defeat such monstrosities. Paired with the fact that Lord Drakan was offering a king’s ransom in gold to anyone bold enough to slay the beast (or at least get it away from his lands), it was no surprise that such a notable name for our era had taken an interest in the matter.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:22:52 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:20 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Many talks were held, but it only took a matter of days for Drakan to agree to letting the man of shadows to take up temporary residence within the ruins of an old temple that sat on the River Salve while he attended to the matter. I still know not how he had managed to locate the wereboar’s precise territory, nor how he knew that the creature was brought into existence by a spurned lover who worshipped the demon He’rkhine, but he did. He was ready to confront the beast within two days of his arrival, though I suspect he would’ve handled it sooner if he hadn’t had to march all the way to Canifis and back to secure the creature’s ‘creator’, so to speak.

You see, the lass- a blonde waif who hadn’t seen more than maybe seventeen winters at last count, though she may have very well been an old Vampyre for all I know- was to be used as bait for the lycanthrope. In a way it seemed ironic, but such methods were not above the alien nature of the Vigilants, and truth be told, it could have been much worse. I shudder to think what other methods he could have used instead.

The Vigilant waited ‘til nightfall as he prepared his gear. You see, while Vigilants are stronger and more durable than normal mortals in most cases, even monsters can slay the hunters easily if they are ill prepared to face the darkness they hunt for a living. Legend holds that while they use swords made of strange rocks and metals from beyond the realms to fight mortal foes, the weapons are ineffective against the monstrous beings which stalk the modern nights. So as a result, they also carry another sword, one made of the purest Dragonsilver which had been blessed by deities whose names I dare not ponder for fear of offending those of my own home.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:23:00 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:26 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

And that isn’t taking their potions and oils and bombs into account. As I’ve already noted, an unprepared Vigilant could die just as easily as mortals when confronting the evils, so is it any surprise that they carry magical solutions and poultices which gives them some of their uncanny abilities? Or mayhap it’s a surprise that they are one of the few to use the gnomish invention of gunpowder in a more explosive matter? Dear readers, if you are indeed adventurers as I had hoped, you would know all too well the dangers present day monsters pose, so hopefully you will understand when I say that Mikolaj was no coward that night.

However, we are getting a bit off track. Mikolaj’s preparations had consisted of little more than routine meditations, sharpening his Dragonsilver blade, and readying other chained and hooked accoutrements whose purpose is still unclear to me. He had even taken a sip of a potion that had caused many a vein to appear on his tense neck, which was framed by a mane of ethereal white hair. And though his weathered face didn't bear the marks of the potion, I could swear his eyes had taken on an almost viper-like appearance they seemed to form small black slits against a pair of jaundiced irises.

And, soon enough, he was ready. Nightfall crept across the land as a full moon appeared in the sky accompanied by the howling of the wolves and cries of the Hounds. The activities of other nocturnal creatures soon invaded his senses as he heard a heavy snorting over the whispers of rustling leaves and crunching bones.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:23:08 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:32 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Vigilant unsheathed his weapon, and turned to face the creature’s lover, who was tied to a rickety old chair in the corner or what used to be room in the top floor of the ancient temple. The waif whimpered as the hunter grinned to himself, and a flash of silver was all she saw before she knew freedom. With much haste she ran, not stopping to think of hiding somewhere away from the strange man. Freedom was on her mind that night, and such thoughts would soon come to betray her.

The waif had made it as far as the ruined courtyard below before a massive hunched shape appeared from the blackness of the night, and snatched her in its clawed hands. Her screams of agony echoed through the air, and the wind carried the sounds of ripping flesh to the Vigilant’s perch on the ruined and open rooftop. From his vantage point- and with the aid of his potion- he could easily see the wereboar as it carried out every lycanthrope’s worst fear and feasted on its former lover. The bristling white hair of its inhuman body was well hidden in the shadows, and its ugly pig face adorned with two sinister tusks was covered in brown fur that seemed out of place compared to the rest of its strong body.

The Vigilant shrugged off a ratty old cloak he was wearing to reveal a suit made of fine black fur dotted with silver studs and chains, and proceeded to jump to the ground below. Thanks to boots made of spiderskin (and the monster hunter’s inhuman durability), Mikolaj had landed safely and silently, the boar unaware of his presence. That is, until his silver blade reflected a beam of moonlight towards the beast.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:23:24 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:38 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Man and beast stared each other in the eye for what seemed to be an eternity. Neither moved until Mikolaj had blinked, and that instant was all the lycanthrope needed to come bearing down at the hunter. The beast madly slashed at the Vigilant with an unholy fury, though the hunter was skilled enough to evade the blows with relative ease despite the creature’s supernatural speed.

For every slash the wereboar made, the Vigilant would twist and turn his body out of the way. For every attempt to gore him with its tusks, the Vigilant would knee the abomination in its chin, eliciting pained grunts and hellish squeals of frustration.

It was during one of these counterattacks did the boar lose its footing and trip over its own feet, giving Mikolaj the opening he needed to drive his blade between the creature’s shoulders. The blow was quick and decisive enough to draw black blood from the man-beast, but not powerful enough to kill it outright. The boar roared with rage as it pushed itself to its feet, the Vigilant’s blade still between its shoulders.

The creature managed to grasp Mikolaj by one of his arms, though it was no use as the hunter quickly used his free hand to make a mystical sign which propelled the creature back with enough force to shatter dragon scales. But due to the boar’s sheer size and determination, it went no further than the edge of the ruined courtyard before managing to regain its footing once more and attempt to locate the intruder.

It didn't see the Vigilant at all. It saw the ruined monastery, with its crumbling bricks and broken windows. It saw the dead vegetation which suggested that at one point a beautiful garden had once presided in the battlefield. It even saw faded symbols to gods long forgotten, chief among them a star that had once held hope for millions of people before the Returning had come.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:23:39 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:43 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

But despite that, its attacker was nowhere to be found. And it would’ve moved back to its innocent feast if it hadn’t heard the scuffling of bricks as they slid down from a balcony the creature had apparently missed in its first examination of the scene. Though the building was far away, the bricks came flying at it with surprising speed, and it took all the wounded beast had to avoid the onslaught. It got down on all fours, and charged the building with a mad squeal, and the Vigilant came out of the stonework to greet its attack with a kick to the face.

The man-beast heard the sound of bones crunching as Mikolaj stepped on its head and freed his sword from its back. It felt searing pain as the blade slid free, which enraged it even more. With one last forceful throw of its head, the wereboar sent the man of shadows sailing into the temple, causing the structure to shake and nearly collapse in on itself. The wereboar tried walking over to its fallen adversary, but stopped in its tracks as it beheld the monster slayer standing not too far from where he had landed, unharmed and with nary a scratch on his ghostly features. Behind him was that cursed star of hope, and it seemed to glow as the Vigilant threw a silver chain that wrapped around the wereboar and held it in place against its will.

Mikolaj smiled at the creature’s predicament as it fell to the floor helplessly. “Hopefully you’ll bleed out by dawn,” the hunter had said. “That way my god will have the pleasure of knowing you died on hollowed ground as little more than the beast you are.”

The boar snarled as the Vigilant brought his face to meet its gaze. His skin was as pale as that of the Vampyres, and his eyes seemed to burrow deep into the soul itself. But the boar saw no malice in those viper eyes. Only the contentment of one who had succeeded in his hunt.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:23:53 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:49 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Rage all you wish,” Mikolaj had said, his face betraying no sign of fear or panic. “But that chain is made to hold you and your kind until sunrise. At that point, you shall either be freed of the curse, or you shall die in that form.”

The beast snarled in response. “S…so…sorry," it choked.

“Do not apologize to me,” the Vigilant replied as he walked through a door on the far side of the room. “You did not slight me at all. In fact, I don’t even know your crimes, save for your attacks on the Vampyres. Though I wonder why you’d wish to kill members of one of the few races still capable of standing up to the Heikka in the first place.”

The Karju thrashed as it strained to be free of the divine hold over it, but to no avail. It grunted and squealed in pain as its wound took its toll, and it tried cursing every god it knew for its present predicament.

But nobody would listen that night

~^+^~

13 Novtumber, year 120 of the Age of Old Ones

This is where my recollection ends. Those of you who read this may wonder how I know what transpired a mere twelve days ago. And you would be right to wonder. But I shall tell you so future generations would know.

You see, the morning after the battle at the temple, I was found lying on the cold floor of the ruins. The chain had chafed my already sun-touched skin to the point of bleeding, and it was that state Mikolaj had helped me recover from before he took me to Drakan. I honestly don’t remember much of the ordeal, though I do remember that the Vigilant was somewhat surprised at my survival.

I dare not speak of what transpired next. Needless to say, I was sent home to the land where Karamthulhu and his pantheon hold sway; where Azatoth is considered an enemy of the church, and where the Heroes of the Final War were all but stricken from official records.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:24:02 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:18:55 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

You see, my reasoning for attacking the Vampyres was simple: the moon witch apprentice I had fallen for in my time on that dreadful continent was to be collected by their kind for…I dare not think of it, for there are fates far worse than death where the Condemned are concerned.

I had also not considered the chance of Vigilant involvement, nor had I considered that the Church of the Many Eyed One would be so willing to pay top dollar to any ruler willing to cooperate and bring me back to the land I had defected from so many years ago. Of course, what use is gold to immortals who have many lifetimes to spend?

But I fear I’m rambling once more. Should those who read this believe my account of the aforementioned events, I have but one favor to ask before I head to the Headsman’s Stage.

Find a Vigilant. Tell them that many monsters lie in Karamthulhu’s Empire, though not necessarily in monstrous form. I had fled this accursed home of falsehood for a reason. If I am to die for daring to stand tall and worship gods and saints who are not approved by a church of Xenophobes, Liars, Thieves, and Elitists, then I shall die with the knowledge that someone, some day, will fulfill our nomadic prophecies and bring freedom to these lands once more!

Forever Signed,

Caius of Xen

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

03-Jul-2012 03:34:53 - Last edited on 25-Sep-2013 06:19:01 by A Mad Hatter

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