Update 04/07 - Kitten Character Sheet & The Story of Kitten's First Hunt

AY

Alfabusa is here!

Got a very quick update AND some Content for you to peruse should you so desire.

Update

So, first off, there isn't too much to update you on since last as we're still at it with the animation primarily, a fairly static state of affairs 'til its done.

It's going well however, HLZV 2 is our best-looking project to date by my estimation.

Our illustrators are almost finished with all the art and will withoubt doubt reach that deadline within the month.

After that, Garrot, our Lead Illustrator, will join us in helping out with animation, making us able to finish the rest up faster. By next time, we'll likely show you some of our progress.

But, for now, there's another thing I'd like to show you!!

As of just yesterday, we finished a few things kind of on a whim that I figure some of you might appreciate, perhaps even as a fairly regular thing?

For one, we have composed a Hunter: The Reckoning Character Sheet for Kitten, and for two, a short story from his journal as a Hunter from before the first episodes of Hunter: The Parenting!

Kitten Character Sheet for Hunter: The Reckoning 5

I have attached the Character Sheet beneath as a PDF file for you to download and check out.

It contains a fully statted out H:TP Kitten for you to use in your own games should you for some reason want to, it otherwise serves as an excellent template to follow if you want to create your own Hunter (assuming you have the rulebook available), and I have also extended the character sheet to include info you otherwise wouldn't see in a Character Sheet such as a timeline from his birth til now as well as a 'Finishing Touches' segment grabbed straight from the HTR book where Kitten is interviewed by some disembodied evaluator, helping flesh him out as a character and giving you more insight into his inner workings.

IN ADDITION!!!

After the First Arc of Hunter: The Parenting (in addition to a modest sum saved up from previous hunts), Kitten currently has 15 XP to spend, and we want YOU to help spend them, just as a fun little thing.

What should he spend it on? Increasing his toughness? His smarts? Give him a new skill that he could've learned from the showdown with Pyotr? Gaining some new kind of Advantage in the shape of, say, increasing cellar security as to ascertain something like that could never occur again?

Any suggestion here is accepted, be they funny haha jokes or not.

You don't need any knowledge of the games and how they work to make just a basic, fun suggestion.

But, if you want to get more specific with your suggestions and get a bit more rule-sy, you can!

This will naturally demand a bit of foreknowledge on how WoD game works but, essentially, there are different things you can spend XP on to develop your character further inbefore the next session (being Arc 2, in this case).

If you happen to have the Hunter: The Reckoning 5th ed book sitting around somewhere that'd primarily be what we want to use as a basis, so making suggestions based on that is very solid, but if you want to homebrew a skill, speciality, edge, perk or advantage for us from any other book, or entirely from your own brain, that is also a valid option and would be a lot of fun!

This is the XP Point costs for different things, for reference:

Increase Attribute - New Level x 5 XP

Increase Skill - New Level x 3 XP

Speciality - 3 XP

Edge - 7 XP

Perk - 3 XP

Advantage - 3 XP per dot

After you've made your suggestion, I'll gather 'em all up in a document and we will either choose one that we just overwhelmingly like a lot, OR, if there are several bangers we'll post a poll next update and let you decide. Either way, we'll shout out and credit the person whose suggestion won out!

So go at it, let the brain juice flow.

Hunter's Journal: A Prelude

So, I wanted to make sure that I accounted for every single hunt that Kitten had been on in the past before I finalized the sheet.

The best way I found to do this was to just write kind of like a diary where Kitten, from a first-person perspective, would write down accounts of his past hunts and what his experience was like.

This turned out to be a lot of fun and, upon discussing the story in our work chat, we came to the conclusion that posting the stories here for you to read as bonus H:TP content might be wise.

We'd like to write these kinds of Journals from the perspective of all characters eventually, fully establishing their past, giving more insight into them as characters, as well as expanding on each story in a horizontal fashion by showing each Hunter's perspective of every individual Hunt. In some cases, some might have seen, heard or experienced things that none of the other Hunters even had an idea about.

Eventually, our idea is to actually record these logs and release them as a compilation audiolog on YouTube for everyone to enjoy.

But, 'til then, you will have the opportunity to read them and, should you find anything like a big incogruity with the previous videos or a wide, gaping plot-hole, you can make your mark by pointing them out and shaming us for the failures we are.

So, I shall be posting the first Hunter's Journal Log right here for you to read and hopefully enjoy!

Please do share with us your opinions, if you'd like to see more stuff like this and perhaps even your theories aboutthe vagueries of this particular tale, should it be of interest.

We could learn more from the perspective of the other Hunters in the case of this Hunt.

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Log Entry 1:

The Mystery of East Sheringham

Figured I'd write this one down so my first, proper hunt doesn’t end up in the memory bin.

I want it recorded for prosperity, because, frankly, this one was nothing less than defining.

It taught me the true purpose of being a Hunter, and made me realise the immense responsibility that comes with it…

So!

It all began with an off-hand remark about the disappearance of a child in Upper Sheringham, a small township in North Norfolk.

It had apparently occurred after a Sunday church visit. Some blokes had just come running from out of nowhere and grabbed a kid in the middle of mass and then vanished without a trace.

I dropped this on Marckus and he immediately made me dump random info on the folklore of Upper Sheringham, seeing if there’s anything that’d line up with the peculiar vanishing of a child.

Always glad to abide by such requests, I just so happened to realise that the one particular piece of folklore that is most well-attested in Upper Sheringham happens to entirely surround the All-Saints Church, where, incidentally, the disappearance had occurred.

And so I told him the legend of the Mermaid of Upper Sheringham…  

In the 1500s, a lone Mermaid by the coast of Norfolk was drawn by the sound of heavenly singing coming from a parish more than a mile away.

The mermaid, in spite of having no legs, laboriously made their way from the shore all the way to the All-Saints Church where this reverse siren song had come from.

Upon arriving, however, the congregation was horrified at this soulless creature trying to make its way into their holy place, and the church Beadle slammed the door in her face, refusing her entry.

But the mermaid wasn’t having it, and eventually made its way in despite all challenges to the contrary, and upon gaining entrance, there she stayed, basking in her newfound faith, refusing to ever leave…

After hearing me babble about this legend, Marckus mentioned the possibility of this mermaid being involved in the disappearance.

This had me immediately snap back to reality.

Skepticism firmly took over.

I mean, a Religious Mermaid Child Abductor? Honestly?

The legend surrounding this mermaid especially was rich in symbolism and interpretation.

Some saw her as a symbol of vanity and earthly vices in search of redemption or a lost soul. Anglican propaganda as obvious as a truck’s blaring headlights.

I was inclined to believe that the carver who created the wooden mermaid statue inside the church was inspired by tales of fishermen and a desire to illustrate a moral tale.

And, in turn, the very person who made these old 1500s wood pews likely inspired the legend in the first place.

That is to say; not something likely to have a true, historical kernel.

Sir-D, who apparently was in the room underneath the carpet, was not easily convinced by my rank skepticism.

Many tales in this world have been spun as means to inspire or control--but in many cases, those tales have also been true.

He made a decent point, one often levied by people far more scholarly than me.

Compartmentalising the stringent idea that mermaids are, in fact, mythological and nothing but;-- is the story really all that unlikely?

My skepticism, then, came down to just one fact;

… Mermaids existing is a bit silly, innit?

Sir-D chastises me. Of course Mermaids are real!

Their allure is just far more subjective than the ridiculous standards set up for them in the fetid, sexed up narrative of children’s fairy tales!

This didn't exactly refute my point but, frankly, I was already getting convinced on the inside.

As soon as I understood that this disappearance could be conceptualized as a supernatural event, be a Mermaid the perp or no, I can with confidence say that I, at that time, felt The Call for the first time proper.

By "The Call" I mean what Sir-D refers to as "The Reckoning".

Apparently common Hunter parlance, it manifests, at least to me, as that burning stress you feel deep in your gut when something happens that has you keenly aware of this world's wrongness, and that you NEED to do something about it…

I wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to be proven wrong.

Fact of fancy? I'll find out for myself.

Marckus was convinced, and so was Big-D, crawling out from underneath the carpet like a torso without legs.

They saw it as the perfect first hunt for me, the hesitant newcomer to the Hunter lifestyle. And so, we began my first proper Hunt in the way I have come to prefer;

With ample reconnaisance.

So we started off going to the All Saints Church in Upper Sheringham to have a gander at this wooden mermaid statue that informed the legend.

As soon as we entered the church, we approached the statue and started to observe it with perhaps a tad too much enthusiasm.

This is when the Churchwarden approached us, noticing our keen interest in the carving.

She was an old woman with ginger hair as big and flowing as Marckus, as well as two bulbous eyes that stared all too much, made me look away in discomfort, don’t enjoy prolonged eye contact.

We then asked her if she knew anything about the statue, if we could examine it a bit further, anything that could help us, framing ourselves as overly curious tourists.

From that point on, the Churchwarden was on us like a bad rash, demanding we leave and accusing us of wanting to harm the statue.

This was all too sudden.

Why? Were we that conspicuous?

Perhaps I’m answering my own question.

I tried to explain to her that we were only there as big mermaid enthusiasts.

Big fans, big Hans Christian Andersen-heads we are.

But she wasn't having any of it.

She told us to get out of the parish.

And then, Big-D, well…

He's not exactly known for his tactful ways, so he disobeyed the Churchwarden to her face and started to examine the statue anyway, sniffing it and punching it repeatedly.

Things quickly went pear-shaped.

Suddenly, a small group of steely-eyed locals appeared out of nowhere.

With rather spiteful demeanours, they started shouting at us and threatening us.

I could feel my heart racing as they closed in on us, and before we knew it, they were shoving us out of the church with a violence that was downright alarming.

I managed to keep my balance, but Marckus was pushed to the ground, a loud cracking sound emitting from his tailbone, and Door had to fend off a few punches.

This sudden, unexpected fit of violence was rather unsettling, to be honest.

I don't think any of us were quite prepared for that level of hostility.

But we dusted ourselves off, made a hasty retreat, Marckus limping gorilla-style out the parish. We collected ourselves outside and came to the conclusion that, yes, this was, without a doubt, highly incriminating behaviour.

What were they up to?

With that, however, we decided to try something new at the behest of Sir-D;

For a week, we patrolled the coastline of North Norfolk, ever watchful for any signs of mermaid activity.

It was a rather demanding task, but we were determined to see it through.

The days were filled with endless walks along the rugged coastline, scanning the waters for any unusual movements or disturbances. We searched the rock pools and investigated every nook and cranny of the shoreline.

But despite our efforts, we found nothing but many seals at Cromer Beach. Door was ready to club them all, but I put a stop to that.

It was frustrating, to say the least, but we knew we couldn't let our guard down.

We kept on, relentlessly determined to find any trace of those elusive fishfolk.

And for our troubles, we suffered even greater failure.

Another disappearance had occured in our absense, this time a child vanishing in the middle of Nelson Road on Sunday morning.

Once again, jarringly close to the All-Saints Church.

Stalking the coastline had been a dead end.

We had to gather more information from the locals, and fast.

So we headed back into town and started asking around.

We talked to everyone from regulars at The Lobster Pub  to the postman, trying to find anything that might resemble a potential sighting or lead us to the missing children.

But as we dug deeper, we realized that we had missed something big.

There were rumors of strange happenings around the church, sightings of hooded figures and whispers of nasty buckets of liquid being stacked along the pews in the back of the church.

What was that about?

There was something more to the All Saints Church, that was for certain, and we should well have held our focus on it from the very start.

After a few days of reconnaissance, observing the Churchwarden and the individual locals that had attacked us, we discovered one late evening that they had all gathered in an unremarkable lodge just by the coast of Sheringham, seemingly meeting to plan… who knows?

Another kidnapping, I’d assume?

Knowing they were all away from the church, Marckus and I took our chance as Sir-D and Door remained stationed near the lodge to keep the low-lives in check.

We broke into the church to find out if our assessment was correct.

We were risking a lot, but we had to know what was going on.

It took some time, but Marckus eventually managed to find something off about the Mermaid statue.

A mechanism?

Upon pushing one of the scales, it slid inside of the Mermaid with a chunky ‘click’.

We knew this meant something.

Looking around, we found other, similar wood carvings around the pews.

None of them seemed to actually have the same kind of mechanism.

That is until the very last one we came across, one shaped like an ominous, winged sea-serpent.

Pressing one of its scales, it, too, clicked.

After that, something snapped in the floor of the church.

And upon further inspection, a hatch could now be found beneath a pew at the back of the church…

We opened the hatch and proceeded down a secret staircase that led down into the earth beneath the church.

The musty smell of dampness hit our noses like a punch. I could hear the faint sound of water dripping in the distance.

It was pitch black, and we had to rely on our torches to guide us through the darkness.

We followed the narrow passage, and as we rounded the corner, a small chamber appeared before us.

And in the middle of the chamber, shimmering in the light of our torches, was a large, man-made pool.

My heart was pounding in my chest.

I stepped closer.

An ominously still pool, filled to its brim and reeking of salt water, hidden in the dark cellar of this church.

This was completely mindblowing.

Horror and fascination in equal measure, I could not believe what I was looking at.

Suddenly, the beam of Marckus’ flashlight illuminated something else.

Something equally horrifying.

Two cages in the corner of the chamber.

My heart dropped to my stomach as I realized that they contained the missing children.

They looked small and helpless in the dim light. We rushed over to the cages and quickly unlocked them.

The children were scared and crying.

They had big, swollen, almost bug-like eyes pouring out tears, but, thankfully, they were unharmed.

Eventually, Door and Sir-D would join us after we made our call.

Door and I held each of the children close to our chests as we made our way out of the chamber.

Stepping out, I could see the horrified expressions on the faces of my fellow Hunters. We knew we had stumbled upon something truly evil.

We took the children to safety and I took the liberty of calling the police.

The investigation that followed led to the arrest of the people behind the kidnapping.

The scum that had attacked us, and I assume also the Churchwarden.

Serves them bloody right.

We had done something good, something that mattered. We had saved the lives of two innocent children and we had done so without explicitly breaking the code of the Arcanum.

Without a sliver of modesty, I’d like to call this a victory for the righteous.

But our curiosity was not satisfied yet.

Marckus and I continued our investigation of the black pool, and in attempting to probe its unknown depths, we did find something more…

It looked like a scale, dark black, glossy like that of a fish, but…

It was massive.

As big as my chest.

And extremely thick, to boot.

We had no clue what it was, but it certainly unnerved us both.

Marckus took it home, and told me to not tell Sir-D we found it. I haven’t thus far, but I’m counting D discovering it as an inevitability.

That massive scale, and that pool…

If that wasn’t the scale of some kind of legendary oarfish…

How big can mermaids grow?

And was this pool originally a priest hole built for far more benign reasons than they were now used?

Or was it made for whatever shed this scale?

In either case, I’m still happy with the results. We had saved the lives of those two children, and gotten the freaks responsible for their capture arrested. I’m hoping those kids are doing well, wherever they are now.

It was the first time I had felt like I had made a real difference in the world, and it made me realize the immense responsibility that comes with being a Hunter.

While questions remained, the hunt had been a success in a way, but it had primarily served as a lesson.

A lesson in the importance of perseverance, the danger of assumptions, and the true value of the Reckoning.

I will never forget this hunt, dopamine fills me just thinking about it, I will always be grateful for the experience it gave me.

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That is it for now.
I do hope you enjoyed, this update did end up rather long ironically, but, ah well, either way...

Until next time, have a good one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!