The wandering alchemist walked down a frozen path to the nearby town,which according to the directions the old man had gave him was a 'short' walk from his home. He'd been walking for about a hour now,stopping every so often to knock snow from his boots.It's just down that path there, a short walk my home. What a load of bull. What Flynt wanted more than anything was to get this godforsaken satchel off his shoulder. All the travel fatigue was getting to him and the bag felt like dragging a elephant through the desert. He was half tempted to just toss the thing into the snow and come back for it later but about 23 things could violently explode in the thing if handled poorly, actually 24 if you counted the bag itself."Stupid bag. Stupid Tundra. Stupid directions". Flynt mumbled as he continued his stride through the desert,almost speaking some curses in german. With nothing better to do and almost the perfect kind of day for it, he produced his black runebag from his dark brown satchel. He undid the knot that held it closed and dug around in it."Dagaz,Tiwaz,Berkano, ah here it is". Flynt held up the small wooden square to the sun and watched as a deep purple hue glowed on it in a less than sign.Kenaz,torch. The square faded into a warm glow, spreading out and covering Flynt's body."That's more like it". He sighed in appreciation to the warmth the rune brought, if only for a few minutes. The runes themselves had been a gift from the locals of a small village in germany when he had dealt with a small Alp problem they had. The only information they gave him was that they were made of rowan wood,said to be the best material to make runes from. "those were some mighty kind people, maybe I'll visit them again one day". A small smile spread across his face before his boot hit something hard on the ground."Hmm?" he looked down and saw a faded wooden sign. The only tangible word was Population, the rest being faded off the wood. A quick glance up revealed a small town just ahead."Hot damn!". Flynt broke out in a sprint towards the place, more importantly to a the saloon.

He arrived to a squat,dilapitated building, the word SALOON written in bright red on one of the outer walls.Not a lot a creativity but it works. Flynt shrugged slightly and walked inside. The smell hit him first, like a skunk had went and died in a outhouse. His gag reflex nearly kicked in but he managed to keep it surpressed. The various patrons turned to him for a moment before continuing rigged poker games and random conversations. Flynt moved through the squalor of the place and sat at the bar, where several cockroaches were waiting to say hello. He shooed them away and motioned for the bartender,who walked over and spoke in a gruff voice."What'll it be kid?. Flynt scoffed and rolled his eyes at the bartender."Kid I am not but I'll have a shot of whiskey-no two shots". He produced the money from his pocket and slid it to across the counter. The bartender accepted the money and poured Flynt two shots a whiskey."No need to be rude about it.. Flynt raised a eyebrow to the bartender and downed one of his shots, relishing the burn as it slid down his throat."I was merely correcting your statement but I apologize if I came off rude,Names Flynt by the way"."Edward, pleasure to meet you kid.. Flynt chuckled a little and rolled his eyes again."Say Edward, you know where a supernatural bounty hunter could find some work?". The bartender cocked his head up to the ceiling, somewhat in deep thought.""Try the sheriffs office, usually got bounties posted there"."Thanks for the info Ed. Have this".Flynt pulled a small vial from his bag, filled with a dark green liquid. He handed the vial to the bartender and spoke before he would askWhat's this?."It's a intelligence booster,could help you calculate prices accurately cause that whisky was dirt cheap."Flynt downed the other shot and leaned back into the barstool. He would check the sheriffs office later,preferably after he had a few good drinks.

Jarold

"Do you want something." a Bartender asked Jarold, who responded by ignoring the bartender. Jarold was staring at a girl across the bar, his eyes never straying away, the girl was sitting at a table flirting with a guy, wearing clothing that didn't leave much to the imagination. The girl was a vampire who seduced young men then fed off them like the sinner she was, she thought that no one knew about her vampirism, she thought that no sane man would ever hurt a girl.

Jarold was not a sane man.

"Kill her Jarold, you'll save countless lives including one infront of you The Angel pressured Jarold, a man in a black suit sat right next to him, leaning uncomfortably close to his right ear, only Jarold was able to hear or see him, the Angel was a gift from God, sent to help him on his righteous crusade against the supernatural's. The Angel pointed at a young man, around the age of 20, the man was flustered and blushing, this was likely the first time a girl made a move on him.

"Have some mercy for christ's sake!, Vampires need blood to survive!, She won't kill him, she never killed once!, you've been following her for a week you know this exclaimed a man in a tattered fur jacket, the man was a demon, sent to manipulate him into straying from the path of righteousness, the demons foul lies fell upon deaf ears, Jarold would never listen to a satanic monster.

Jarold simply waited, everyday she flirted with a guy and convinced him to go to one of the rooms upstairs, those who followed her were left pale and sickly. Then something he never accounted for happened, a kid sat next to him and started handing out some kind of potion and mentions searching for a bounty, he seemed like another hunter, something Jarold had never encountered for a while. You see her? he tapped on his shoulder and pointed at her She is a sick inhuman monster known as a Vampire, in a couple minutes from now she will take a young man upstairs and kill him, we can do the lord's work and prevent that he whispered, asking for his aid in ridding the world of this monster.

@Forgiveness

"Yeah and it only took 3-". His story to Edward was interrupted by a man tapping on his shoulder. Flynt turned to this man and listened dully to his words. Something about a woman and vampires. His gaze shifted to the woman in question and studied her. Most vampires were pale in complextion, had slightly rotted teeth and often strike during nighttime. Not only did she look healthy,well..healthy enough but her teeth were semi white with no enlargement of her canines.Yeah, she's just a normal person."think you got your fact wrong bud,she's just a normal person". Flynt took a sip of his last shot and rose from his seat. He walked over to the woman and handed her a silver coin to confirm his theory. No smoke. No burning. He bid the woman farewell and walked back over to the haggard man, a smile spread wide across his face."see, not a vampire"
@Pennydumb123

"Please don't listen to him" The Angel pressured "He's lying, it's fake silver, even if he's right, you should kill her anyways. Jarold stared at the kids shit-eating grin and gritted his teeth, he had spent a week stalking on that girl, he was certain she was a vampire, but regardless of the Angel's kind advice, Jarold couldn't kill him, he had no proof of any wrongdoing. The Demon simply stared at Jarold and grinned, as if he were about to say "I told you so".

"Very well" he responded with a gritty voice, he had just wasted a entire week of his life stalking some girl he thought was a vampire, what a complete waste of time. "How do I know that silver isn't fake?" he demanded, the girl WAS a vampire, he knew it for certain, what he didn't know was whenever or not the kid himself was one. The Angel smiled and the Devil growled in anger, the devil being angry was a good indication that Jarold was doing the right thing.

@Forgiveness

Flynt was already heading back to his seat when the man suddenly spoke to him again.How do I know that silver isn't fake?.He was somewhat offended by this sudden questioning of his equipment. The alchemist opened his satchel and rambled around in it. After a few moments of digging,his hand finally found what he was looking for, a small crossbow. He set the satchel aside and produced a silver tipped bolt from a pocket on his vest."Silver tipped bolt, Lethal to vampires and vampiric beings". A sly grin replaced his smile as he handed the crossbow to the man. "You have one shot, If she fades into dust then she's a vampire but if she simply bleeds and dies she is human. Flynt then got unnatural close to man's face, a look of pure seriousness on his face."If your assumption is wrong, then...". He paused for a moment and cocked the crossbow string for him."That's blood on your hands".

He removed himself from the man and went back to his barstool. He didn't gamble with people's lives like this, but he could tell this man would kill her either way. He did have some doubt about his silver coin, after all he did obtain it from a rather shady individual. Maybe she was a vampire, maybe she wasnt but unless the man shot her in a fatal area, he could heal her wounds if she was human. On the flip side, if she was a vampire, this would make him look very stupid for not realizing such. [i]50/50 chance[i]. Flynt prepared himself for the worse, removing several healing tonics from his satchel.
@Pennydumb123

I have the power of god behind me Jarold bragged as he took the crossbow from Flynt, he knew for certain there was a vampire in this room, he could smell them, the one thing about vampires is that no matter how alive they looked, deep inside they were rotten and filled with worms, like any other cadaver and cadaver's smelled awful.

The angel encouraged Jarold and the Demon screeched at him to put the crossbow away. he stared at the girl dead in the eyes, she stared back with wide eyes and a gasp, at this point she knew that she was caught, she was like a rabbit cornered by a bear and she would not survive the night. Jarold lifted the crossbow and aimed it at her chest. Hail Mary, full of grace he whispered as time slowed down for a minute. He fired and the arrow went soaring across the room towards her, the arrow pierced the girl's neck, if she were a vampire she'd turn to ash

But she didn't.

The girl fell to the ground, clutching at her throat in a futile attempt to remove the arrow, no amount of healing potion's could save her, she let out a cough as she tried to breath, then fell limp and lifeless. Jarold didn't move a muscle, his eyes still locked on to where the girl was sitting, his mouth was wide open, he immediately began to feel like he was a corpse, rotten and filled with worms, he smelled like a cadaver. a tear formed in his eye and went down his cheek, he wasn't a hunter, he was a killer. The entire bar went silent and stared at him, people began to draw their weapons, it was quite clear each and every one of them wanted Jarold dead, they just wanted to see who was brave enough to shoot first, Jarold didn't move a muscle, but tears fell from his eyes, he hoped that someone would gun him down right where he sat.

@Forgiveness

Flynt counted the number of potions he laid out on the table,his eyes laden with worry.1,2,3... Then a sound. His crosswbow string being sent forward,carrying her death long with it. He watched as the bolt struck her throat and her desperate acts to cling onto life,all to no avail.I was..wrong. His blood froze. He was a killer now, not directly but he supplied the weapon. He got too cocky,too sure of himself and this time someone lost their life. Tears filled his bi-coloured eyes and fell on the counter. Everyone in the bar was silent,save for the numerous clicks of guns be cocked and some small scoffs. Flynt didn't move nor did he say anything. His gaze shifted to the man who fired his crossbow,his expression nearly matching his. Someone actioned a round into a rifle and took aim at the man. Time slowed for a moment as he saw his index finger slowly creep to the trigger.this was my fault,not his.. It was time to make a decision. The right one this time.

Flynt sprung up from his seat and grabbed the man,flinging him over the counter. The bullet barely missed. Flynt jumped over the bar counter and crouched down as a volley of bullets flew their way,shattering the glasses of alcohol on the shelves behind the counter.Then another volley and another,until the bar goers had to reload their weapons. With almost perfect timing flynt threw a rune into the air,which glowed in a symbol resembling a uppercase F.Ansuz, meaning a number of different things but reason would be most desirable.. The rune exploded in a bright flash of light and compelled the angry citizens to drop their weapons and listen to reason. Flynt weakly stood to his feet and adressed the crowd."I know my friend here has slain a member of this town and I know you are angry but please just listen for a moment. We are both hunters of the supernatural and we both thought she was a vampire, which as you can see-".Flynt paused for a moment and swallowed hard,preparing himself for the worse part. Then something unexpected happened. The girl's body smoked a bit and caught flame. She burned for a few moments and quickly died down to a pile of ash."Was a correct assumption!, no need to thank us just doing our duty.".Flynt put on the facade of a fake smile and watched as the citizen went back to their seats,whispering hollow thank you's.a delayed reaction! this vampiric being was clearly strong enough to resist silver,even going so far as to fake death. But she must've lost power due to the bolt,slowly dampening her ability until she finally died.. Flynt turned to the man and spoke in a whisper."Im afraid I owe you a apology,clealry your instinct is better than mine. Is there anyway I could repay you?"

@Pennydumb123

The Undertaker and The Ghoul

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"What in God's name..?" The sheriff of Wichita, Jeremiah Hobbs, had begun but did not find the words to finish. John Hardin, the undertaker of Wichita, was patient with the young man. After all, it was easy to understand that Jeremiah was only a deputy sheriff up until last week when one of those werebeasts mauled the previous sheriff in his sleep. A damn shame that... Jeremiah wasn't ready for the mantle of leadership, but that's what he was stuck with. Oddly enough, he was voted in by his fellow lawmen so there was a sign of leadership, or so John had believed. Whether or not that was true, it didn't matter was even the previous sheriff might have had a hard time believing the sight before him.

Every grave in the Wichita cemetery had been dug up and the bodies dragged out of their graves. Now burying the dead was no small feat in the Weeping Winter. As temperatures fluctuated, snow would melt and then freeze becoming ice, leading to layers of ice packing upon itself. Getting through that was tough but nothing compared to the frozen dirt underneath. So for all these graves to have been dug up in one night, meant this was a serious undertaking by someone or something but John wasn't going to alarm the sheriff any more than he had to. The sight of the bodies was enough.

Now with the usual graverobbery, the casket is broken into and the valuables pulled. Most folks don't like to touch the bodies too much, but this was at another level. Each body was taken from their grave and seemingly operated on in some sort of staging area. Chunks of muscle, flesh, and frozen blood of the fresher dead were a sign of this area. Once the bodies were operated on, they were tossed in a pile. It didn't take too long to figure out what the graverobbers were after. Bones. Not a single bone was left behind in this graveyard. This motive had struck John as rather unusual. This ruled out some necromancy thing or mortal punishing thing, at least he thought so. If the bones had been left in, then the dead could be raised but removal made them nothing more than useless husks. What is more is that the jewelry and valuables that were buried with the dead were also taken. Greed was at least one of the motives or maybe the motives of the hired men? It was a tricky situation that John had no answers to.

"I need some men to help me get to the bottom of this, Jeremiah. This ain't sitting right with me, and I ain't just talking about the defiled graves. With all this shit going on, I wouldn't rule out anything from your nightmares." John's voice was surprisingly calm but his tone, stern to help convey the potential danger of this situation. Jeremiah took a gulp, still looking around before his attention snapped to the sudden presence by his side. "Oh fuck!" The sheriff cursed, jumping back into John as he scrambled for his gun. John caught him and gently eased him down. "Shh.. It's alright." John's voice was soothing but more directed at his companion as he stared down at his silent stalker. Her green eyes focused on him for a second, another second on the sheriff, before turning to forward to stare at the corpse pile. The sheriff's reaction was quite normal when taking in the undertaker's unexpected companion. Daisy Addams was a girl and no more than 12 years old when she passed away. Her corpse was barely cold before those glowing green eyes opened.

Jeremiah managed to collect himself, but opted to put John in between himself and the ghoul child. "Dammit. I don't know why you keep company with that thing. It ain't right. You're supposed to put the dead down. Not keep them. I-" John raised his hand, motioning for the sheriff to stop. "Don't worry about the company I keep. Just tell me if you can help." Jeremiah took a deep breath as if he were leading into bad news. "I'm strapped, John. I can't spare a soul. Sorry there ain't anything I can do for you." Maybe it was John's sullen, sunken expression or maybe Jeremiah caught the defensive glare of Daisy. "Err.. but maybe I can send some volunteers your way. I'll put the word out but no promises. I don't reckon many folks will be wanting to find out where... this leads to."

John nodded and thanked the sheriff for the support. Many types of people had been stepping up in this time of crisis but the undertaker had his doubts. He was expecting it'd just be him and Daisy on this one...

Jeremiah Hobbs left the undertaker to sort through his problem and returned to his office. He felt short staffed as it was and just had a bad feeling about whatever the undertaker wanted to chase. However, he was a man of his word and ordered one of his deputies to put the word out. A few posters were printed and the deputy asked around, directing anyone interested in helping should seek the undertaker out immediately.

The Demon walked up to him and sat next to him, staring at him straight in the eyes with a unblinking face, a face with a mix of hate, disgust and contempt, the world seemed to pause around him as he spoke, everyone slowly cocking their guns and aiming at his head, the kid went to defend him but why? this was Jarold's fault, he was given the choice to save humanity, but all he had done was kill humans.

"This is why I'm here, to stop you from doing this, to stop you from committing a massacre on INNOCENTS! the demon suddenly yelled at him, getting up from the chair, the demon spat in his face "This is your fault, you can change and stop this madness right here, it will only bring you and other's pain the demon added, the words striking deep into Jarold's veins, causing him to get cut into a thousand pieces, scars that only Jarold could see. But Jarold learned from this, he learnt that his religious zealotry had blinded him and driven him to hate, to kill other's for being different, but Jarold could stop right here!, he could use his strength for good instead of evil!, in the deep depression he had spiraled into, he realized tha-

Then the Girl turned to ashes, turns out she was a vampire after all!, Jarold's epiphany dissolved in front of him, his blind zealotry had worked!, everything he had thought earlier had disappeared and he quickly went back to his old way of thinking, supernatural creatures weren't meant to exist, god wills it so. Jarold burst into a bubbling laughter, he had been so foolish. the Demon ran screaming out of the bar, enraged by how close to his unholy victory he had come only for it to be torn away by the sense of reason. "There is no need to apologize!" he told the kid in a happy voice "Some are more faithful than others, though it would be great if we were to work together, this land is covered with creatures of death and darkness, only together we can slew these monster's and inherit the earth" he preached, despite the kid's lack of faith, he had grown to like to him, he was level-headed and intelligent, which most people had none of.

He got up from his chair, he downed a cup of water that he had ordered, he would drink alcohol but it was unfortunately the devil's liquid, "Well!, these beasts are going to kill themselves, let's go out and see what prey we can find" he spoke with enthusiasm, for most of his hunting, he had been completely alone with nothing but voices and visions to accompany him.

@Forgiveness

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something was wrong in the head with this man."I was actually planning on heading to the sheriffs office, maybe find some bounties posted". Flynt took his crossbow back and stuffed it back into the seemingly bottomless bag."I appreciate the offer but you and me won't really..". His voice trailed off leaving the man to draw the cold conclusion."Tell you what though,seeing as you're about to go kill some things,take these". The alchemist dug around in his satchel for a moment and produced three intricately designed, ebony black vials."This here is manticore venom,strongest poison on the planet. Whatever you're up against won't last three seconds against it". He placed the vials into the man's hand with a small grin."Use with care cause theres no known antidote". Flynt then turned to the bar itself and did a quick glance over everyone.



The tension finally died down in the run down saloon,where not too long ago had been a scene of bullets and a murder. His speech went over most of the occupant's heads,many of which had more important things to do such as rigged poker games and idle conversation. Flynt was glad that the situation had more or less resolved itself without anyone getting hurt. Well..not counting the pile of gray ash in the corner. The alchemist hopped the counter and found a comfortable enough barstool. His whisky glass had been shattered in the mess of bullets but that was alright.Least it wasn't me filled with holes. Flynt cringed at the thought of his own body being pierced by the lead bullets of a gun. It wasn't the worse way to go, hell, it was the way most people went nowadays. Out is a blaze a glory some would call it. More like a bloody mess. A small chuckle escaped from his mouth,taking some of his stress away with it. A cowering Edward emerged from behind the bar,his skin just as white as the snow outside,"Seems you boys have calmed yourselves,well atleast for the moment.". His gaze shifted over to the new pile of ash in the corner,which he tilted his head at."What happened there?". Edward asked while pointing a stubby finger at it."Oh just a vampire". Edward let out a deep sigh,like he had heard that phrase all too often."Damn creatures roamin around, glad you killed the damned thing"."Wasn't my doing, thank the gentleman over there.".With his free hand Flynt had motioned to the man he had saved earlier."Well thank you kindly sir".Edward tipped his hat in respect before turning back to Flynt."This day has been too exciting for me kid"."You and me both Ed.". Flynt laughed a little and stood from his barstool."I'm off to the sheriffs office,see ya around"

The alchemist was only a few steps out the door when bumped into a stout man. He wasn't heavy in the fat kinda way but in more of a muscular kinda way. Flynt instantly spotted his deputy badge,which gleamed a little in the sun."Got someplace to be lad?. A joking tone went along with the deputy's sentence."Just to the sheriffs office to look at some bounties".Flynt responded with a small grin."Oh really now? You don't look like any kind of bounty hunter I've seen.".The deputy wasn't really wrong, Flynt was practically covered in various different potions and tonics."Well I'm a alchemist by trade hence the potions and such. But rest assured, I know what I'm doing""Hmm. Maybe you could help us with a little problem,Sometime last night someone had dug up the dead from the cementary down yonder. Sheriffs tryin to get some people together for the undertaker to help investigate". Now this was something Flynt could get into."Most interesting. Where's the sheriffs office,this certainly has peaked my interest". The deputy pointed to a squat gray building with rusted iron bars for windows."Just cross the street there".Flynt thanked the deputy and bid him farewell, barely able to contain his strange excitement. He quickly crossed the the street and found himself infront of the old wooden door of the building.I wonder what runes could help in this situation. Flynt opened the door and took a few steps in, scanning the building for the sheriff."I'm uh lookin for the sheriff of this town?"
@Pennydumb123@Pirouette

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Kansas hardly looked different than what Xidhru was used to, a frozen wilderness where only the resilient would survive. Whether it be the herbivores that would have to adapt to hide in the environment or the carnivores that would need to hone their senses to hunt the former. Frost covered every surface as if the world was painted white and simultaneously devoid of heat. Xindhru could only faintly sense other beings as animals were few and far between, not that he minded as he enjoyed tracking down a meal. The only difference from the far North is that Kansas was home to a large tribe of humans. These ones seem to prefer a more sedentary life and have great disdain for the other tribes.

After a long journey, Xidhru was feeling weary with pangs of hunger. Fortunately for him he happened on a small group of travelers on a lone road to Wichita, but unfortunately for the humans, they would never arrive. Xidhru wasted no time in commanding the winds to hinder their path, swirling with enough snow to make the twisting road difficult to see. A common tactic he employs, and indeed it worked again as the humans missed a turn, no longer heading for Wichita. Xidhru waited for the humans to realize they were lost and, capitalizing on their confusion, moved in to strike.

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“I think we are lost, we should have reached town by now.” said one voice.

“If we keep moving, maybe we will find some kind of landmark to guide us.” said another, laden with worry.

“I can’t see more than a few feet in this damn weather.” Spoke a third.

” You should not be traveling in this weather…” a monstrous voice growled.

”…Things like me prowl the roads for weary travelers.”

A grunt of surprise was all the first voice could muster before a sharp pain in his chest silenced him. As the world grew dark, all he saw were his guts flying out from several gaping holes in his body before freezing over rapidly. Attempting a defense, the second gripped a revolver shakily before firing several rounds hitting nothing but the wind. One swipe was all it took to incapacitate him, his arm loosening from the bonds of the body and flying a few feet away with a death grip on the revolver. He only had time to see a humanoid entity tower over him, with eyes that seemed to pierce his soul, before losing consciousness. Again, his wounds froze over rapidly. The third voice, a young woman, opted to choose flight but did not travel far before tripping over a hidden root, banging her head hard against a tree as her vision faded.

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Xidhru wasted no time in dragging the three hapless travelers to a cave he found earlier. He prefers his meat fresh… and alive, using ice to prevent them from expiring due to blood loss. It would not be far to the cave, and his meal. As the Ice walker left, the wind at the scene died down, leaving only traces of his presence behind. All that would be found are a few globs of flesh, some strewn debris and, perhaps most notably, a lone arm clutching a lone revolver. The only clue to where the bodies are would be a few thin lines of frozen blood leading away to a cave only a few miles outside Wichita.

Perhaps If I mixed some ember flowers with just a bit of graymold then-. His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by a male voice. Are you here to assist the Undertaker as well?. Flynt smiled a little and spoke in a cheery voice,warm and inviting. "Indeed I am,I figured with my extensive knowledge on the supernatural that maybe I could help narrow down whatever thing did that". He paused for a moment,seeming to debate what to say next."Are you here to do the same?". He asked while giving the man a quick glance over. He was a tall-ish man with jet black hair that combed over slightly. His eyes threw him off a bit,being nearly as black as his hair but Flynt really couldn't be one to judge on eye color. A simple dress shirt and vest combo,covered with a plainly with a jacket and some normal pants made up his attire. A calvary sword hung by his side which upon noticing Flynt added "sir" to the end of his sentence. He felt obligated to add it,partly out of the respect that he deserved from being out there on a battlefield. All in all, the man looked crisp,clean though the same couldn't be said for Flynt. Various potion vials had been busted on his arm, leaving some multicolor drops on the old wooden floor of the building. His silvery hair was disheveled along with his bronze goggles at a misshapen angle. His face held some fatigue from his earlier travels and the very recent shootout. Despite his ragged appearance he still held that same warm and friendly smile, like he'd been speaking to his best friend.This day continues to get...interesting..

Jarold took the three vials and thanked the kid, it was a shame that he left, he could tell from the kid's eyes that he believed Jarold to be insane, what a joke, Jarold could tell that the kid was more insane than him, everyone but Jarold was a nutter in his eyes, monsters prowled the night, killing innocents, yet everyone pretended as if it was no problem. he used to live in a frontier town, with only 2 digits of people living their, one day a person went missing, but no one cared. Jarold noticed that people constantly went missing yet nobody was willing to search for them, everyone just silently celebrated that it was someone else instead of them.

If that wasn't insanity, Jarold didn't know what was. because of humanity's apathy towards the creatures of the night, they dotted the earth like flies on a corpse, he got up and parted ways with the child, it was a shame he didn't join him, the snowy wastelands were getting too dangerous to be traveled alone, when he was a kid he could take a long walk in the forest without any trouble, yet now he felt nervous in a crowded bar, he got up and left, he had finished his work in this town, now he had to go find new prey.

Jarold's face was hit with cold, it was always cold in Kansas but here it felt even colder, fog obfuscated the view in front of him, though Jarold did not mind, he was born into this weather, a regular traveler would stumble, trip and die in this weather, but Jarold was not a regular man, he survived even colder weather, fought through worse odds, if anyone would survive the night, Jarold was that man. The fog suddenly seamed to part in front of him, looking down he saw a severed arm clutching a revolver, he kneels to examine it, the snow crunching beneath his knees, the arm was completely ripped apart, blood pooling around a stump which used to be connected to a body, at a closer glance he found even more body parts, gut's lined the field in front, he felt a shiver go down his spine, in all his life he had never seen something like this, he had killed vampires, ghouls and countless other creatures of the night, but not once has he seen something this big.

But this big creature didn't do a good job of covering his tracks, most people would be blind to see his frontprints, after all the snow had done a good job of tracking it, but Jarold practically lived outside, he could tell the size of someone simply by looking at their footprint, he followed the gigantic footprints to a cave, a deep endless cave, he knew that whatever monster committed this crime laid deep inside this cave, he crossed his chest and muttered a silent prayer as he set up traps in front of the entrance, when the monster walked through it's leg's would be tangled in a rope he had hidden, Jarold found a bush covered in snow and hid it in, to the human eye, they would simply see a cave and a bush.

@Lurking Shadow

"Men would've been there all night tryin to dig up those graves,well normal men atleast". The alchemist stretched a little and cracked his knuckles."About three or four feet a snow, coupled with the frozen ground underneath where the bodies are buried six feet under and put in caskets..I think its safe to assume that a supernatural entity had dug them up". Flynt paused for a moment and found himself looking over the man once more. Something about his eyes was still throwing him off. Black as night and colder than the snow outside. They vaguely reminded of the black eyed beings he read about once, people who would approach approach your home in the dead of night and ask to be let in. Usually got a dry personality and almost sickly pale skin. He simply dismissed the thought under the circumstances of 1. It's day, 2. He doesn't have a house and 3. He looked healthy and had somewhat of a modest personality. "I don't know the nature of the bodies so I can only speculate on what did it, my top choice probably being a Wendigo. A evil spirit spirit that posses people and give them a nasty craving for human flesh". He shrugged slightly and continued speaking."Only problem with that is, why wouldn't the spirit send it's host on a rampage through the town?" The alchemist let out a deep sigh and rubbed his temples."All I've got is speculation at this point"

Flynt peered over his shoulder to see if the sheriff had arrived or no.Must be busy. He looked back to the man with his heterochromatic eyes,one a soft golden brown and the other a dazzingly sharp emerald green."Seems my manners left me today, names Flynt. Master alchemist and runestone expert though just Flynt works". He let out a small chuckle and held out a hand for a handshake.
@cashmeoutside

The Undertaker and The Ghoul

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It had been maybe an hour or so since Sheriff Hobbs sent his deputy out to try and collect some volunteers for the undertaker's investigation. In that time, Jeremiah took plenty of new complaints, most went ignored as his staff were stretched so terribly thin. It was making the young sheriff quite unpopular but what more could he do? This isn't what he signed up for and having this responsibility fall on him was unfair, and yet.. it felt like he was making a difference. Perhaps it was his youthful arrogance but this town is slowly figuring out how to manage. Then again... it has only been a week.

Jeremiah stepped away to relieve himself and for a bit of fresh air, returning to his office to find two new visitors. Complaints? No. One had a bit more robust appearance while the other... well let's just say he was younger than Jeremiah and didn't quite like the look of his cut. "'Cuse me boys." Jeremiah interuptted whatever conversation they were having as he passed by them to reach his desk. A half ironic word choice considering he was probably right in between their respective ages but he did have authority. "What do you fellas want?" Jeremiah asked curtly, half paying attention as he found his chair and dug into the one of his drawers from some chewing tobacco.

Sticking a dab of fresh tobacco in and tossing the can of chew aside, he leaned back in his chair to take stock of the two in front of him. The way these boys were outfitted made the sheriff remember about the undertaker's situation. "Oh. The undertaker's contract. Jeremiah leaned further back in his chair, so much so that he caught himself before falling back. Slightly embarrassed he leaned forward, turning to spit in the spittoon that sat by his desk. "You know where the graveyard is? The undertaker is there, having a whole mess of trouble with some graverobbers. I ain't gonna lie to you, the whole thing reeks of something unusual. A hundred bodies, dug up, and bones taken without a bump in the night. Undertaker says he's never seen anything like it and I bet'cha it goes beyond some superstition. So the job will be dangerous and I ain't trying to scare ya away, just leveling with ya. John is a good man but some say his head went south after.. well never mind. Anyway, if you boys are gonna take him up, I'm sure he'd appreciate the extra manpower."

Jeremiah turned and spat a bit more tobacco into his spittoon. "If you don't know where the cemetery is, just look for the bell tower of the church, or more specifically, the billowing tower of smoke. Best cover your noises." Jeremiah gave them both a wink. Sometime ago, John had started that mound of bodies on fire. The smoke could be seen well off for awhile now and the stink of bodies burning was driving quite a few from prayer in church.

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Some time passed as Xidhru waited in his cave, gnawing on the human flesh from his recent attack. As his hunger was satiated, the pangs it caused began to dissipate, and reinvigorating him. Two of the three humans were devoured, their remains consisting of bones with the occasional chunk of flesh still attached. To the outside observer, it may seem to be scattered randomly when in fact, they resemble occult symbols. One of the few signs that this creature is more than some random boogeyman that goes bump in the night or garden variety monster that anyone could dispatch with a little knowledge and constitution.

The third human, a young woman, Xidhru left alone. He already had his fill and killing her now would mean he would not have a fresh meal the next day. He could easily crush her bones or otherwise make an escape nearly impossible, but that would not be any fun. Xidhru relished the fear in her and, if fueled by hope, may result in an escape attempt which he would obviously foil. Eventually, hope will evaporate from her and sanity will fade, she would become a broken shell. A long process, but Xidhru had time and was seeking some enjoyment before he continued his investigation to the source of the Weeping Winter. The woman had only just passed out from fear yet again when he sensed a presence. He could feel the snow shift outside before settling. He could tell something was around his cave before either hiding or leaving the area of his influence, but then why would they leave objects behind in the snow?

Someone was investigating the area and likely laid a trap as if they were hunting some common animal. Not one to turn down a guest, Xidhru opted to humor the human and venture outside. From the exterior, one could see the wind pick up, obscuring vision and hearing to some degree, originating from within the cave. A low growl reverberated from within, merely to test the human’s resolve, before being silenced once Xidhru reached the mouth of the cave. Xidhru stood upright letting his sheer stature and claws intimidate whoever lurked around.

”I know you are out here human.” Xidhru bellowed.

”What brings you to my refuge? Adventure? Did you expect to hunt some simple beast? I warn you that I am much worse than what you expected. My hunt was successful; I have no need of another meal. Leave and I will not give chase, but if you stay your life may be forfeit.” Xidhru stated, awaiting a response.

@Pennydumb123