[color=GRAY][INDENT][INDENT]The Path is narrow and difficult for only few will ever walk it. Enemies lie in wait on all sides, hellions and Magni alike, lurking to down the Sparrows as Samael’s soldiers continue their war, working in the dark to bring forth the light. The Path is the name given to the mission bore by the Jäger, the Hexensbane, and it is their sworn purpose to protect Midyeden from the threats of the Deceiver and his Hellions of Ünterland.


Hellions enter Midyeden through Conjunctions, an event when Ünterland and Midyeden, the Mundane, are briefly connected, bypassing the prison dimension known as Limbo. Limbo, or Purgatory, exists not as a plane between life and death but rather as a bridge between the worlds of the Mundane and Ünterland. A hostile plane, host to lost souls and the Hellions that feed upon them, Limbo is known as the realm of the damned. Originally a plane of traversal between realms, Limbo was transformed into a prison during the war between the Jäger and the Hexenbrut. 


Due to the meddling of the Hexensbane, Limbo exists as a barrier, not only to keep Hellions and the Magni native to Ünterland from crossing over but also to keep the Mundane from entering. As such, it exists as an aid to Samael’s definition of the natural order, an attempt to maintain a balance between the Mundane and Ünterland. When a Magni crosses over from Ünterland to the world of the Mundane, Limbo often attempts to strip them of their extra seele or soul.


Despite acting as a prison for all manner of Hellions, Limbo is not impenetrable and at times Limbo opens, allowing passage where Hellions can escape to either realm. Other times Limbo causes the two realms to overlap and merge, creating a Conjunction which allows for travel and a temporary merger of the two planes.


The living can not remain in Limbo for an extended period, and those that do find their bodies rapidly aging before turning to decay. For this reason, it is understood that Limbo exists outside the normal passage of time making it particularly useful to Jäger who are walking the Path. With experience, one can use Limbo to cross the world in an instant or even defy the natural flow of time.
 
Sworn to walk the Path, the Jäger live disconnected and nomadic lives often free of attachments and entanglements. While imbued with numerous gifts from Samael, scattered and isolated, they were a target. Thus, the Venari Council was born, truthseekers with power and influence who could offer protection and aid to the Jäger. Men and women of influence who could have charges dismissed and offer housing, food and even comfort to the weary, road-worn souls. 


Further still, Samael offered help in the form of his Chosen, virgin maidens elected for their untainted blood to be used to further infuse power and protection upon his Sparrows. Jäger are marked by Samael's Chosen. Their virgin blood inscribed on the Sparrows’ skin in the form of a protection rune through ritual skin stitching that imparts upon the Sparrow safe passage through Limbo.  


The problem with power and authority is that it needlessly corrupts and so too it was that the Venari Council slowly began to distance itself from the Path and instead employ the Jäger to protect their fleeting power. 


When the Jäger wouldn’t comply, they too were hunted to near extinction. An Inquisition was led and they were seen as no more than witches of another flavour. Like those they had banished, the Jäger were forced to take refuge in Ünterland. 


Displeased with the actions of the Council, Samael returned from the void and ventured to Midyeden, the Angel of Death lashing out and so the Venari Council was decimated, free to rebuild as Jäger who had evaded capture ascended to the seats that had once been held over them. 
[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[CENTER][i]There once was a woman who lived a life so strange it had to be true.[/i]
[COLOR=#807B84]
[sup]________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/COLOR][img]https://i.imgur.com/euAClNt.jpeg[/img][/CENTER][indent][sub][COLOR=#816C90][B]Location:[/B][/COLOR] [I]Seattle, WA[/I] - [I]United States of America[/I][/sub][sup][right][COLOR=#816C90][b]Human #5.068:[/b][/COLOR] [I]The Hunter[/I][/right][/sup][/indent][COLOR=#807B84][SUP][sub]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sub][/SUP][/COLOR][INDENT][sub][color=#816C90][B]Interaction(s):[/B][/COLOR] [I]None[/I][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][COLOR=#816C90][b]Previously:[/b][/COLOR] [I]Unnatural Selection[/I][/right][/SUP]
[COLOR=silver][sup][b]| Several Years Ago[/b][/sup][/COLOR][INDENT]The motorcycle weaved in and out of traffic as Ellara’s hair blew loosely in the wind. Revving the engine beneath her, the bike protested ever so slightly before launching forward, the front tire lifting up from the ground before roughly slamming back down just in time for Ellara to guide the agile vehicle around the rear bumper of a large sedan. 

Her head was a mess, images of a different time, a different person’s memories flashed across her mind as her thoughts returned to the murder by her workplace. Why was this hanging over her, why should she care about a random murder in the street? Ellara knew deep down that it was likely only because it was so close to her place of work, but part of her couldn’t help but feel there was something more. Some sort of unspoken connection, and she couldn’t be the only one who thought so either.

The people in the bar, what had they asked her? Something in another language, they had accused her of being something, something that had triggered a memory.
[CENTER][i][color=#666666]You’re a Jäger.[/color][/i][/CENTER]
The words echoed around in Ellara’s head as she bit down on her lip, revving the engine of the bike hard, a steady whine echoing over the street as she rode the middle line. What did it mean, why did that word keep repeating itself. A woman’s face appeared before her, suddenly twisting as the skin turned a pale green, the eyes disappearing into her empty sockets as a voice like wind rattling dry bones echoed through Ellara’s skill.

[CENTER][i][color=white]Jäger[/color][/i][/CENTER]
The apparition’s voice haunted Ellara as she merged into a new lane, coming around the left side of the the lined up traffic ahead of her. The bike fought against the road below as Ellara moved over the rumble strip before gripping into the shoulder as Ellara’s own mind tossed around the foreign word. 

[CENTER][i][color=#816c90]Jäger[/color][/i][/CENTER]
Her mother’s voice echoed her own as the word began to take on a certain familiarity. Echoes of her parents talking, her Aunt and even her Uncle’s voice began to float through Ellara’s head as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, the sudden sadness invoking first feelings of regret, then pain, and finally anger. Maxing out the throttle, Ellara jumped back into the lane as she guided the motorcycle onto the next exit ramp. Lost in her thoughts, Ellara failed to notice the whine of another motorcycle behind her as the woman from the bar filled her head again. 

[CENTER][i][color=white]German for hunter, but a special type.[/color][/i][/CENTER]
The woman had been cryptic and intentionally so. The primary question had to ask was why? Secrecy had plagued her entire life, her father had refused to reveal the cause of her mother’s death, his reasons for leaving Ellara in the care of her Aunt. Her Aunt had refused to comment on the matter as well and Ellara’s Uncle had pulled away from her after her Aunt, like her mother, died under mysterious circumstances. 

[CENTER][i][color=#666666]Only we can see the darkness in people, the monsters that hide within.[/color][/i][/CENTER]
Ellara couldn’t help but find it maddening as the memories came and went, abstract phrases and words lacking context taunted her like riddles that were never meant to be solved. Pulling under the bridge, Ellara guided her bike towards the tier, the glint of a headlight in her rearview mirror finally catching her eye as she was ripped from the past and placed back firmly in the present as the other rider began to gain on her.[/INDENT][/INDENT][/COLOR]