Field Notes

Jason Brooks

Agrizi

Sebastian mentioned these one day, and I thought he was kidding until Donovan backed him up. To quote Sword-Boy, Agrizi are "tiny flying serpents" that look more like small worms than snakes. They live in darkness and multiply inside flesh (preferably human, but any flesh will do). The snake-worms are almost entirely blind... the only thing they can see is light and darkness, but that's all they need. Upon exposure to light, hundreds of them will launch themselves through the air and attack the poor sucker holding the flashlight. They bore under the skin and start laying eggs immediately. The adult worms don't kill their victim... they just eat away at the nerves and muscles until he's paralyzed, then they vacate the body and let the eggs hatch. What happens afterward is long, slow, messy, and excruciatingly painful. The Agrizi are about as intelligent as your average earthworm, but other demons like to use them as a sort of home security system. Leave a few nests around and you're pretty much guaranteed that nobody is gonna screw with your stash while you're out. Donovan says that it's only a matter of time until I encounter these bad-boys. I think I can wait for that.

Braxis

This guy. Oh, man is he a piece of work. Anthony J. Braxis was a renowned brain surgeon until a little mishap with his motorcycle left him with a bad case of the shakes. Unable to practice medicine, this little twerp gets his hands on a magic box with a Djinn inside. In exchange for a few souls, the demon grants Braxis the power to mold flesh with his hands. Pretty nifty, if you ask me... but old man Braxis wasn't satisfied. Now able to cure any disease or infirmity with a touch, Braxis cast his aspirations a little higher... he wanted to cure ALL disease... ALL illness... everywhere. He opens the box, summons the Djinn, and another deal is made. This time, the demon gives Braxis a list of SPECIFIC souls to collect... powerful psychics from around the country. So Braxis gathers a bunch of his brain-altered cronies and goes on a scavenger hunt that eventually brings him to Rock Springs... where he runs into a major obstacle by the name of Jason W. Brooks (that's me). Me, Donovan, and Ashley Ricks (Braxis' last intended victim) put a stop to his little party without TOO much trouble. Unfortunately, Braxis got away. Blame the cops for that one.
Abilities: The deal with Braxis is flesh. He can do anything with it, just by touching it. So far, he's manipulated people's minds (literally... as in: reaching into their skulls and messing around with stuff), turned people into monsters, and healed all manner of gunshot wounds that I inflicted on members of his gang. The best way of dealing with him is from a distance. I don't know if my flesh is immune to his touch or not, and I don't intend to find out.
Last Sighting: Hauling ass on his motorcycle... minus one hand.
Possibility of Return: He'll be back for sure.

Brite

When I hear the word 'vampire,' all sorts of images and concepts spring to mind: Nosferatu. Dracula. Eddie Murphy in 'Vampire in Brooklyn.' None of that has anything to do with this guy. He doesn't wear a cape or talk with a funky accent... he doesn't sleep in a coffin. With Brite, wooden stakes, crosses and sunlight are about as useful as a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. But he DOES drink blood. Lots of it. For him, fresh blood is like spinach to Popeye. It turbo-charges his metabolism, enabling Brite to transform himself into a number of shapes... all of 'em ugly. He can heal wounds almost instantly, even to the point of regenerating large portions of his anatomy. Being burnt to a crisp and chopped into pieces won't keep him down for long... all he needs is some blood and he'll be as good as new. The blood gives him superhuman strength and stamina that last for as long as the blood stays in his system. How much strength and stamina? Enough to take down both Sebastian and Donovan in a swordfight. The good news is, when the blood-charge wears off, he goes back to something close to human (but still ugly... just like Popeye.) He also has some kind of hypnotic gaze that can permanently mesmerize anyone who looks into his eyes. He uses it to turn people into his slaves... who will also serve as quick snacks whenever he needs a recharge. And contrary to popular myth, the people that Brite kills don't become vampires... they just become very, very dead.
Brite is somewhat of an enigma, even to Donovan. Though he claims to be some kind of immortal 'blood-god,' Brite's history only goes back to the dawn of this country... literally. He came over from Europe with the early settlers, but sometime just before, during, or just after the trip, he SOMEHOW managed to do SOMETHING that changed him from human to 'immortal blood god.' He used his Jedi-vision to start a blood-cult and make himself a general nuisance to the Indians and early colonists. The Knights of that time got to stomping on his ass, and after that Brite spent a good many years dead. But you can't keep a good blood-god down for long. He popped up several times over the centuries, and made several appearances during the career of my predecessor, Donovan Wilde. They threw down more times than Donovan cares to say, and the LAST time must have been Brite's lucky day. Yeah, he got blown to smithereens, but he left a dying Knight behind. After that, I had the pleasure of squaring off with BigUgly myself. After a lot of running, shooting, and screaming (all by me), I finally gave him a Terminator-style send-off by dumping him in a vat of liquid steel. He got real crispy real fast. IF there is enough of him left to regenerate (doubtful), then those few carbon specks are safely entombed in the hull of some navy battleship or the support beams of a skyscraper somewhere far away from here. That seemed to satisfy Donovan, and it sure as hell suited me just fine.
Abilities: When fueled by blood, Brite is big, strong, fast, and pretty close to unstoppable. But he ain't too smart. Donovan says that the MAIN thing to watch out for are his slaves... they have a nasty habit of showing up when you least expect it. And they remain slaves even when their master is 'inert.'
Last Sighting: Deep-fried in liquid steel.
Possibility of Return: Very, very, small

Coventry and Payne

Remeber that old TV show: "Friday the 13th"? Not the slasher movie... I mean the TV series where these kids went around retrieving magical items that had been cursed by the devil. Welllll, guess what?
Coventry and Payne have been supplying cursed items to unsuspecting suckers for as far back as there have been unsuspecting suckers to sell to. We don't know the history of this outfit, but they've been around a while. The items grant wishes or abilities in exchange for souls, which may in turn be used to fuel something called a Great Machine. The forces of evil created these items to lure humans into sin. A group of Knights rounded all of the items up generations ago (kinda like the kids in the TV show) but somehow Coventry and Payne got ahold of 'em and started handing them out like poisoned candy at Halloween. But they weren't satisfied with that. Cursed items weren't good enough for 'em; They wanted a piece of yours truly, as well. Mr. Payne and his associates, Mr. Pitt, and a shape-shifting dragon named Mr. White, sent us on a wild goose chase up and down the eastern US. All the while they were watching us and seeing what we were capable of. Then Payne finally LETS us catch up to him at their headquarters in Atlanta... where he promptly takes us prisoner. His plan was to remove my Gifts (tearing my soul to shreds in the process) and sell them one at a time to the highest bidder. Fortunatly, he underestimated all three of us (espesically Ashley). We broke out and shut 'em down. Payne, White, and Pitt are all gone. I also caught a good look at several clients who showed up (sort of) for the auction. I don't know where they are, but I've got names and faces... its only a matter of time before they'll be joining Payne and the others in hell. Abilities: Coventry and Payne had access to some pretty heavy-duty magic. Their headquarters had entire sections extending into other dimensions, which is no easy trick. They also had a big warehouse filled with freeze-dried demons. They could summon just about any monster they wanted with the snap of a finger. And Payne could throw a mean lightning bolt when he wanted to.
Last Sighting: Payne exploded when gave him a taste of his own soul-surgery. I deactivated Pitt with a shot to the control-crystal in his skull. Mr. White caught something nasty from Sebastian. Thats three for three, but...
Possibility of Return: I've got a baaaad feeling about this one. We all do. I know I made it SOUND easy, but the battle with Payne and his groupies took a lot out of us... even Donovan. It left us bloody, tired, and in a great deal of pain. Given the situation, C&P's headquarters was much too big (and dangerous) to search systematically. We found and destroyed several stockpiles of demons and cursed items, but nobody knows for sure if we got 'em all. We left a lot of demons still alive in that headquarters (although Sebastian had a good ole time killing the ones we found), and all the while, Ashley was picking up bad vibes from *something* still haunting that place. Even with Payne dead, it took a while to find our way back to OUR reality. When we finally DID make it out, we found that we couldn't get back in. The door locked behind us, and when we broke it down... we found an empty closet.
And we never DID find out if there was a Mr. Coventry...

Dragons

Everybody knows dragons. Big, flying, fire-breathing lizards. What everybody DOESN'T know is that these babies are real. Apparently there's this alternate dimension where giant lizard are the dominant lifeform, sorta like how humans are on earth. This dimension is close enough to ours that sometimes these bad boys end up in our world... either accidentally or on purpose. This turn of events usually requires the services of a Knight to 'convince' them to leave. There are about as many different kinds of dragon as their are species of insect on earth... each has their own abilities, strength, and weaknesses. The fact that some of these lizards are intelligent (smarter than people), can work all kinds of magic, and can even change their shape just complicates matters. Donovan says to make a note that MOST dragons aren't really demons (some are, however), and that we shouldn't assume that all of them are evil. Sebastian says to kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. I'm tending to agree with Sebastian on this one. He ALSO says that dragon-meat tastes like chicken. I hope he was kidding about that.
Abilities: Vary from dragon to dragon. Most can fly. Some can breathe fire, although there are some nasty variations of that, such as spitting acid and breathing poisonous fumes. As stated earlier, some dragons are intelligent and can work some pretty powerful magic.
Possibility of Encounter:Pretty good. Every Knight usually has to deal with a couple of these babies during their career... thus giving rise to the the medieval cliche of 'dragon-slaying knight.'

Dobbs, Marilyn

This female detective has been on my ass from day one... and I don't mean that in a good way. The woman is much too deep into the whole 'law and order' thing for her own good. Or mine. In my new career as a demon-killer, things tend to get shot, blown up, or chopped bloody chunks on a regular basis. Thus you can see the dilemma I have when it comes to having nice, civil relationship with the police. My first few encounters with Dobbs didn't exactly go all that well: When we first met, she threw a trashcan lid at me and I threw up on her shirt. The second time, we held each other at gunpoint while the badguy (Braxis) got away. I think the only reason she didn't shoot me then was that her gun was empty. Lucky me. We traded a few shots during the Ruger fiasco, but I technically wouldn't call that a 'meeting,' since we were both too preoccupied with not getting killed to exchange our usual sarcastic remarks. The most noteable thing about Dobbs, (other than the way she looks in tight pants), isn't really about her at all. It's about her partner, James Royce, who is either a demon or he does one mean imitation of one. Does Dobbs know she's got a hellspawn for a partner? I'd like to think she doesn't, but one can never can too sure. I guess the only thing that needs to be said about Dobbs herself is that she SEEMS to have her heart in the right place. I wouldn't count her as an enemy, but she's still a loooong way from the 'ally' category. Espescially with Royce backing her up.

The Great Machine

According to Donovan, the phrase 'Great Machine' has typically referred either to all of Creation, or to Hell. Neither of those definitions really fits what Ashley encountered wandering around the headquarters of Coventry and Payne. According to her, there is a 'Great Machine' that is just what it sounds like... a machine. Not a machine made out of metal, but out of such spiritual concepts as pain, sin, hatred, etc. Take all of these things and assemble them in accordance to the ancient text that Ashley found, and out pops... uhhh... something. Does this 'machine' have a physical form? I don't know. Does it have a purpose? Yeah, but we don't know what it is. Is it sentient? Ashley seems to think so. Whatever it is, its nasty, powerful, and it uses human souls for fuel. Ashley can't remember much beyond that,... the Great Machine sucked most of the memories of itself right out of Ashley's skull. Donovan, Sebastian and I are at a loss on this one, but I do know one thing: Anything powerful enough to screw with Ashley's mind is something I don't ever... and I mean EVER... wanna fool with.

Knights (also: 'Gifted,' and 'Chosen')

I originally had this entry filed under "Shit that Donovan Did To Screw Up My Life," but Donovan suggested that I change it. And, since this whole thing goes way beyond just me, I figured I'd at least try to take it somewhat seriously. So here's the short version of the Gospel According to St. Donovan: A looong time ago there was a big war between good and evil. Contrary to what you learn in church and in the movies, good and evil are/were pretty much evenly matched. So instead of continuing to batter each other into oblivion, they decided to settle things in a more civilized way: By making OTHER PEOPLE batter each other into oblivion. Humans were drafted to decide the fate of the universe. Either we would aspire to greatness, or give in to our animal impulses. As we went, so would all of Creation. But the Bad Guys weren't too confident in man's ability to royally screw things up on his own, so they started meddling, tinkering, and generally throwing giant industrial sized monkey-wrenches in the works. The Good Guys, being the pansy-ass wimps that they were, just let 'em do it until the whole deal was pretty much toast. THEN they decided that maybe they ought to do something. That's where I come in. Not me, personally, but people like me. The Good Guys chose a few humans of unusual bravery, honor, etc to receive certain 'spiritual' gifts that would help them go forth and kick evil's ass. These gifts would be passed on from one warrior to another, down through the generations, blah, blah, blah, until Yours Truly ended up getting stuck with this bullshi-...uhhh... receiving this great honor. My job: Search and Destroy all demonic entities. (Notice there is no mention of 'saving lives' or 'protecting the innocent.' When I asked Donovan about this, his response was basically: "Shut up and stop asking stupid questions." Okay, to be fair, what he said was that by killing demons we ARE protecting innocents. Yeah. Whatever.) And these 'Gifts' that I have that are supposed to help me do this?

Affinity - To quote Donovan: "Affinity is the enhancement of a particular set of skills to a level exceeding what is physically possible." Translation: "I Kick Ass." The only problem is that Affinity only works with a specific weapon. For Donovan, it was swords. For me, it's guns. I hate guns. But that's just too damned bad for me, because that's the affinity I got stuck with. As far as I can tell, it is physically impossible for me to miss. I can hit anything... even things I can't see (like other bullets in mid-air)... as long as its within range. I can pull of trick-shots that can't be believed even if you saw them. Hell, I can't believe half of 'em. Donovan says I've only touched the surface of what I can do, but I can't really see what else there is... a gun is a gun, right?
Guide - That means I hear voices in my head. Correction: One voice... the voice of the Knight who came before me. Donovan Wilde is a ghost (the actual 'walk thru walls' variety), and, fortunately for me, his job after death is to serve as a walking (or floating) encyclopedia of how things should be done. My job is to DO them and not ask too many questions. The bad part is that we are stuck with each other. Donovan can't be more than a few feet away from me; we're literally inseparable. He's ALWAYS there, no matter what I'm doing or who I'm doing it with.
Vision - This one took a little getting used to. I can see everything that everyone else can... PLUS a little bit more. The range of my vision has been extended just a tiny bit into the astral plane (or something like that), enabling me to see auras. They're always there, and I can always see them. What they look like depends on who or what I'm looking at, but it just so happens that auras are a very good indicator of who's been naughty and who's been nice. If I were to actually TOUCH somebody's aura I can actually see highlights of all the evil crap they've done in their life. That talent has its uses, but its something I'd rather avoid if possible.
Resistance - When you think about it, one mortal man going up against ancient creatures that have ruled Hell(s) since shortly after the dawn of time doesn't even sound REMOTELY plausible... not even in a cheap horror movie. I mean, these are DEMONS we're talking about. They have powers... they can do things. All kinds of things. Being a really good shot with a gun doesn't seem to amount to much in the face of that kind of power. Well, the gift of Resistance helps even the odds a little. My mind, body, and soul have been... hold on, this gets corny... "Hardened against the powers of Evil." Yeah. That means that a lot of their crap doesn't work on me. I can't be possessed. My mind is closed to psychic probing and coersion. My body can't be manipulated or infested by demonic entities. However, Donovan is quick to point out that resistance is not immunity. Just because I can shrug off Brite's Stare-Of-Doom doesn't mean that something a bit higher up the food chain won't snatch my brain out through my eyes from fifty feet away. I still have to be careful, just not as careful as someone less 'endowed.' Attraction - This one has gone by lots of names over the years, but I prefer the one I came up with: "Evil Magnet." It means that, whenever something bad is going on, I'm gonna be in the middle of it whether I like it or not. Neither Donovan nor I have figured out the mechanics of how this works, but I've decided that it is actually two separate but related effects. First is Fate... or, as I call it, Really Bad Luck. No matter what I do or what decisions I make, I will always... ALWAYS... be heading right into the next battle. Every door I choose leads to a demon's lair. Every corner I turn ends up a portal to hell. No, not literally, but you get the picture. The thing that gets me is, if the Good Guys are powerful enough to toy with fate on such a level, why do they even NEED me?! The second effect is more tangible, at least to me. There is an energy... a force... that seems to create a physical and/or mental attraction to things that are... shall we say: NOT GOOD. I noticed that the dark spots (evil) on people's auras always move toward me when I get close to them. Sometimes, if I concentrate really hard, I can forge it into a sort of 'compass' that points to the nearest batch of high-grade nastiness. (Donovan was pretty impressed by that trick, by the way). I don't know what this energy is or how it relates to the Fate thing, but its there. That about sums it up. I've got all of these new toys, and I've got Donovan to teach me how to use them. And then, when I finally screw something up bad enough to get myself killed, I'LL be the teacher for the NEXT poor sap... err... Chosen Knight. Until then, I'll just keep hoping for that loophole that will allow me to opt out of this madness.

Mr. Pitt

In the simplest terms, a GOLEM is just a magical version of a robot. Its a doll that moves using magic instead of circuits and motors. Golems can have whatever size and shape their creators can imagine... limited only by their skill in constructing them. Typically, however, golems are big, strong, slow, and stupid. Mr. Pitt was all of those things... plus a steel skeleton, leather skin, and the ability to regenerate whatever damage was done to him. This sucker was HUGE, and I found out the hard way that guns don't do squat against a leather and steel giant stuffed with rocks and sand. If you hurt him, he would heal almost instantly. Pitt was one of Coventry and Payne's henchmen, and he met his (its) end along with the rest of them.
Abilities Pitt was pretty hard to kill, even for a golem. Plus, the fact that he had metal bones made it hard to do any real damage. Now that I think about it, Pitt had a lot in common with a certian comic book character... but since I seem to be the only person around here who's ever SEEN a comic book, I think I'll keep that bit of trivia to myself. We never did find out the upper limit to Pitt's strength. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was impressive.
Last Sighting: Face down in the middle of Coventry and Payne's sanctum. Pitt was animated with a special jewel in his skull. Donovan spotted it. I shot it. End of golem.
Possibility of Return: Well, since Pitt wasn't really ALIVE to begin with, I can't really say that he's DEAD now. Can he be reconstructed? Absolutley.... just like any other machine. WILL he be reconstructed? By who? Pitt's old master is dead, so there's nobody left to reassemble the pieces. But if somebody DOES sew him back together, I'd suggest adding some retractible metal claws to the new version... HA!

Ashley Ricks

I had a great aunt once who said she could tell the future by looking at the leftover crud in the bottom of your teacup. And when my mom was growing up, there was a lady at the end of her street who claimed she could cast spells and talk to spirits... all for a hefty fee, of course. Now, I'm not dissing my family or anything, but if it ever came down to a psychic showdown between these ladies and Ashley Ricks, Ashley would win with one crystal ball tied behind her back. She can put the screws to somebody's mind without batting an eyelash, and, even more impressive, she can see Donovan. Hell, I can't even do that, so that pretty much marks her down as the genuine article in my book. Ricks works under the name "Madam Eve" (yeah... pretty high on the cheese content, but don't tell HER that.) "Eve" looks to be in her late fifties, but Ashley is in her early twenties. She's got the whole "Mission Impossible" fake head make-up thing going. She said she learned it from her mother, who was a professional make-up artist in Hollywood. I guess that could come in handy if we need to infiltrate a top-secret government installation or something. I've made it a point not to press Ashley about her abilities, as she seems kind of sensitive about 'em (which she totally denies). Therefore, I'm not too sure what she can and can't do, or what her level of control is. I DO know one thing... at the end of the Ruger incident, she put a serious hurting on a twisted cop by the name of Henry Sharpe. The last I heard, Mr. Sharpe was a permanent resident of a padded room somewhere upstate... chewing through heavy-duty straight jackets at a rate of two a day. Whatever Ashley did to him was serious, and permanent. Not that he didn't deserve it. But the fact that he was a major-league asshole doesn't make what she did cool. (Well... maybe a little.) The disturbing part is that I don't think she meant it. I promised her that I wouldn't ask her about it until she was ready to talk, but it sure looked to me like she lost control for just a second... and that was all it took. Damn, that's scary. The fact that she's that powerful gives me reason to keep a close eye on her. Don't get me wrong; I'd trust Ashley with my life, but the problem is... I don't think ASHLEY trusts Ashley all that much. She's hiding something, and I think the person she's hiding it from the most is herself.
Update 1: One of Ashley's little secrets recently made itself known in a big way. It turns out she's telekinetic as well as psychic. And when I say 'telekinetic' I'm not talking about the bending spoons and levitating matchbooks kinda telekinetic. I'm talking about the 'knocking people through walls' kinda telekinetic. She hasn't talked much about it, but from what she HAS said, her ability to move things with her mind is 1) very powerful and 2) almost completely uncontrollable. Seems like its tied to her emotions or some such.... which is pretty typical from what Donovan says. So, lets see... our little psyhcic can talk to ghosts, read minds, see the future (sometimes), and move things with her thoughts (if she's pissed-off enough). Suddenly, I'm beginning to feel a little worried about my status as 'chief ass-kicker' of this little group. Oh, who am I kidding, Sebastian took that a loooong time ago.
Oh, and one more thing... I think Ashley's got the hots for Sebastian. Everybody denys it, but I'm a player and I know these things. If THAT'S not a disaster waiting to happen, I don't know what is.

Royce, James

Tall. Mean-looking. Demon. Breath smells like burnt Doritos.
Oh, and he's a cop.
A detective, to be exact. Imagine my surprise when Marilyn Dobbs, a very human female detective, shows up to ask me some questions with this joker backing her up. True, he LOOKS human to everybody else, but his aura tells the tale. Naturally, I hauled ass, and, since then, I haven't had too much contact with Mr. Royce. He DID try to shoot me during the Ruger mess, and Ashley had a brief, non-eventful, run-in with him when the police questioned her, but other than that, he's been keeping a himself out of sight. That worries me. And it worries Dovovan, which makes me even MORE nervous. What's this guy up to? Why is he pretending to be a detective? WAS he a real, human detective at one time? What's he capable of? The fact that he's up to something is a no-brainer. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be here. But is it something as simple as trying to snatch a few souls, or is it some grand scheme that we know nothing about? Whatever it is, I'm sure that, due to the nature of my so-called 'mission,' I'll end up in the middle of it eventually. Then I'll find out just what this guy is made of. Whether I want to or not.

Ruger

Since we never did find out the name of this particular demon, I'll file it under the name of the form it took. The REAL Ruger was just a dog... a Rotweiller of the friendly, 'non-people-eating' variety. But a bad police bust and a little voodoo magic changed all that. As revenge for the cops killing her son and daughter-in-law, Maria Velazquez summoned up a demon and sent out to kill (and eat) every cop it found. Yeah, it sounds like the plot of a low-budget horror movie, but trust me... it was real and very un-funny. A lot of people got gobbled up on this little caper. That almost included ME, since, until I got my guns blessed by a priest (yeah, it's corny... but it works), my weapons couldn't even touch it. The demon was of the parasitic ethereal variety, which, according to Donovan, means that it cannot exist in our world without a mortal anchor, from which it draws power and takes orders. That anchor was supposed to be Maria Velazquez, but Maria botched the summoning so that the demon got bonded to her grandson, Tomas, instead. Tomas was a frightened, mentally-challenged little boy who loved his parents and didn't care too much for cops after they put mommy and daddy in the morgue. Thus, as far as Maria could tell, things were just fine... the demon was doing what she summoned it to do, and everything was going perfectly (unless you were a cop). Then I step on the scene and Maria realizes she's not the one in control. Then the cops show up. So, while trying simultaneously to NOT get shot and NOT become a cop-killer... and NOT get eaten by a demonic Rotweiller the size of an elephant, I somehow had to get through to Tomas and convince him to give this demon the boot. How did I do it? I cheated. I enlisted the aid of a local psychic, Ashley Ricks, to deal with the kid while I took care of the light work. Ashley did a Vulcan Mind-Meld and got Tomas to give up his new demonic friend... unfortunately the demon had his hooks so far into the boy's soul that when the demon went... it cleaned the boy out like a whole box of SuperStrength Ex-Lax. And somewhere along the way, Maria Velazquez got torn to pieces by something that was NOT Ruger. Still haven't figured that one out, but I'm sure the cops are blaming ME for it.
Abilities: This demon could/can do whatever its master empowers it to do. It can be or do just about anything, so I guess I'm fortunate that Tomas wasn't a fan of Godzilla movies...
Last Sighting: Riding a bullet back to hell.
Possibility of Return: I have no idea. Donovan says that demons hold grudges for a looooong time, but this particular one can't come back unless some idiot summons it. But nobody's THAT stupid... right?

Sebastian

The boy just ain't right. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's insane or unstable... but he's too damned weird for his own good. Sebastian Wilde is eighteen years old, but he's got the mind of someone in their forties. I've never seen someone so serious, so focused, and so intense. And such an asshole. He reminds me of the liquid-metal guy from Terminator 2. The way he looks around and stares at you, you can almost HEAR the little 1's and 0's chirping around in his brain. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was a robot. But no, a robot could never be that aggravating. Just looking at him makes me tense, so I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to BE him.
Sebastian is Donovan's son... and THAT particular story is one that I guess I haven't earned enough points to be worthy of knowing yet. All I know is that Donovan trained Sebastian to be his replacement... to be the next Knight when he passed on. He did a damned good job, too. Even without the Affinity, Sebastian can do things with a sword that are just...well... impossible. And he knows almost as much about demons as Donovan does. Donovan and Sebastian had the whole 'Batman and Robin' thing going for a while, until Brite chewed a big hole in the middle of their little set-up. With Sebastian presumed dead and Donovan with one foot in the hereafter, Donovan had no choice but to pass the Gifts on to the first suitable person.... me. The only problem was, Sebastian wasn't dead. Now he's S.O.L. and kinda pissed off about the whole 'not being the next Chosen' thing. He claims I stole his inheritance from him, but I've seen this kid in action and I know for a fact that it isn't about the Gifts. He doesn't need 'em. He KNOWS he doesn't need 'em. Affinity? Please... this kid fights like he was born with a sword in each hand (which must have been kinda painful for mom). I think Sebastian's real beef with me is that I've come between him and his father. I don't know what kind of relationship Sebastian had with Donovan, but I'm sure that a big part of it involved them still be a team even after Donovan died. But it didn't work out that way. Donovan is my Guide, not Sebastian's. The two of them can't even talk to each other without me or Ashley around. That sucks... for all parties involved. And when I die, I'll be Sebastian's guide instead of Donovan.... something neither of us really wants. I wish there was a way to make things right for this kid, but there isn't. So I guess I'm stuck with him... probably for a long, long time. Do I like him? Not really. Do I trust him? Not really. Is he worth keeping around? Definitely. The kid Kicks Ass; and with me being so new to this, I can use all the help I can get.

Vampires

Vampires are real. Imagine my surprise. If the only thing you know about vamps comes from movies and books, then you're probably just as confused (and wrong) as everybody else on the subject. But once you know the truth, it all starts to make sense. Sort of. Vampires owe their existance to three female demons... sisters... who were exiled from hell before the beginning of recorded history. The human mouth can't accuratly reproduce their names, but most attempts to do so sound something like: "Zethresta, Lylth, and Crylsys." These sisters had acquired the habit of drinking blood... both human and demonic... and after a minor 'political upheaval' in Hell, they were booted out onto the mortal realm, where they were supposed to be picked off by the armies of angels, Knights, and similar types who were busily protecting us poor humans at the time. But the sisters managed to not only hide themselves, but also produce 'children' by blending their blood with that of humans. The resulting human/demon hybrid is what we call a vampire, and once created, a vampire can produce other vampires by the same blood-mixing process. The offspring of each of the sisters is different, and it is these differences that give rise to all the confusion regarding what vampires are, what they can do, and how to kill them.
The offspring of Zethresta are shape-shifters. When they have fresh blood in their veins, they can change into any number of demonic forms, all of which can pretty much pop a grown man's head off and eat it like a grape. They also have a moderate level of mind control which they used to enslave mortal minds. This enslavement is permanent in weaker minds, but stronger wills can shake it off after a while. Knights, of course, are immune. Shape-shifting vampires are nearly impossible to kill. Sunlight and most other 'vampire-specific' methods have no effect on them. All vampires can be injured with normal weapons, but the shape-shifters can heal even fatal wounds almost instantly and keep coming after you. They recharge their power with fresh human blood, and when that power runs out, THEN they can be put down quite easily. But even their dismembered, impaled, and burnt corpses can be revived with a few splashes of human blood. According to Donovan, the only way to permanently kill one is with magic. According to me, a fire hot enough to reduce every cell in their bodies to ash will likely do the trick just as well.
The offspring of Crylsis are magic-users. Human blood fuels their power, which lasts as long as they have a fresh supply of food. It's difficult describe what kinds of magic these vampires wield... because they can do it all. Fireballs and lightning bolts?... check. Flight and Telekinesis?... yup. Summoning creatures and creating illusions?... got it. Astral projection and manipulation of matter?.... yeah, they got that too. And on top of that, they have the same mind-control mojo that the shape-shifters have... only stronger. A lot stronger. Fortunatly they have two important limitations: each use of their power weakens them slightly (until they drink more blood), and sunlight robs them of their power. No, the sun doesn't make them burst into flames and turn all crispy, but it does make them nice and weak. Weak or not, these guys can be killed with a good old-fashioned dismemberment... destroying either the brain or the heart, or separating the brain FROM the heart. Anything short of that, and they'll just use some healing magic and be after you again before you realize you're job isn't done yet. But typically you don't have to worry about one coming back to life after you kill it once (like the shape-shifters). One interesting thing to note is that these guys really don't like God... or anything that reminds them of God. Crosses and other religious symbols tend to frighten them, but don't try to protect yourself with that crucifix just yet. They're just as likely to get mad, snatch it away from you, and shove it up your ass sideways. But they typically avoid churches and similar places. That's good to know...
Lylth was the younger of the sisters, and her offspring don't seem as powerful as the others... but looks can be decieving. Lylth's 'children' don't have any special magical or mind-control abilities, and they can't shape-shift (other than a few minor changes in their appearance... like retracting the fangs and changing their eyes to look human), but what they DO have is strength, dexterity, and speed. And they have a lot of it. Donovan calls these guys Knight-killers, and he wasn't joking when he said it. Just like the Crylsis vamps have a 'thing' about religion, the Lylth vamps have a deep hatred for Knights. Every Knight eventually has to face one or two, and even our Gifts aren't always enough to make the fight even. These guys can move faster than bullets, and they're strong enough to snap a fire hydrant up off the sidewalk and throw it through a building. All vampires have heightened senses, but Lylth's offspring have it to such a degree that it spooks other vampires. When you hear about a vamp picking a single heartbeat out of a crowd of hundreds, or counting the hairs on a fly's body as it zips across the room, then you're talking about a Lylth vamire. But, like all vampires, these powers only operate at peak strength when the vamp is well-fed. No normal human should ever try to fight one of these guys... EVER... and Knights should only try it when they know that the vamp is weak. The good news is that sunlight kills these guys in a rather spectacular 'catch on fire and explode' kind of way. Destroying/separating the brain and heart also works... but good luck trying to do THAT to a recently-fed Lylth vampire.
As you've probably guessed, most vampire legends and myths are actually based on some confusion about these three vampire races. Fortunatly, there aren't enough vampires running around to make this confusion a problem. Contrary to the movies and TV shows, there isn't a secret underworld filled with bloodsuckers. Vampires enjoy their power too much to go spreading it around to everybody they meet... they like to keep it to themselves. Then there's the fact that vampires aren't particularly well-liked in the supernatural world. Humans (good OR evil) don't like them. Spirits and other entities don't care to have them around. Demons hate them so much that there is a race of demons bred specifically to kill vampires. And sometimes vampires don't even like other vampires. So... Vamps are rare... probably no more than a hundred exist in the entire world. And the shape-shifting vamps are rarer than that. There's only been four in recorded history... and I killed one of them not too long ago. As for the demons that originally spawned them, Lylth was killed in ancient Egypt (score one for the Knights!). Crylsis was imprisoned in a block of stone somewhere in the middle east, and Zethresta was thrown into the ocean and cursed so that she could never set foot on solid ground again. (When I asked Donovan who or what could place a curse on such a powerful demon, he talked around the answer without actually telling me. He knows something he's not saying... but then, that's Donovan.)

Vultracnid Demons

(also: Vultrachnae, 'AWOL Bugs')
According to the Modern Encyclopedia of Demonology (ie. Donovan), the vultracnids are a species of scavenger demons that feed on the weak, injured, and recently deceased. They are most frequently found on battlefields after a major battle, where they can have their pick of fresh corpses or helpless victims. Vultracnids have long, prehensile tongues which they use to inject acid into their intended meal (preferably while the meal is still alive). After the acid has done its job, they drink the resulting sludge, leaving behind a hollow, empty skin... which the demon will either eat or wear as clothing. Or both. Vultracnids always travel in pairs; when you encounter one, there is always another close by... usually hiding in plain sight, wearing the skin of last night's dinner.
During the first and second world wars, field medics sometimes heard stories from nervous patients who claimed that monsters were stalking them at night. Sometimes the monsters looked like giant bugs. Other times, they resembled patients who had disappeared days or weeks before. In either case, the next morning, nurses would find another patient missing. No trace of the missing soldier would ever be found, and the patient would be officially listed as Absent WithOut Leave (AWOL). These stories were largely dismissed as dementia or hallucinations, but the 'myth' of the 'AWOL Bugs' still circulates among some older veterans.
Vultrachnids are not fighters. They are physically weak (for a demon), and, aside from their ability to spit acid, they don't have much in the way of natural weapons. When confronted, a vultracnid will either hide or run... options for which this demon is well suited. In its natural form, the vultracnid looks like a giant spider. While they are not true shape-shifters, the vultracnid can fold itself into a humanoid shape that fits easily within an empty human skin, allowing it to impersonate its last meal.... at least until the skin tears or rots. The demons are intelligent... smart enough to learn the mannerisms and voices of their victims and use them to further sharpen their disguise. When disguises don't work, the demons aren't too proud to make a hasty retreat. A vultracnid's rear-most legs are muscular and oversized, giving the demon a long-distance leap that can escape most predators (ie. Sebastian).
Vultracnids are low-level demons; they are not particularly dangerous by themselves. They are cowardly creatures that are easily summoned and controlled. Their penchant for making people disappear is especially useful for... well.... making people disappear.

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