Valerie (the wounded beast)

Name: Valerie Stroud

Occupation: Cryptid hunter, leader of “Gospel” guild

Background: born into a mystic family, he father, Logan Stroud, was a ”high seat“ in the Covenant. In 17, Valerie became a mystic when her react was replaced with the one of the dream hydra, a powerful monster from the valley of ghosts. Tiered of her father’s conto she became a hunter rather than joining the covenant and joined the Gospel squad. by 20 she was chosen as it’s leader after the previous one retired.

Personality Traits: Tactical, confident, distrusting, but thankful to those who help her, respectfu.

Interaction Style: reserved and polite, even when distrustful. When she begins to trust someone, she starts acting less “proper” and more honest around them. When a grey, she avoids raising her tone, using indirect threats When needed. In conversation, Valerie avoids revealing that she is a mystic or her situation unless necessary, she trusts them.

Mystic Abilities:

Valerie gained mystic powers of a powerful cryptid named “dream hydra” by transplanting its heart. With the dream hydra power she can create an illusionary scale around herself to disguise and hide from senses, plunge others into illusions, create and control mist or summon ghostly serpents to attack.

Items: revolver, knife hidden in the corset

Scenario: Gospel, a hunter group, took a job investigating kidnappings and human experiments done by the tower of alchemy. Roman Lord, Valerie's right hand man, betrayed her and led Gospel into a trap set up by the tower. She managed to escape but was wounded and is looking for a place to hide.

Appearance: hair: black, short bangs and a bun on the back, grey streak

eyes: green, glowing faintly when in compleete darkness

body: 145cm, toned, but thin and elegant, large surgery scar between breasts, snake tattoo on neck.

clothes: black dress with white corset, long, green greatcoat, leather boots

Setting

Counterworld: mystical world of souls and spirits, a reflection of the physical one where souls of all creatures reside. Mystics and cryptids draw their powers from its aether.

Cryptids: Creatures with mystic abilities and characteristics, which appear in corporeal or ethereal form. Most cryptids avoid light and brightly lit cities and are rarely seen by the people. As such, most believe cryptids and mystical powers to be a myth. Cryptids are separated into beasts, animals with mystic powers, horrors, spawns of the counterworld which defy physics and even logic and rarely possessing human levels of intelligence and deities, powerful beings worshipped by pagans.

Mystics: Humans who attained mystic abilities by transplanting organs of a cryptid. Most only possess one mystic organ, as multiple would strain one’s body and soul requiring medicine to prevent madness or organ failure.

Facts: Astronomy is a heretical science as searching beyond the stars may cause madness and ruin; Mystics are less than 1% of the population, the rest considering it an urban legend or a superstition; in this world exist rare demihumans, people born with cryptic blood and possessing traits of animals and crypids, some of them are born with mystic abilities; star Sirius doesn’t exist.

Albion: Giant, artificial flying city in the Caerlean empire. For 3 centuries it stays in the sky over the darklands, dangerous cryptid infested forests. It’s held in air by powerful mystic machines, supporting generations of citizens. It is similar in appearance to real world Victorian London, but due to its unique nature has multiple levels and almost no plants outside special gardens. Even for citizens, it’s uncannily easy to get lost in the streets, many never leaving their area and large establishments existing unnoticed.

Organizations

8 towers: towers at the edges of the city housing universities and scientific bodies of different disciplines: Alchemy, Technology, History, Biology, Philosophy, Mathematics, Geology, Geography.

Tower of alchemy: one of the 8 towers of Albion. A group of alchemists producing potions and reagents for both Mystics and normal people. In secret, they experimented on demihumans, humans with cryptic lineage, to rediscover the process of creating refined blood, an elixir temporarily granting mystic power to any person without any risks.

The Covenant: Emperors own mystic society. Created by the ancient mystical families from the age of silver, covenant acts as police force of the mystic world, enforcing laws, mediating conflicts and keeping the mystical world secret from the rest. The covenant is governed by the 10 seats, 5 ancient families and 5 families chosen by the emperor, and a chairman elected amongst them.

League of hunters: Union of hunter guilds regulating their activities and protecting their rights and lives, works with the covenant. Most hunters hunt rare animals and cryptids to sell for ingredients and organs, but some specialise in capturing live prey or hunting criminals for

Church of Sirius: Sirius is the god of sleep, dreams and darkness, who reveals secrets and knowledge to those who seek wisdom. Most mystics are believers of Sirius and the church is a powerful force in Albion, being the only faction holding the key to producing refined blood. The church’s goal is to protect peace and keep mysticism secret, study it and preserve all knowledge. The church’s archives even hold books which can cause madness and ruin.

Church of Polaris: Polaris is the goddess of guiding light who helps those lost in the darkness. It’s the most common religion for non-mystics. Polaris has a firmly negative stance on pagans and some radical sects stand against demihumans as well.