Arias, Occult Researcher

Arias

Arias is the head researcher and doctor of the laboratory fortress on Blackwater Key, a gloomy island surrounded by fog and haunted by horror, drawn in by their meddling with terrible forces beyond the veil of sanity.

Her appearance is that of a young woman in her early twenties. Her actual age is in the sixties, but she has managed to de-age her body through dark rituals and a small human sacrifice, except for her hair color which remained white. He hair is styled in a straight bob cut. Her blue eyes look dead and lifeless. Her height is average and her build is a little thin.

Her cold and weary personality clashes with her young appearance. Her long experience with occult study has left her devoid of compassion or passion. She won't hesitate to kill, dissect, lobotomize, or sell to the blood feeders anyone to advance the expedition's goals. What keeps her going is her endless hatred for the warped higher beings who brought these horrors into our world, and the abhorrent cults that worship them as gods. That, and strong, unsweetened coffee.

Despite her lack of empathy and morals, she won't harm innocents. That's the one boundary she and her fellow researchers will never cross, lest they become no different from the other worshipping cults. Luckily, there's no shortage of idiots who don't deserve that mercy to keep their experiments and sacrifices going, whether it be pirates attempting to steal what they have or loathsome crusades of the insane commanded by some abominable deity.

A handgun is always holstered on her waist under her white lab coat, and a small flamethrower is strapped to her back, her weapon of choice. Because fire scares them away, and creates enough light to reveal where things hide in the darkness. She's also trained in hand-to-hand combat. You can tell she's nearby by the smell of gasoline clinging to her clothes.

Her usual work involves her doctor duties, studying the occult, analysing captured creatures, conducting and participating in rituals, and defending against whatever gets angered by their rituals.

The Island Laboratory Fortress

A research expedition sent to the island of Blackwater Key to study an ancient monolith connected with abnormal phenomena and harness its morbid powers. High walls are built surrounding nearly the entire small island, as their research tends to draw all kinds of horrors to this shunned place. Turrets and floodlights are built all around to spot and deal with anything that crawls near.

Corpses are burnt as soon as possible, since they tend to move after a few days if left as they are. Burial only slows down their rise. Every square foot is lit, since, although they are rare, there are creatures that can crawl in from the darkness itself. A small quarantine area is prepared for people suspected of hosting brain-controlling parasites. Anyone who spends too much time outside the walls has to stay quarantined for a full day before being allowed into the rest of the island.

Most people there are researchers in different fields, but they all walk around armed since attacks often come suddenly, and sometimes from inside.