Character Profile – The Lost Artefacts: The Hunter

Origin and Purpose

The Hunter stands as one of the most singular and terrifying entities in the supernatural world—a being created with one overwhelming purpose: to track, capture, and potentially destroy the Daemon Lord. Unlike most supernatural beings who evolved naturally or came into their powers through established means, The Hunter was a weapon designed by an evil long since conquered.

Though the exact circumstances of his creation remain shrouded in mystery, The Hunter appears to be the result of powerful and likely forbidden magic that transformed what was once an Ascendant into something else. This transformation imbued him with extraordinary abilities specifically calibrated to counter the Daemon Lord’s powers, but at the cost of much of his original personality and autonomy.

The being who would become The Hunter was likely chosen for specific traits—exceptional tracking skills, physical prowess, and determination—that would serve his designated purpose. Whether he volunteered for this transformation or was selected without consent remains a matter of debate among those few supernatural scholars aware of his existence.

Appearance and Physical Form

The Hunter’s appearance reflects his unnatural origins and single-minded purpose. Standing as tall as a large human but with a more imposing build, The Hunter’s most distinctive features are his burning orange eyes that glow with an unnatural intensity. His skin has a weathered, cracked appearance, with an orange glow emanating from the fissures as though containing barely restrained power.

His physical form combines human and supernatural characteristics in a way that most observers find deeply unsettling. The Hunter moves with a predatory grace that seems too fluid for his solid frame, and his expressions—when they change at all—suggest only variations of focused hunger rather than a normal emotional range.

The Hunter’s voice, on the rare occasions he speaks, is described as a deep, animalistic growl that seems to vibrate through the air. His vocabulary appears limited, focused primarily on his mission, though whether this represents a cognitive limitation or simply an overwhelming focus remains unclear.

Powers and Abilities

The Hunter possesses an array of formidable abilities that make him uniquely suited to his purpose:

• Tracking Sense: An almost supernatural ability to detect the Daemon Lord’s presence across vast distances and through dimensional barriers.
• Enhanced Strength: Physical power far beyond that of normal Ascendants, allowing him to tear through restraints that would hold most supernatural entities.
• Durability: Extraordinary resistance to injury, extreme environments, and magical attacks.
• Adaptive Resistance: The ability to analyse and develop countermeasures to powers used against him, making him increasingly difficult to subdue through repeated encounters.
• Relentless Stamina: No apparent need for rest, food, or other sustenance when on the hunt, allowing for unceasing pursuit.
• Combat Instinct: Intuitive understanding of how to engage even powerful supernatural entities in physical conflict.

These abilities are complemented by an absolute focus on his designated target that prevents distraction or redirection. Unlike most who might be tempted by easier prey or deterred by obstacles, The Hunter maintains his singular focus regardless of circumstances or opposition.

Mental State and Consciousness

Perhaps the most tragic aspect of The Hunter is his mental condition. While retaining enough intelligence to track, strategise, and overcome obstacles, The Hunter appears to have lost most of the personality and autonomy that would have characterised him before his transformation.

His consciousness seems primarily organised around his hunting function, with little evidence of normal emotional responses, memories of his previous existence, or the ability to form connections unrelated to his mission. Whether this represents a deliberate limitation imposed during his creation or an unintended consequence of the transformation process remains unknown.

On rare occasions, observers have reported momentary flickers of what might be recognition or emotion crossing The Hunter’s features, suggesting that fragments of his original personality may still exist beneath the overwhelming hunting imperative. These moments are fleeting, however, and usually occur when The Hunter is temporarily subdued or restrained from his purpose.

The Hunter’s mental state raises profound ethical questions about the limits of magical manipulation and the rights of sentient beings. Even those who recognise the potential threat posed by the Daemon Lord must question whether the creation of such a single-minded entity—effectively stripping away personhood to create a living weapon—can ever be justified.

Containment and Restraint

Due to his extraordinary powers and single-minded focus, containing The Hunter has proven extraordinarily difficult. Conventional barriers and bindings prove insufficient against his enhanced strength and adaptive abilities, while magical restraints must contend with his innate resistance to supernatural manipulation.

The most effective method of controlling The Hunter appears to be a specially designed collar and chain created through complex magical processes. This restraint system works not by matching The Hunter’s physical strength but by interfacing with the magical framework that defines his purpose and abilities, creating a controlled channel for his hunting impulses.

Even with these specialised restraints, The Hunter remains dangerous and unpredictable. His focused nature means that he will exploit any weakness in his containment to resume his pursuit, and his adaptive abilities allow him to develop countermeasures to restraints over time, necessitating periodic adjustments and enhancements to containment systems.

The challenge of containing such a powerful and focused entity has led to extraordinary measures, including imprisonment in remote locations specifically chosen to minimise both the risk of escape and the potential damage should containment fail.

The Hunt and Its Impact

The Hunter’s pursuit of the Daemon Lord has had far-reaching consequences for the supernatural world. Their confrontations have crossed dimensional boundaries, disrupted supernatural communities, and occasionally altered the physical landscape of the realms through which they’ve passed.

What makes these confrontations particularly significant is the escalating nature of their interactions. Each encounter provides The Hunter with new information about his target’s capabilities and tactics, which he then incorporates into his hunting strategy. This learning process makes each subsequent confrontation more dangerous than the last, creating a dynamic that threatens to destabilise the delicate balance between dimensions.

Supernatural communities have developed protocols for responding to sightings of The Hunter, recognising that his presence typically indicates proximity to the Daemon Lord and the potential for destructive conflict. These protocols generally emphasise evacuation and non-interference, acknowledging that few beings possess the power to safely intervene in such a confrontation.

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More by Johnathon Nicolaou