Venatorii

Venatorii are demon-like entities whose origin lie in Erebus. Before the covenant, long ago in the age of Avos, the Venatorii roamed the four corners of Phoenicia and tormented the primitive mortals that lived there.

Venatorii have an animal-like intelligence—though incredibly powerful, these dark entities do not possess the mental faculties of truly sentient beings. If they are self-aware, they are only dimly so. They exist only to consume; a Vanatorii’s only purpose is to devour the souls of mortals. In ancient times, it is said that they fed upon the flesh of mankind and drug their victims to Erebus, where they would devour their spiritual essence.

Venatorii take on many shapes and guises—though often they appear only as a writhing, nebulous mass of shadow. They can possess other creatures, and acting as a parasite in their host body, attain a form of intelligence as they corrupt their host and use them as a vehicle to accomplish their main goal—consumption. In a sentient mortal, this corruption is manifested in the form of dark impulses and violent urges. The afflicted individual may show outward signs of corruption—most are driven insane and are reduced to little more than ravenous, feral creatures.

An ancient Venatorri is an exceptionally powerful predator that is capable of wielding living shadow to attack and incapacitate its target. Such beings have a mastery of necrotic forces, spreading decay onto whatever they touch. The air around a Venatorii in its true form is cold to the point of arctic brittleness—and there is always an unnatural perverseness around them.

Venatorii that possess animals or other bestial creatures fully take over their host’s body. These possessed animals are much larger and more vicious than their normal counterparts, appearing as monstrous versions of their former selves—hulking beasts twisted with the chaotic corruption of Erebus. Such creatures often maintain a lair, and their taint usually has a visible affect on the area in which they inhabit—the soil becomes sick, trees wither and die, and a general miasmic stench lingers in the sulfur-rotten air.

There are further tales of Venatorii “touched” mortals—beings who, for whatever reason, have come into contact with a Venatorii and walked away tainted, though unpossessed. Their bodies are mutated and their minds are afflicted with the infernal touch of Erebus’ eldritch energy.

The Proximian church maintains to this day that since the Covenant was established, Venatorii do not and have not crossed the barrier of the Incorporeum. They dismiss such tales as wild superstition, and point to rational explanations such as the use of Arcanum Interdictum to explain such bizarre manifestations of corruption.