Monthly archives: October 2024

. . . regular looking guy–slacks, shirt, and a tie–classic middle-management. He set down his briefcase and stretched out his arms. Next I know, he’s shouting a bunch of gibberish and waving his hands around, then he just picked up his briefcase and casually walked away.

This weird rippling started, vertical and very narrow, standing from the sidewalk to about a foot in the air, then it turned black and widened a little–like a short door opening into a dark room. These damn centipedes came pouring out, dozens of them–huge too–some as big as small dogs.

They started crawling all over people, including me, and it hurt like hell. The legs stuck in me like giant fish hooks. If people weren’t screaming in pain, they were screaming in terror. Some pulled out pistols and started blasting at the things.

You folks got here before any other first responders, damn fast. You a private outfit? I’ve never seen a green and black ambulance with a green triangle logo before.—Walter Walker, to paramedics, immediately prior to his disappearance.

It was fucking insane. He started gagging, retching, then he puked. That was when I got it, why he’d needed to swallow a maggot when he cast that spell this morning–shit, thank God I’m not the group’s wizard.

The damned thing was about the size of a chihuahua when it started shoving its way out of his mouth–I thought his face was going to split open. The maggot-thing was already about a foot long when it slid out and splopped onto the floor, thick with mucus, and rapidly growing.

By the time I blacked out, it was as big as a mastiff and growing tentacles, spikes, and too many mouths and eyes. Good thing it was on our side.

When I came to, we were back at the safe house. I’m the shotgun member of the team, a pump-action 12 gauge, and they told me I helped a lot–blew away a bunch of whatever the hell we were fighting–ghouls, giant spiders, cultists, I can’t remember. Thank God I didn’t hit any of our people while I was out of my mind.

Magic, yeah, it’s a mixed bag.—Samantha “Sam” Fernandez, member of The Silent–a group of ordinary people dedicated to protecting humanity.

These strange, grotesque creatures begin as a normal deer common to North America, such as White-tailed, mule, or roe deer. They appear much like a regular deer until they get close enough to see clearly. These creatures have milky eyes and patchy coats covered with a dusting of what looks like bluish pollen (see below). Strange fungal masses, resembling toadstools, grow around their mouths and in any open wounds they might have. These growths become more pronounced and gruesome the longer the zombie deer lives. Zombie Deer move with a strange wobbly,trembling motions and reek of rotting milk and rancid flesh. They tend to be solitary, spreading out from one another to better spread their infection (see below).

These creatures are created when a mortal person dies after being subjected to a powerful curse, usually one placed on a sacred site or tomb. Most Accursed Thieves were thieves and grave robbers in life, or those they infected afterwards. They appear to be walking corpses very similar to a standard zombie, but a bit more driving and intelligent. Their open wounds teem with maggots. Worms wriggle under their skins, behind their pale eyes, and drip from their open moaning mouths.

This creature, native to the central planes and eastern forests of North America, enacts vengeful upon those who have harmed innocent women and children. The Deer Woman also target womanizers, unfaithful lovers and husbands, appearing as temptress. They’ll try to lure them away to secluded places using their powerful otherworldly charm. Such men are often never seen again. Deer Women seem to always be able find such men within a 20-mile radius, using their very keen sense of smell. There are rumors of spells and rituals that attract such a creature, and direct it towards a particularly heinous offender. 

Whether these solitary creatures degenerated into being from humanity or simple took on human shape in order to hunt us is unknown. What is known is that they freely move about society, emerging from their hiding places at night to feed upon the unsuspecting. They appear barely human, typically having lost yellowing skin over corpulent frame, overlong arms and short legs, filthy claws and sharp teeth on elongated jaws. They always seem dirty, with greasy hair and filthy clothes. Their disguise is mainly on their powerful psychic abilities to cloud the minds of any around them.