Post by Stefan [GM] on Mar 23, 2011 21:45:13 GMT -7
Part I - "What doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger ..."
Where do you begin the story of somebody like the elf, known as "Bloodthirster"?
At his birth? At the city he grew up in, or at everything, his parents meant to him; the blessing, that he was to them?
Maybe at his first murder?
You have to understand that he didn't choose to become this person. Like many, many shadowrunners, one thing led to another. And like too many, he too lost his mind on the way.
At first, though, there was no Bloodthirster. No Vampires, no revenge-driven crusade or ruthless killing.
No, at first, there was an elf named Fox.
The name wasn't his choice; it was rather given as a code name. Fox was, well, maybe not the leader, but the frontman of a small military project, called "The Berzerks". Fox and his group, a very fine assortment of combat monsters, worked for the UCAS military, though never appeared in any official statements. You see, when hotspots all over the world become too hot for the public eye, The Bezerks came and cleaned house. For all the honest working public knew, radical groups in the respective country hired mercenaries to finish, where the UCAS military failed.
They weren't entirely mistaken; they only got the benefiter wrong.
So, Fox was the frontman of the group; the only one that was able to think ahead and only kill when it was necessary. Unlike Norsk, the dwarf with his platinum blond beard and ice-blue eyes, or the troll, that earned himself the name "Rock" for a handful of reasons, Fox didn't just want to shred the enemy into pieces. No, Fox wanted to actually better the situation, help the people, that kind of drek.
Back in Seattle, Christopher MacLeod lived with his parents and younger brother in a nice condo in Bellevue.
His parents used to be faithful christians, ordinary people, good neighbors. Christopher looked after them, and with the money he made during his deployments overseas he was able to provide a very respectable living for his family.
Born as elf in 2012 didn't cause panic for his parents. Unlike most religious people, Christopher's parents thought of it as blessing, not curse. Their son should live a long, ever beautiful life. He was given a gift from the angels.
So was his brother, Paul, fifteen years later, as he too was born as an elf. Happier, the two parents could not have been.
Little did they know, God had different plans for them. Sinister plans.
Eventually, the UCAS couldn't hide their secret "clean-up" project anymore, so The Bezerks got disbanded, after a failed mission in south Africa, which the Troll paid for with his life.
But the rest of the team earned a fair pension, and a ticket back into the normal, honest working society of the United Canadian and American States, back in '43.
When Fox came home that evening, when he entered his condo as Christopher Macleod, he realized fast that a normal life he should never have.
Rumors say Fox killed his parents, after they transformed into something different, something evil. They say he swore revenge, that he would find the creature, that turned his parents into such abominations.
Imagine, tightening your grip around your edge and facing the hardest decision, you'd ever have to make. Could you kill your own mother and father? And what consequences would there be ...
Who knows, what really happened that evening in Bellevue, but at the end of it all, the soldier Fox disappeared from any public records. So did Christopher MacLeod and his 15-years old brother.
At the same time, however, a new 'runner named Red Fox started to leave a trail in the shadows. At first, he took small jobs for small people, but soon a pattern seemed to appear only visible for but the most observant; or paranoid.
Red Fox' efforts started to concentrate in on very unusual locations - locations most 'runners rather avoided. Forsaken buildings in the barrens, that are known to shelter infected metahumans. Even a small church, a sanctuary for the infected and their families. Wherever HMHVV was known to spread, Red Fox eventually appeared and left but a wake of terror and death.
Before too long, his targets went from seemingly random to focused individuals among the infected. Like a predator, Red Fox seemed to be after the bloodsuckers.
But the infected weren't stupid, not at all. They lived in the underground long enough and knew how to hide, knew how to take advantage of the surroundings. Soon, hunting them would result in them hunting you.
Eventually, stories around Red Fox calmed down, and it was assumed he was dead; killed by his own prey.
If you want to beat your enemy, you have to think like your enemy. Become like your enemy.
Then, the dead appeared. Corpses, drained of all blood, mutilated at times, they started to cover the allies and backyards of the Redmond Barrens. Confused, enraged, the bloodsuckers left their hideouts, their sanctuaries, to investigate the dead and find the fool, that was hunting in their territory.
What they found, however, was but a trap.
Rumors spread fast. Rumors about a vampire hunter, that is taking the challenge of killing bloodsuckers to the next level, that disguises himself as one of them to lure them out of their holes. Just like rats go for filth, they walked right into the hunters trap.
There was something dark about this hunter. Mad, twisted, people said he hunts and kills like a vampire, but he is, in fact, not one of them - or any other kind of infected.
He was an elf, like so many others in Seattle, but with a taste different than vegetables and flowers. Of course, those that remembered the days of Red Fox, soon tried connecting the dots, but by that time, the sprawl has changed. A new era arose, new faces plastered the streets and shadows, and nobody, that could have cared enough, was around anymore. Red Fox was forgotten.
What's left, was a hunter, which earned himself a street name for his disturbing actions; a monster lurking in the shadows of Redmond. A monster hunting monsters, just like it was one of them.
Where do you begin the story of somebody like the elf, known as "Bloodthirster"?
At his birth? At the city he grew up in, or at everything, his parents meant to him; the blessing, that he was to them?
Maybe at his first murder?
You have to understand that he didn't choose to become this person. Like many, many shadowrunners, one thing led to another. And like too many, he too lost his mind on the way.
At first, though, there was no Bloodthirster. No Vampires, no revenge-driven crusade or ruthless killing.
No, at first, there was an elf named Fox.
The name wasn't his choice; it was rather given as a code name. Fox was, well, maybe not the leader, but the frontman of a small military project, called "The Berzerks". Fox and his group, a very fine assortment of combat monsters, worked for the UCAS military, though never appeared in any official statements. You see, when hotspots all over the world become too hot for the public eye, The Bezerks came and cleaned house. For all the honest working public knew, radical groups in the respective country hired mercenaries to finish, where the UCAS military failed.
They weren't entirely mistaken; they only got the benefiter wrong.
So, Fox was the frontman of the group; the only one that was able to think ahead and only kill when it was necessary. Unlike Norsk, the dwarf with his platinum blond beard and ice-blue eyes, or the troll, that earned himself the name "Rock" for a handful of reasons, Fox didn't just want to shred the enemy into pieces. No, Fox wanted to actually better the situation, help the people, that kind of drek.
Back in Seattle, Christopher MacLeod lived with his parents and younger brother in a nice condo in Bellevue.
His parents used to be faithful christians, ordinary people, good neighbors. Christopher looked after them, and with the money he made during his deployments overseas he was able to provide a very respectable living for his family.
Born as elf in 2012 didn't cause panic for his parents. Unlike most religious people, Christopher's parents thought of it as blessing, not curse. Their son should live a long, ever beautiful life. He was given a gift from the angels.
So was his brother, Paul, fifteen years later, as he too was born as an elf. Happier, the two parents could not have been.
Little did they know, God had different plans for them. Sinister plans.
Eventually, the UCAS couldn't hide their secret "clean-up" project anymore, so The Bezerks got disbanded, after a failed mission in south Africa, which the Troll paid for with his life.
But the rest of the team earned a fair pension, and a ticket back into the normal, honest working society of the United Canadian and American States, back in '43.
When Fox came home that evening, when he entered his condo as Christopher Macleod, he realized fast that a normal life he should never have.
Rumors say Fox killed his parents, after they transformed into something different, something evil. They say he swore revenge, that he would find the creature, that turned his parents into such abominations.
Imagine, tightening your grip around your edge and facing the hardest decision, you'd ever have to make. Could you kill your own mother and father? And what consequences would there be ...
Who knows, what really happened that evening in Bellevue, but at the end of it all, the soldier Fox disappeared from any public records. So did Christopher MacLeod and his 15-years old brother.
At the same time, however, a new 'runner named Red Fox started to leave a trail in the shadows. At first, he took small jobs for small people, but soon a pattern seemed to appear only visible for but the most observant; or paranoid.
Red Fox' efforts started to concentrate in on very unusual locations - locations most 'runners rather avoided. Forsaken buildings in the barrens, that are known to shelter infected metahumans. Even a small church, a sanctuary for the infected and their families. Wherever HMHVV was known to spread, Red Fox eventually appeared and left but a wake of terror and death.
Before too long, his targets went from seemingly random to focused individuals among the infected. Like a predator, Red Fox seemed to be after the bloodsuckers.
But the infected weren't stupid, not at all. They lived in the underground long enough and knew how to hide, knew how to take advantage of the surroundings. Soon, hunting them would result in them hunting you.
Eventually, stories around Red Fox calmed down, and it was assumed he was dead; killed by his own prey.
If you want to beat your enemy, you have to think like your enemy. Become like your enemy.
Then, the dead appeared. Corpses, drained of all blood, mutilated at times, they started to cover the allies and backyards of the Redmond Barrens. Confused, enraged, the bloodsuckers left their hideouts, their sanctuaries, to investigate the dead and find the fool, that was hunting in their territory.
What they found, however, was but a trap.
Rumors spread fast. Rumors about a vampire hunter, that is taking the challenge of killing bloodsuckers to the next level, that disguises himself as one of them to lure them out of their holes. Just like rats go for filth, they walked right into the hunters trap.
There was something dark about this hunter. Mad, twisted, people said he hunts and kills like a vampire, but he is, in fact, not one of them - or any other kind of infected.
He was an elf, like so many others in Seattle, but with a taste different than vegetables and flowers. Of course, those that remembered the days of Red Fox, soon tried connecting the dots, but by that time, the sprawl has changed. A new era arose, new faces plastered the streets and shadows, and nobody, that could have cared enough, was around anymore. Red Fox was forgotten.
What's left, was a hunter, which earned himself a street name for his disturbing actions; a monster lurking in the shadows of Redmond. A monster hunting monsters, just like it was one of them.