Valkyrie Foundation

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Valkyrie Foundation is a Medium RP Super Group that mainly exists as a way for those of us that truly enjoy this theme to get together and have fun. Even though our theme can be quite dark at times, we strive to created a light-hearted and fun environment for our players. Having been born from the disintegration of a Super Group in City of Heroes where drama and inner-politics tore most of the Super Group apart, we very strictly follow a No Drama Policy. Our characters live in a dramatic world, we strive to keep that drama and strife from spilling over into our Out of Character Lives. We are always looking for more members who enjoy roleplaying, and are always happy to recruit new roleplayers and show them the ropes. Players should have a familiarity with at least one of the forms of media listed Here to understand the theme fully. This is not a requirement, but is recommended before joining.

If you are interested in joining, please visit our website and fill out an application, or contact one of our officers in game. Please keep in mind however, that our theme is very niche, and not all applicants are accepted. Please make sure you are familiar with Sections 1.1 through 1.2.4 of this page before applying.


Valkyrie Foundation
The candles in the darkness
Flickr Sylvar magic circle borderbrund clickart 1200k.jpg
Leader(s): Founders: Will McBlack, Elizabeth Perkins, Arthur Toye

Officers: Coercer Koada’ Sirn, Lorena Aniel

Base of Operations: Vibora Bay
Concept: Supernatural Hunters and Paranormal Investigators
Founded: September 27, 2009
Website: Click Here
Members: 25
WillBloodMoon.jpgWhen the Darkness rises, we are the ones who stand and fight. Not for fame, not for glory, not for recognition, but because it is the right thing to do.


Candles in the Darkness

Valkyrie Foundation is a Super Group for those normal humans, or nearly normal humans who have had a brush with the supernatural and make up their minds to do something about the darkness that seeks to consume our world. This is when they take on the mantle of a Hunter and their life is forever changed.

Those who become Hunters are normal people, but at the same time they are set apart from normal people. They are the few who have seen something that is beyond their explanation and instead of rationalizing it away, it burns itself into their psyche. Psychologically, they change. They feel that knowing is enough cause for them to fight back. Even though they seek to do good, they are oftentimes viewed as outsiders or madmen. This oftentimes leads to a thankless and lonely existence. This alone is usually enough to drive someone to the brink of insanity. Even if a Hunter does manage to hold onto some semblance of sanity, at the end of the day they are still human. They are weak and frail, fighting things that oftentimes can rip doors off of cars or cloud one's mind to the point of turning them into a mindless thrall, or worse...

Hunters can come from many walks of life as well. Were you a cop that just had seen too many strange cases and unexplainable crime scenes and finally put things together? Did you come home one night to your wife being eviscerated and her heart eaten by some indescribable monster? Or do you come from a line of warlocks and have seen too much of what your family has done and decided to fight against it? All of these people have their lives and perceptions altered forever.

Even though Hunters are for the most part human, they seem to possess a certain drive that other humans do not. Seeing what really lies in the darkness and how much the odds are stacked against them, many Hunters (the ones that survive at least), tend to find ways to persevere and push on to perform things that normal humans couldn't.

Though Hunters in general have a high mortality rate, there are always others that are willing to pick up the torch so to say, and fight back against the monsters. Some are even lucky enough to come across other Hunters, and can even bond together into Cells of like-minded individuals working together toward a common goal. Bonding together into Cells are beneficial to Hunters in many ways including being able to pool resources and skills, but also having more bodies to perform tactics and even branching out networks of connections.

At the end of the day, this is exactly what The Valkyrie Foundation is: The legitimate front to a Cell of Hunters. Though called vigilantes, extremists or madmen, the main purpose of the Valkyrie Foundation to to save people from this encroaching darkness. However, due to the nature of The Enemy they face, this purpose, more often than not, seems to be overlooked by outsiders to the group.


What Makes a Hunter

Hunters are normal people, but at the same time they are set apart from normal people. They are the few who have seen something that is beyond their explanation and instead of rationalizing it away, it affects them. Psychologically, they change. They feel that knowing is enough cause for them to fight back. Even though they seek to do good, they are oftentimes viewed as outsiders or madmen. After all, if you really encountered someone who claimed that there were real vampires in a night club, you'd probably not react to well to them. This oftentimes leads to a thankless and lonely existence. This alone is usually enough to drive someone to the brink of insanity. Even if a Hunter does manage to hold onto some semblance of sanity, they are at the end of the day human. They are weak and frail, fighting things that oftentimes can rip doors off of cars or even cloud one's mind to the point of turning them into a mindless thrall, or worse...

Hunters can come from many walks of life as well. Were you a cop that just had seen too many strange cases and unexplainable crime scenes and finally put things together? Did you come home one night to your wife being eviscerated and her heart eaten by some indescribable monster? Or do you come from a line of warlocks and have seen too much of what your family has done and decided to fight against it? All of these people have their lives and perceptions altered forever.

Even though Hunters are for the most part human, they seem to possess a certain drive that other humans do not. Seeing what really lies in the darkness and how much the odds are stacked against them, many Hunters (the ones that survive at least), tend to find ways to persevere and push on to perform things that normal humans couldn't.

Though Hunters in general have a high mortality rate, there are always others that are willing to pick up the torch so to say, and fight back against the monsters. Some are even lucky enough to come across other Hunters, and can even bond together into Cells of like-minded individuals working together toward a common goal. Bonding together into Cells are beneficial to Hunters in many ways including being able to pool resources and skills, but also having more bodies to perform tactics and even branching out networks of connections.

At the end of the day, this is exactly what The Valkyrie Foundation is: The legitimate front to a Cell of Hunters.

Who Hunts, Who Doesn't

This is a brief guide for making a character suitable for Valkyrie Foundation, and most importantly, what to avoid.

Who Hunts:

This first category of people are roughly 90% sure to make it in.

  • Normal people: These are normal everyday folks that had an encounter with the supernatural that they couldn't ignore. Factory workers, convenience store clerks, and Gang members who see "that which should not be" and take up the hunt.
  • Highly trained normal people: These people are much more likely to last longer than their first hunt. Those who have a higher degree of training from their normal lives. Police officers, Ex-military, Martial Artists, and Undercover Operatives all fit in nicely.
  • "Almost" Normal people: Normal folks whose encounter with the supernatural left them with an ability that's not so normal. Nothing major, but it might just give them the edge needed to survive. An ability to detect the demonic, stronger/tougher then average (you won't be lifting trucks, but a hybrid car...), and accelerated healing are all good examples.
  • Men/Women of the cloth: Clergy (Priests, Reverends, Nuns, etc.) who have seen the supernatural and for whatever reason (smiting the unholy usually) have taken up the hunt. They have a distinct advantage over most other normal folks in that the vast majority of the worlds religions have prayers and rights designed for dealing with the supernatural. Catholic Priest, Baptist Reverend, and Shinto Priests are all good examples of this.

Who (Also) Hunts:

This category of people are still acceptable, but are less likely to get in, and are likely to have In Character problems with other hunters.

  • Magic users: Normal people that, through intensive study, have learned to harness magical energies. These people are acutely aware of the supernatural, and a small few seek to hunt it. Many Magic Users, however, use their magic for nefarious ends, or gained it through demonic means, and they give the few "good" magic users a bad name among hunters.
  • Super Scientists: People touched by the spark of genius. The rare few of those with this intellect that discover the supernatural, usually want to study it rather than destroy it. This lends a level of distrust to the rare scientist who seeks to take up the hunt. While they can be nearly invaluable to any hunter group who takes them in, they can also spell disaster if their curious nature isn't kept in check.
  • Psychics: Hunters are by nature a secretive bunch, and distrusting of things that are born "different". So encounters between Hunters and those who are psychically active rarely end well, and even when they do, few hunters are willing to accept someone into the cell who can read their thoughts, or cause them to fly across the room with only a stray thought. While most hunters are willing to "live and let live" as far as genuine psychics are concerned, they usually keep their distance.

Who Doesn't (Usually) Hunt:

This category of "people" normally don't make it in, however with a very, VERY good story they might, in RARE instances, be accepted. Those who are accepted are almost certain to have in character conflict with the other hunters however, so they must prove to be exceptional role players, and willing to take the in character abuse (out of character issues are not tolerated).

  • Werewolves: Most hunters view these creatures as just another monster to kill, albiet a very dangerous one. However, since werewolves tend to fight against other Supernaturals, there is a bit of hope for them. Any Werewolf will have an uphill battle to prove it self to any cell of hunters open minded enough to give them a chance.
  • Manimals (and other furries): Most seasoned hunters aren't going to think twice about killing the odd human-animal hybrid that just popped up in front of them. Hunter cells are unlikely to take a chance on something that may or may not be a demonic creature there to kill them. Should both sides make it past the initial confrontation, they usually find they have very little in common goal wise; and even if the Manimal joins the hunt, they will constantly be mistaken for an enemy whenever encountering a new hunter.
  • Magical Creations: Gargoyles, Golems, and other (non-undead) magical servants are almost never accepted from the outside by a hunter group. Only in the very rare case of a hunter-magic-user making something, or a Hunter Cell moving into a building protected by a Gargoyle are such things accepted, and never to the degree as any "living" hunter.
  • Scientific Creations: Robots, power-armored heroes, AI constructs, Clones, and other such advanced Scientific creations are generally not used by Hunter groups. Not out of any form of prejudice, but mainly because such things are ridiculously expensive to buy and maintain. While a very well funded and well connected Hunter group might have a suit or two of power armor, they are treated as a "last line of defense" item. After all, even in a world filled with Superheroes and Supervillians, Swarms of robots and flights of power armor tend to get noticed, and a hunters best weapon is his ability to remain hidden. Things like this tend to draw a lot of attention and are thus counter-productive to Hunting.

Who Doesn't Hunt:

This group is 99.99% unacceptable. The very, Very, VERY FEW from this category that are in Valkyrie Foundation are usually there for plot reasons, and we are almost guaranteed to never have a second one of the same type.

  • The Enemy: Anything we hunt that hasn't already been mentioned. (Demons, Vampires, etc.) They are the things we fight against, the reasons for denying their entry should be obvious.
  • Traditional Superheroes: Hunters don't always stay inside the bounds of the law during their hunts. The methods used would lead most Superheroes to drop the Hunter group into the nearest prison. Yes, Hunters and Heroes occasionally cross paths without incident, but normally only when one steps into the others world. (A Superhero happens upon an ancient cult, or Magic using Supervillian. Or a Hunter is in the right place at the right time to stop a major crime or Supervillian and decided to take action.) And quite frankly, The superheroes have their enemies, and hunters have theirs. Each has their own job to do without worrying about the others.
  • Mutants: Hunters already have a distrust of those born "different". Much like Traditional Superheroes, Mutants have their own set of problems. We are not the Xavier Institute.
  • Aliens: Is it an alien, or some kind of demon? Better to just not take the chance. Suffice it to say, Aliens have no place in Valkyrie foundation.
  • Angels and other "Good" Supernaturals: Even the most Faithful hunter is going to have a hard time believing that it really is an Angel standing in front of him, and not some sort of demon trying to fool him. Even with proof, the Hunt is a Human fight, and many hunters believe that ALL Supernaturals need to leave humanity alone. Additionally, Hunters who have experienced Angels tend to distrust them in the same ways they distrust demons. While demons are evil and manipulative and are part of a great power struggle; Angels have their orders and are part of a bigger plan, a plan mortals are not privy to. (Also note, there are no "Good" demons, any attempt to make a good demon will result in global ignore.)
  • Anything Weirder than Xinthus: Simple rule, keep it simple. While combining some of the acceptable character types is alright (ie. an "Almost" normal man of the cloth, or a Magic using police officer), trying to be too much at once is just as likely to have you denied as trying to play a big bad demon. After all, a Psychic, magic-using, Martial artist in power armor, is only fun for the person playing it.

The Enemy

The Valkyrie Foundation exists in a world under siege. Humanity is entrenched in an invisible war so clandestine that few are even aware of it. Monsters that have crawled from chaos into the society and masked themselves as one of us. Dark Magic bleeds through cracks in the city's streets. Curses and bad omens flutter about like dark unseen butterflies. This is the world that a hunter sees, a world vastly different than that seen by the rest of humanity.

At the core of the group exists the hunt itself; the foes we face. There are just about as many motives for hunters as there are monsters that plague them. Some want the creatures neutralized; others, like VIPER, want them for research; and still others want them for their power. Not every hunter views these creatures in the same way, however as Hunters come together and band into cells, they tend to align themselves with like-minded individuals. Below is listed the creatures that plague humanity and how the Valkyrie Foundation views them. The Valkyrie Foundation is a group dedicated to eliminating threats and helping people, not capturing these creatures for experimentation, making deals for power, or for the simple purpose of the thrill of the fight. We come together in our motive, and not our individual views. Each member of the Valkyrie Foundation has their own experiences and own agenda and views these creatures slightly differently, this is merely an overview of the group as a whole's view and an individual Hunter's views may vary slightly or drastically from what is listed here.


The Dead That Still Walk

For thousands of years, humans have been fascinated with death. Many cultures and religions share similar beliefs of what happens after death. These religions are some of the most widespread and influential religions of our time, whether it's the Christian Heaven, Hades of Ancient Greece or the many thousands of Hells associated with Buddhist beliefs. Even modern science seems fascinated with death as we now know how the brain dies and the body breaks down and decays. Death forever captures us because there is no coming back from it, no way to learn about it until it happens. The Undead are the exception to this rule. They have found a way to defy the very cycle of life, cheat death if you will. These things have returned from the grave and they are no longer what they once were. Regardless of if they are rotting, festering and falling apart or they are as pristine as the day they died, they all hunger to devour the living.

  • Vampires - Vampires are some of the most common, and yet some of the most subtle as well. After all, they were once human. They still look human, and many still act human. But don't let that fool you. They are still monsters, and some of the worst at that. In order to survive, they must drink the blood of human beings. They are driven by dark passions, stirred by the blood to give into whatever impulse sates them at the moment. Vampires have turned their back on the natural order of things. Due to their fear of death or their own vanity. Their continued existence is nothing more than a testament to this fear and vanity. Because of this, vampires are not to to be confused as human. They are master manipulators and have managed to survive as long as they have through convincing those who know of their existence that they aren't a threat, or that they are "just another race of humans." This is a lie. They are parasites, monsters and corrupters. They are not to be taken lightly, and are to be killed whenever possible. Beware though, those that have had a taste of a vampires blood or those that have given into their machinations can be just as big of an enemy as the vampire itself. Vampires weaknesses can vary greatly, however four things are always constant: Sunlight, Fire, Blessed Objects and Decapitation.
  • Zombies - When the dead walk. Some of them run. Not just recently dead, but really dead. Rotting husks crawling up out of their graves. This is never a good thing. When the dead walk, there are problems for the living. Some eat brains, some eat flesh, some just want to spread their disease. Whether summoned by a necromancer, or animated by the dark taint of the earth, the walking dead are all to be exterminated with extreme prejudice. Sever the connection the brain has with the body. If that doesn't work, burn the body. If that doesn't work, destroy them completely.
  • Mummies - The name alone seems to stir images of the dead, wrapped in bandages, slowly lumbering toward their next kill. The truth however, is that the traditional Hollywood mummy is little more than an Egyptian Zombie, and is merely a minion to something greater. It is the Mummy Lords that Hunters truly fear and are the true masters of the undead. They can look just like a normal human, or they can have the head or other features of whatever dark deity they served in life, the most common being the head of a Snake or Jackal, but it's not unheardof to have a fully anthropomorphic Jackal either. The powers of mummies vary greatly. Some are warriors, others have are able to control the very elements. Summoning sandstorms, controlling entire rivers, causing earthquakes and summoning swarms of flesh-eating insects are all common mummy powers. It's also not unheard of for one of these creatures to be able to erase a person's name from the "Book of Life," wiping them from ever having existed. Of course claims such as these are very difficult to prove, but with the variety of truly awesome powers these creatures possess, it is scarily believable. The only thing that is known to kill a true mummy is fire. The bodies of thee dead burn much more easily than a human body, however unlike vampires, mummies do no fear fire, and they are still highly resistant to it. Fire is only considered their weakness because nothing else seems to phase them at all. The only other way to kill a mummy is starvation. Mummies sustain their unholy existence by feeding on human being's Ka, the part of the soul the Egyptians call it's life force. However, with 6 billion people on the planet, and nearly god-like powers at their disposal, this usually seems all but impossible.
  • Ghosts - No one knows exactly what happens after we die. This is what makes ghosts so mysterious. They don't pass on like most souls. Something keeps them in our world, at least partially. Perhaps it is the intense trauma of their death, perhaps there was something they needed to complete and their time ended before they could do so, perhaps even, they don't feel it is their time yet. They are bound to their fate with little control of their own, and yet there is still something undoubtedly human about them. They still feel pain, remorse, sorrow, and loss in much the same way a human can; however time changes all things. Ghosts never choose to become what they are, and over time, this loneliness and lack of control tends to twist and pervert the feelings they so desperately cling to. Some can become powerful entities, able to impose their will on the physical world. This is when ghosts become dangerous. The madness of an emotional, soulful insanity, far removed from the biochemical reactions that can keep humans in check, makes an angry ghost far more dangerous and far more unpredictable than any human could ever be. Ghosts are also difficult to deal with. The best thing to do is to find what it is that still keeps it anchored to our world and try to help it move on. More dangerous ones can be dealt with by salting and burning the bones of its former body. In extreme cases where there is no body, and there is no way to find its anchor, then an exorcism will be in order.


Those That Change Shape

Some monsters wears masks in order to walk amongst us. Creatures that can transform into wolves, tigers, and other things. Oftentimes they are very difficult to detect, however, unlike a true human, there is always something off, or different. Perhaps they have a feral streak, there is just a primal feeling about them or they have a sort of "pack mentality." Other times their motives are what give them away. Either way, how can a Hunter trust something who's very form is a lie?

  • Werewolves - The furthest back that we can find lore on werewolves goes back to Ancietn Greece when the Arcadian King, Lycaon and his fifty sons offered Zeus a meal that was secretly child flesh. In a rage, Zeus cursed his dispicable bloodline, turning them into wolves. The jury is still out on where they come from though; the childer of a Pagan God, the descendants of those that sold their souls to Hell Hounds, or even people that are afflicted with some kind of supernatural disease. Lycanthropes is what they're typically called, but more academic Hunters will know the real name for these creatures is Therianthropes. Either way, a few facts have become blindingly evident about these creatures. First being that they are all tied to the moon in some way, though different individuals seem affected more by certain cycles than others. The skulkers find the most power in the darkness of the New Moon, while the Feral Warriors draw power from the light of the Full Moon. Silver seems to be the way to harm with them, oftentimes having extreme adverse effects on their bodies. Also, these creatures have an odd tendency to hunt other Supernatural Creatures. This has caused The Valkyrie Foundation to be torn on the subject of lycanthropes in general. While some say that they are just Hunters like the rest of us, others believe this to be a ruse or proof that the creatures of the night are just as happy tearing each other to ribbons as they are to prey on humans. Since the group's opinion on these creatures varies so much, the Foundation's Official stance is to not actively hunt lycanthropes that are not actively hurting people. Not all the Hunters follow this protocol though...
  • Skinriders - No one's exactly sure where these creatures come from, but Skinriders are by far one of the most disturbing creatures the Valkyrie Foundation have ever faced. A Skinrider is a single creature, made up of thousands of vermin, all sharing a single consciousness. Locusts, rats, beetles, ants, even snakes make up one of these foul creatures. In their natural state, they are often mistaken for simple a collection of vermin, however, more often then not they are not in their natural form. Skinriders get their name from that they find a way to burrow their swarm into a human body, consuming it's insides for sustenance. This is a process that slowly kills the host over a process of months, but it only takes days for the creature to overcome and dominate it's hosts consciousness, taking full control of it's body. The only way to truly kill one of these things is to kill all the vermin that make it up, because if even a single vermin escapes, it can find more like it and slowly regenerate back to what it was. Strangely though, the sound of a screech beetle has been known to cause this creature to lose control of it's form, making it much easier to kill. It is believed that not only a screech beetle, but that any socially- solitary vermin like beetles, mantises or spiders can disturb their form. Why this is true is still unknown.


Corrupters,Seducers, Manipulators

These are the things that are often the most difficult to deal with. The things that learn how to cloud our mind and hearts, or offer us exactly what we want. These are the things from outside our world that seek nothing more than to control us, and change the world to how they see fit.

  • Demons - Demons wear many faces and have many different forms. To understand what a demon is, it's best to look back and see where the come from. The original term daimon or daemon comes from ancient Greek, referring to a creature that offers divine knowledge or power. Even though this seems more benevolent than what we think of as demons, this still holds true to their motis operandi. Demons make deals, they seek to corrupt. Just like humans eat food and vampires drink blood, demons gain sustenance from sin and from humans giving in to their vices. To stir such things' passions, they take on varying shapes to "encourage" desired behaviors from their prey. One demon might strike a pact encouraging a man back to the heroine needle; where another one may try to push a married man into a one-night stand with his secretary or even something as simple as stealing that pack of gum from the grocery store. But why do they do this? Demons all seem to have knowledge and power, just like their name implies. This makes them very seductive to hunters. The whisper of forbidden knowledge; the way to kill that vampire, a dark ritual that will bring back their lost love that put them on this path in the first place, the location of a witch that's evaded capture for years; these are all things that a hunter will find very difficult to resist. However, those more wise know the truth about demons. What they are and where they come from. Demons are human. Human souls at least. Hell is a terrible place. A World filled with all the pain that the human mind can't begin to comprehend. Upon reaching Hell, a human soul begins to be tortured in ways that are completely incomprehensible in the physical world. Physically, mentally and spiritually they are tortured. Tortured for eternity. Never relenting, never ending. Over the course of thousands of year, the soul loses all touch with what it once was. The moment the soul steps down off "The Rack" they themselves pick up the knife and torture the new souls in Hell. This is when a soul has fully transformed into a demon, a creature of pain and suffering. However, demons cannot thrive in Hell, much the way a human couldn't survive if were forced to eat its own feces. This is why demons seek to escape Hell to our world. A World that isn't overrun with sin, a world where they can thrive. No demon is good. No demon is benevolent. No demon can fight their nature. Sin and temptation are at the core of their very essence. Demons are to be destroyed or exorcised at the earliest possible moment, they cannot be allowed to live in our world.
  • Succubi and Incubi - The vampires of the demon world. Succubi and Incubi are demon lovers whose unrestrained sexuality strides the border between honest passion and exploitation. They see no difference between feeding and sex, since sex is how they feed. Sometimes they will seduce their prey and carry on long-term relationships, killing their victim over the course of years. But these relationships are never true love, and are casual play at best. Succubi also have the ability to dive into a man's dreams, feeding on him while he sleeps, sapping away his very life force. The true key to the Succubus though, is her selfishness. Her sexualize personality conceals her lack of empathy, which is why she always hunts alone. A succubus, trapped and alone, without anyone's emotions to feed upon is easy prey for a skilled cell of Hunters. But beware, Succubi often have harems of men at their fingertips, and can even ignite the emotions and passions of a unsuspecting passer-by. Those in the succubus thrall are just as dangerous as she is, but with her death, so dies the passion. Kill her first, only harm her thralls if you have no other choice.
  • Angels - One would probably wonder why it is that Angels would appear on a list of Hunter Enemies. How can a creature so righteous and so benevolent be considered a threat to humanity? This is the question most hunters would ask, however, the on the rare occasion a Hunter does meet an angel, the answer to this question quickly becomes evident. Angels are the opposite of demons, righteous beings of virtue. Demons are largely selfish, always trapped in their constant power struggles to climb the Infernal Hierarchy. But Angels, angels have a their orders. Orders that come from a much greater plan. A plan that humans are not privy to. Angels have little interest in sharing their plans or their orders with humans, and care little for humans that get in their way. Angels were the first children of God, and they believe this makes them better than the monkeys that He gave the Earth to. Also, angels utterly personify virtues, and live off of them much the way demons survive off of sin. An angel of charity will seek to force people to give away everything they have to others. An Angel of Faith will nearly destroy a man's mind dragging it through a gauntlet of sanity-shattering tests of faith. At the end of the day, Angels hate demons. They seek to eradicate them at every turn and care little for the humans caught in the midst. Angels are inhumanly difficult to fight against and and using an Ars Almadel only seems to delay them. As of now, there are two known ways to kill an angel, a weapons forged by an angel, or the flames from anointing oil blessed directly by God. The best way to deal with an angel is to stay out of its way.


Things from Beyond Our World

There are some things that are just beyond our world. These are often the some of the most difficult things to deal with, not because of their powers or what they are capable of, but because they are alien to us. Things that are either incomprehensible, or simply don't understand what we are. For these creatures, it's not what we know, but what we don't know that makes them dangerous.

  • Spirits- Most humans rarely encounter these entities in a readily apparent way, although contact with them can be all too frequent. In our daily lives, we all brush past an incorporeal spirit, or spend the night in a hotel that was once the room of a serial killer, but even then we don't necessarily feel their influence. In the darkest, unluckiest moment of our lives, we encounter these denizens of the world just beyond our senses. We see the formless shapes of these creatures out of the corner of our eyes, but see nothing when we turn to look. We see them watching us from the dark corner of a room, but they seem to cease existing when we turn the lights on. We hear them claw at our walls and windows, but they leave no form or mark; just a feeling of their presence. A Feeling that we know something is wrong. No one knows quite where spirits come from, or really what they are. What is known is that they seem to have some kind of tie to either an event, object, or emotion, at least in some part. However, this doesn't ever seem to be as simple as it sounds. Spirits of objects or creatures of natures always seem to bear a resemblance to the thing they reflect. However, as they become more powerful their form grows and changes and diverges from that form, though still keeping a small reflection of what it is they resemble. Spirits of concepts or emotions can have a wide variety of forms and can be surreal, mythic, symbolic and even nightmarish in appearance. In dealing with spirits, finding them is often the hardest part. A line or circle of salt can protect you from them, or even bind them in place, but an exorcism is the only known way to truly defeat one.
  • Fairy Tales - Fairy tales are true. Actually, they're worse than true. Somewhere deep in the forest you'll find a house made of gingerbread or a wicked stepmother with a poisonous apple. Sometimes we encounter real actual faeries fluttering about, sometimes they look human but glide with some kind of preternatural grace. Some are even more bizarre; nothing more than shadows, or shapes and colors, maybe even the glittering shimmer of light on an old woodland path. But what are faeries? Ancient spirits? Beings from another world beyond the veil? Nightmares manifested in reality? No one knows for sure. One thing is known for sure, they are not to be taken lightly. Though some may seem benevolent for a time, the harsh reality is that faeries don't understand what reality is, and humans are little more than playthings to them. More than one hunter has encounter a pleasant faerie that turned on them and flayed their skins from their bones because they were bored. The best way to deal with faeries is to bring cold iron and alot of it.
  • Things that Should Not Be - Some things are just beyond mortal comprehension. These things that lurk in the darkness of the cosmos are known collectively as the mythos. The most important thing to understand about the mythos is that you can't ever really understand it. It's not good or evil--it's beyond understanding--an apocalypse that hides in the spaces between here and there, coming out every so often to feed and manipulate events in its favor. It carries names never meant for human tongue and manifests itself in ways that seem so innocent until the terrible truth sets itself in. This is the end of all things. When dealing with these things, Your best friend is a library. Someone, somewhere has encountered these things before and, in their lunacy, written down their discoveries of them. When all else fails, save the last bullet for yourself.


Human Hearts Grown Dark

Sometimes the scariest thing in our world isn't the monsters that besiege it, but ourselves. Normal men and women who have given in to the evil and darkness that surrounds and penetrates each of us.

  • Witches, Sorcerers and Magicians - Magic is real. Anyone who says differently is simply blissfully ignorant. Magic is the embodiment of the secrets of the supernatural revealed. This is probably why it's pull is so attractive to many hunters--because at our very core, humankind has always been drawn to knowledge. Sometimes this knowledge has dark foundations, some can be found in old and dusty tomes, and still more can be found on the tongues of demons, ready to spill their knowledge--for a price. Some seek to use this knowledge for good, others seek it with a mad and reckless abandon, not caring who they hurt along the way. Magic is always that mystery, because after all, what can't magic do? Magic can do just about anything. Tip the cards or dice in a game of chance? Disappear from view? Cloud your judgment? Immolate that crowd of people? Call up hellish creatures in a ring of fire burning in the snow? Magic has been known to do all these things. This is the main problem with dealing with witches: you never know quite what they are capable of. The other problem is more of a moral one. Witches, sorcerers and the ilk are all just human. They subscribe to human weaknesses: paper trails, social security numbers, mortgage payments, and appear on camera. The bullet that will make a vampire or werewolf laugh kills a magician. But that humanity is also the problem in dealing with them. Is it wrong to hunt and kill a human? Behead a vampire, they turn to ash; behead a human, there's a decapitated body on the floor. Not only does this cause mental strife on a person, but there are legal ramifications for killing people. Valkyrie Foundation seeks to rehabilitate magic users. Get them to use their knowledge and powers for good, or get them to stop using them altogether. If all else fails, do your best to get them arrested and let Stronghold deal with them. Only if your life or the life of a cellmate is in danger and there is no other option should you kill a witch, and even then onjly with heavy consideration of the consequences.
  • Cults and Cultists - Cult, form the Latin Cultus, meaning to care for or cultivate. An innocent and benevolent word, an innocence that has been lost in the passage of time. Sure, cults want to care for something, they want to cultivate something. They want to cultivate eldritch powers, horrible demons, monstrous demigods, and worse. Some cults, like DEMON are overt. Recruiting and sacrificing innocent people to their dark gods, the Kings of Edom. Guys like that are scary, yes, but luckily, hunters can see them coming. It's the more subtle and secretive cults that hide their clandestine desires. They mask themselves as church groups, charity organizations or even the local Neighborhood Watch. They don't wear robes, they don't have tattoos, they blend in. And that makes them scary. Cults represent the dark mirror-side reflection of hunter cells. Bound together with a common purpose, a desire to care for and cultivate something. Some cults even grow out of hunter cells that have either gone mad, are so morally bankrupt, or are so desperate that their ideals turn into someting truly insidious. When a desperate group of hunters try stop a sorcerer from sacrificing victims to his cloven-hooved god and the see amount of power he gets in return, who's to say that sacrificing supernatural creatures for a portion of that power isn't a good cause? The cause seems just enough, and so they do so. This highlights the other main weapon of cults: they are seductive. They always have something to offer. Cults are often the biggest problem Valkyrie Foundation faces, and we are one of the few that can actually stand in the way of the numerically superior DEMON. Cults must be stopped at all costs. Those that worship these dark deities and the like have given up the one thing that truly makes us human: our free will.
  • Slashers - Some people just go over the edge, go off the rails, go batsh*t insane. They give into evil, they give into their murderous desires, they feel compelled to kill. Some call them "Slashers" but that's just a name given to the phenomenon. Generally, these are lone-serial killer types. Some invoke moral messages, others stick to a particular prey like transvestites, teenage girls or gay men. Others seek revenge against those that have wronged them. Most are human, with human weaknesses and frailties. Others seem to go so far over the edge, that they manifest supernatural powers. But why? Why do these powers manifest? And why are they different for each slasher? No hunter knows, but we all fear the real answer. IS this the true manifestation of evil? Does the human condition have a switch, that when flipped, gives them access to hidden abilities within their psyche? These abilities can range from virtually anything, however certain abilities are seen with certain motis operandi. That guy with the hokey mask and chainsaw who is unable to speak that lumbers on even after a .45 has been emptied into him. The genius with supernatural levels of deduction and problem solving. Others still only appear when their legend is met and seem possess inhuman levels of physical prowess. But how to deal with them? The jury is still out and the subject still up for debate, just because of the immense variations within the slasher phenomenon. Some need to be stopped at all costs, even if it means killing them. Other still can be communicated with. Reach out to the killer, commune with him and find that message or human soul buried deep inside his insanity. But is this even possible? To find good within the evil? Or is there merely a void where a soul once was? A void that will threaten to consume the soul of a hunter and turn them into the very thing they are trying to save?

Anomalies

The list above is far from exhaustive. There are many other things that are not so easily classified. Not every dark being that plagues humanity can be classified into the above categories. Some monsters are wholly unique. Some only exist in a single cabal of similar things. Many are born, or created or manifest from somewhere beyond creation and classifying such things can be exhaustive if not impossible. The Valkyrie Foundation believes that foolish Hunters fear these creatures for the lack of researchable material and the mystery of what type of powers they possesses; while wise hunters don't fear them for what they can do but why the do it. Does it seek revenge? Does it hunger for Sin? Does it exist to fulfill some dream it had in a bygone age? Or does it simply not even know we exist? It is often a monsters motives that put the true horror of its being into perspective, not what it is capable of.

How It Began

The Core of the Valkyrie Foundation (from left to right): Pinky, Will McBlack, Harper, Heba, Arthur, Beth, and Xin(flying)

To understand what the Valkyrie Foundation is, it's best to first look at where it began and why it exists. In Augest of 2004, the young priest, Will McBlack and a nun by the name of Elizabeth Perkins were excommunicated from the Catholic Church. The official reason is up for debate, but the truth lies in a discovery Beth had made two years earlier. Beth, at the time a seventeen year-old nun in training and an academic theologian, discovered that vampires existed. She made this discovery over the course of countless hours of research through evidence that had survived; hidden throughout the centuries. Before her findings could be published though, she was approached by a grizzled priest who made her an offer she couldn't refuse.

Beth was brought into the fold of an ancient and hidden wing of the Catholic Ministry. This group, known as the Malleus Maleficarum, had existed out of sight of the rest of the world since the decline of The Inquisition. In fact, the group itself was what remained of that dark tribunal. Even in its history, this congregation existed for the main purpose of hunting down, identifying and destroying witchcraft, vampires and the demonic. Even though during the time of the Spanish Inquisition the tribunal was made very public and executed countless innocent people, that was never the intention of the group and was more the desperate act of power-hungry politicians using this group to inspire fear of the Church's almighty power than an actual which hunt. As the Inquisition fell out of favor, and slowly made its transition to a more benevolent congregation, Pope Paul III sanctioned a group with the same name as the book that began the Inquisition with the power and the task of hunting down any and all manifestations of Satan. This book, and this group are both known as the Malleus Maleficarum, Latin for Hammer of Witches. Since the 16th century, this group has worked behind the scenes and in the shadow of the Catholic church, hunting down and eradicating the supernatural. Even though their war is a secretive one, the supernaturals of the world, and even other Hunters view them with both respect and fear, due to both their grim and vicious methods and their utter effectiveness.

Beth was not only taught about what kinds of things lived out there in the world, but given some basic training in dealing with them as well. Since she lived out of a convent in Palo Alto, California she was assigned to the nearest Chapter of their underground organization in Sunnyvale. There she would be working with one of their most experienced and successful hunters. To her surprise, this hunter wasn't much older than her; an eighteen-year old William McBlack. Though young, Will had been a member of the Malleus Maleficarum since he was a very young child. Even though he'd only actually been in the field for three years, he already had more dead vampires and exorcisms under his belt than most hunters with over a decade of experience on him. Even with this kind of reputation, he somehow seemed different than the other Witch Hunters to Beth. He seemed to be more open and understanding and not quite as vicious as the men she'd delt with so far. After meeting Will, she would meet a friend of his, Arthur Toye, the nineteen-year old prodigy-CEO of a major corporation known as Toye Holdings Intl.. That was when she learned how the two had met. Toye Holdings was actually a multi-planar corporation that had ties to the occult and the demonic. Many of the former board members were vampires, possessed by demons, or worse; and at the center of it all was it's CEO: Richard Toye, Arthur's father. Both, Arthur and Will had grown up in a world of the occult, it only made sense that, both of them living in Sunnyvale, they'd run into each other at some point. Richard Toye had planned on opening up a Qliphothic Tear in our world, one large enough to not only let entire legions of demons into our world, but in a hope to bring Lucifer himself as well. Before the ritual could be completed though, Arthur killed his own father, saving the world and inheriting the company. Since then, most of the vampires and demons had been rooted out or bought out of the company, and now Toye Holdings focused on more beneficial programs.

Over the course of the next year though, Beth would continue her studies. That is when she would uncover the truth about the Malleus Maleficarum, a secret that not even the inner circle of the congregation knew. The Malleus Maleficarum was started, not by a man looking to fight back against the supernatural, but a vampire. A vampire looking to improve his own political power base, as well as destroy his enemies and political rivals. This did not sit well with Beth, nor with Will. The two worked together and formulated a plan. The two of them were going to assassinate this vampire and bring the truth about him into the light.

This was the plan at least. In reality, they had no idea what they were up against. Neitehr of them had ever fought a vampire that was over five-hundred years old before. And even then, a vampire that has continued to feed off of the blood of the thousands of vampires killed by the Malleus Maleficarum's Witch Hunters. They were lucky ot have escaped with their lives. Will was badly injured and Beth had been poisoned. When the two reached a safe shelter, Will did his best to sew himslef back together and treat Beth for her poison. In the end, he would save Beth's life, but her eyesight would be lost.

Over the course of the next five years, Beth and Will stayed well hidden. The two were not only excommunicated, but were branded as heretics and traitors and are now a top priority for the Witch Hunters of the Malleus Maleficarum. The two still keep in contact with Arthur, who has been pretty much single-handedly funding the two. Over the years, they met up with the Millennium City Detective that had been assigned to their case. Luckily, she Hunter as well; Lorena Aniel, and Will even had his life saved by a High-Elf Undead Hunter from another world by the name Heba. These five have survived this long, still trying to fight back against the supernatural threats to the world, but also trying to stay hidden from the their former congregation. It wasn't until finally in 2008 that Arthur became fed up with spending so much of his money on supplying the others with ammunition, lodging, fake IDs, etc., that he finally urged Beth and Will to form a nonprofit organization so that he could get a tax write-off and continue ot be able to fund them without hurting his company.

This is where the Valkyrie Foundation was formed. Officially, a nonprofit organization that is meant for helping children with "special needs" (the criteria to fit these exact specific needs is a secret to the public) with obtaining housing, schooling and "job training." Unofficially, they are a cell of Hunters, fighting in a war the rest of the world never sees. Although, they do actually perform the job their foundation was founded for. Inevitably, when dealing with the supernatural, it's all too common for a child to be orphaned in the process, or for someone to find themselves with a new ability after a close encounter with a demonic entity. This is where the Valkyrie Foundation does their job. In finding this children who have been orphaned or affected by the supernatural in some way and bring them into the fold, training them to be the next generation of Hunters.