Secret_Hunt

GENESIS OF THE NEPHILIM
When the world was young and formless (a spinning wheel of chaos centered on the cornerstone that was Eden) the Demiurge, in its inscrutable whims, created a hierarchy of servants to execute its will. ‘Servants’, though, is a rather generous definition, for a better one would be ‘instruments’. Each generated as the Demiurge called its name, they were the first Angels, entities existing for a purpose, perfect in their blank purity of intents. They were meant to be eternal, perpetually serving their one purpose and ready to be dispatched at the Demiurge’s whims.

Some of them, though, proved defective.
Perhaps it was about the nature of their name, perhaps the intonation of the Demiurge’s voice as it created them. But something in the perfect circle of their axiomatic programming seemed to find a breach, an error, and multiply it until their purity was corrupted by the terrible stigma of conscience. These defective angels realized their own existence, asked themselves who they were and, most dangerous of all, what they wanted.
One thing led to another, and soon, a cohort of Angels led what could have been the greatest revolution in existence ... but proved to be instead their undoing.
But this is not their tale.

Not all the ‘defective’ angels followed the rebellion of the Morning Star. Some remained loyal, others didn’t align to any faction. After the Heaven’s War and the consequent Fall, the Arbiter deemed all these angels unworthy of Heaven, their impurity a threat to the Throne and the perfection of their peers. But they hadn’t sinned either, yet, or at least not enough to suffer the same fate of the Fallen ... and thus they were exiled on Earth, to become the Nephilim.

EARTH AND EDEN
The exile forced the Nephilim in bodies of flesh, blood and bones, and while unnaturally strong and durable, not to mention eternal, they still suffered the burdens of the living - they discovered hunger, thirst, fatigue and pain.
It was exhilarating.
In the prison of their new flesh, the Nephilim found a sour, bitter form of freedom. For they were no longer trapped in the never-changing eternity of Heaven, but instead subjected to the laws of a world that could crumble and change around them, and to the sufferings of their own bodies, no longer mere pieces of the Demiurge’s word but physical entities, capable of pain, fatigue, sickness, and hunger, and lust.
The Nephilim were aware Earth would never be their home, but nonetheless, the torment of their exile reserved them its bittersweet surprises. Humans, for example. A countless number of being living their own individual existence, pursuing their goals, brewing their desires, dreaming their dreams. And oh, the things that could be done with those humans! The things that could be done to them! Pleasure was the next discovery, and it had many, twisted forms. And with an eternity of decadence to look forward to...

Nonetheless, some of the Nephilim began to dream of a place that they could claim as their own. They could never return to the timeless dread that was Heaven, but Earth itself they would never accept. Their own debauchery was little more than a desperate attempt to resist the depressive feeling of being forever trapped in a world that would never stop moving, changing, decaying and rebuilding. They were created as absolutes, and for how different they could be from the Angels they once were, the eternal spinning of that barely organized chaos vexed their eternal souls.

There was but one place where they could hope to find peace: Eden.

THE HUNT BEGINS
A circle of Nephilim formed, united by the same intent: reclaim Eden as their new home.
There would be no way, though, to achieve such goal through brute force or deception, for the Guardian of the Gates could not be overpowered or outsmarted by them, even less now as they were forced in mere physical bodies.
No, they could not take Eden by themselves. Their only hope was to earn it.

From the dawn of time, sinister entities had threatened the legacy of the children of the Heavenly Father. Sinful creatures walked the Earth, seeking to corrupt, torment or destroy the line of Mankind. They had many names through the ages - devils, djinni, vampires, succubi, rakshasa ... countless lineage of unnatural beings that preyed on humans, or even schemed for their downfall. But while humans are often powerless against such treats, or unaware of their very existence, the Nephilim had the power to seek and smite such foul beings.
And so, while they had looked at humans as mere occasional playthings and cattle thus far, the Nephilim began to see a possibility. A glimmer of hope that passed through that vulnerable mortal race.

Of all the inhabitants of Earth, humans alone carried on the legacy of the Demiurge, venerating its many forms, building temples in its honor and perpetrating its myths and its word. They were its chosen people, and the creatures who sought their harm were insulting the Demiurge itself. Perhaps hunting and striking down such foes could earn the Nephilim the indulgence of the Demiurge, and thus the key to Eden ...

And so, through the millennia, the Secret Hunt has carried on. Ruthless, relentless, remorseless, the Nephilim have long been hunting the supernatural enemies of Men, always in the shadows, never revealing themselves to the world any more than their prey themselves do.

TODAY
The Nephilim that participate in the great plan that is the Secret Hunt ( ‘Hunters’, from now on) are few, but incredibly well organized.
They make good use of mundane technology altogether with ancient holy relics and bizarre trinkets crafted by modern-day witches and occultists.
They exploit a vast network of informers and infiltrates (mostly humans) to identify their next target, and with the great patience that comes from eternity, they often plan carefully their moves to strike always at the best moment. For fiends, vampires, succubi and other treacherous creatures meld deep into human society, and rarely act openly ... and every time one is taken, the others of its kin become all the more wary and cautious. The Nephilim are not mere vigilantes - they strike only when the greatest possible result can be achieved. Taking down leaders of secret cults, lahmia matriarchs or ancient nosferati, or capturing an entire court of succubi in a single raid... that’s how the Hunters prefer to work.

Morality
Assuming the Nephilim to be agents of Good would be a dire mistake. To put it bluntly, they have been preying on humans to make use and abuse of them as much as any of the ‘foul creatures’ they are hunting. They merely decided to turn their attentions to the other supernatural predators and deceivers in order to earn the graces of the Arbiter, enough at least to be allowed in Eden.
They still occasionally indulge in human prey, although most of the times they refrain from indulging in them, and rather make use of the prisoners captured in their hunts.

Secrecy
The existence of the Nephilim and the Secret Hunt is known to only a handful of humans - the best informed seekers of the occult, a handful of priests and exorcists, and the patriarchs of all the major religions devoted to the Demiurge being notable cases.

Contacts with the Churches
The Nephilim are bitterly aware that to achieve their goal they need to pass through the indulgence of the mortal agents of the Demiurge’s will.
Thus, the crowned heads of the major religions are aware of the Secret Hunt; not only, but through trusted intermediaries the Hunters notice to said patriarchs every successful hunt, while through said intermediaries it is possible to contact the Nephilim and inform them of particular threats they should take care of.

The Spiral / The Occult Market
Unbeknownst to most mundane people, a vast community of occult-wise individuals exists in secret. Not just mere curious bookworms which delve in esoteric readings, no - rather actual initiates to mystic arts, collectors of ancient tomes and relics, followers chosen by enlightened masters generation after generation, bearing memories of knowledge dating back to the times when gods walked the Earth. And not only humans, of course - revenants, hags and exiles from Heaven or Hell, to mention just a few.
And they do have their black market, known to most as The Spiral.
People aware of the very existence of the Spiral count barely in the thousands, and fewer are those that know how to participate to its intricate exchanges.
The Nephilim have found in the Spiral a most precious resource, and perhaps something more than that. It is far easier to collect precious artifacts to help their hunt through it, not to mention the performances of skilled witches and conjurers. Of course these services require payment, and the Spiral-goers have little use for mundane currency; barter is far more common, regulated by the hypothetical measure called ‘Soul shard’ (one hundredth of the exchange value of a jar containing a human soul). Luckily for the Hunters, it happens that many of their prey are object of the dedicated interest of many occultists...

The Harvest
Not only do the Hunters cull the foes of mankind, no: they harvest them to barter for goods in the Spiral. The breath of a djinni? Thirty soul-shards a vial, the exchange value of a leviathan scale. With three gallons of succubus milk (fifty shards each), you may have an arrow made from angel feathers, and with a whole, live Lahmia you may have a Relic Armor crafted for a Hunter.
Through the millennia, the Hunters have grown particularly fond of the goods the Spiral can offer them - not only tools for their job, but also rare elixirs, foods and beverages unknown to mortal tongues, not to mention drugs worthy of the light of Heaven or the pits of Hell. While harvesting was only a means to an end initially, now it’s a purpose in and by itself, the Hunters as eager to earn goods on the market as they are to further the goal of achieving Eden .

THE HUNTERS
Nephilim
The history of the Nephilim has already been deeply explored. To add something about their physiology, they are impressive winged humanoids, between 8 and 9 feet tall, with a particular nasty feature in their elongated, widened jaws, particularly elastic as well, that would allow them to easily swallow down very large prey.
They are supernaturally strong, fast and tough, and with respectable regenerative abilities to boost. They have been deprived of the angelic ability to manipulate reality, but they can still perform some peculiar feats - like producing force waves from their hands, exerting moderate telekinesis, disguising themselves as humans and dispelling magic.
A Nephil, even unarmed, would prove a tough opponent to face, and almost impossible for mere humans. It would take a whole suppression team with special equipment and exceptional preparation to even hope to harm such monster. A Nephil is strong enough to lift a car and throw it over one hundred feet, or punch through a stone wall. They are faster than humans and add millennia of combat expertise. If their strenght wasn't enough, their durability is on a whole different scale - anything short of anti-tank heavy weaponry would just bounce off their skin, and even things that can actually hurt them will have to deal an incredible amount of punishment before the creature relents.
Many of the creatures they hunt are stronger or faster than they are, but the exceptional toughness and a steely resolution, added with their tactical and martial prowess, tend to largely compensate. They are used to be surrounded and outnumbered by supernaturally powerful demon and monsters, and prevail nonetheless - most times, at least.
Of course, they won't seek a fight without the right gear for it. Relic blades and armor, handguns fueled by holy water or wytchfire, bullets made from the nails of martyrs' crosses, impaler miniguns firing ashwood or silver stakes ... If there were such a thing as an Holy Grenade of Antioch, they would probably have it. And they do have many other, nasty tricks, like jars of trapped sunlight, hexing arrows and seeds to instantly sprout man-eating plants...
Not to mention their collection of monsters...

Sa’iyrim
Through the ages, the Nephilim have attempted to reproduce, both between themselves and with humans. Unfortunately, the outcome of any successful pregnancy has always been a grotesque, almost mindless creature. The Sa’iyrim are far weaker than the Nephilim, but still they’re large enough to put some considerable brute force against their opponents. Their loyalty to the Nephilim is unyielding, and they’re consequently often used as enforcers and ‘grunts’ when some additional force is neeeded.

Tanninim
A Tannin is a monster, an unwanted creature that the First Humans rejected in their days in Eden. The breed of Tannin is spiteful and ravenous, but for their great sense of smell and for their paralyzing bite they are often ‘tamed’ and used as hounds by the Hunters.

Teraphim
A Teraph is a false idol, an entity that has forced humans to venerate it as a god. Those creatures wield incredible power; the Nephilim have managed to strike a deal with two of them, Moloch and Bel, promising them a place in Eden in exchange for their occasional help in the Secret Hunt.



NAMED CHARACTERS
Here are a few notable Nephilim from the ranks of the Secret Hunt. More may be added in the future, as well.

Ambriel
The blood knight
Most notable sins: Wrath, greed.
Ambriel is a quiet and mostly patient Nephil, obedient and loyal to her huntmaster Sariel. She likes teamwork, she likes to have clear orders and she likes to apply her fists to hard things and thus prove they weren't really that hard to begin with. Although she's not too fond on expressing herself on the matter, it's well evident her love for action; while all the Nephilim seem to relish the thrill of the hunt (and none more than Eremiel), Ambriel never seems as alive as when she's in a fight, the more challenging the better. She's not one to lose her temper easily, but when she does, it's terrible news for whoever has got on her bad side ... or whoever is within punch distance, really.
She doesn't like to go against rules and prefers to stick to the plan as far as possible, but she's well capable of assessing quick tactial decisions when the situation calls for it.
When she's not on a hunt, she tends to spend her time taking care of the group's equipment, training, sparring (mostly with Eremiel) or dedicating time to her hobbies - taxidermy and assorted collection, mostly of trophies.
Fun fact: Despite her stern attitude and usually deep and raspy voice, she tends to chortle and giggle almost cutely the few times someone manages to get a laugh out of her.

Eremiel
The lone hunter
Most notable sins: Pride, envy.
Eremiel is one of the best Hunters on the field - when it comes to tracking, pursuing and subduing prey, she has no equal. Her sight and carefulness are unparalled and she uses well her other senses as well. She can tell a trap or an ambush by insinct and it's hard to ever outrun her. When it comes to combat she's lucid and can dose well prudence and an innate feral aggression. Still, she's not as strong and durable as Ambriel when it comes to fight.
Much like Ambriel, she loves action and challenges, but while her friend basks in violence, Eremiel is all about the satisfaction of the hunt. The unique pleasure she gets from stalking and pursuing her game, just to pounce on them and bask in their fear, and drag them tied to the HQ ... It's priceless. All the better if she gets to have the prey for herself as well, although often this is just not possible...
Eremiel likes to hunt alone. She'll cooperate with little trouble in the squad, but her preference is for individual man-hunts. While she can enjoy some company every now and then, she tends to be a loner most of the time, mostly to fly and wander around and, more often than not, go on *personal* hunts.
She loves to play with whatever she's caught, just like a cat, and takes morbid delight in personally killing them ... expecially the daintest, most delicate and beautiful prey. Her perverse fascination extends to their snuffed carcasses as well. She also appreciates Ambriel's passion for taxidermy, and is eager to provide beautiful corpses to make into everlasting trophies.
Being rather prideful and with a strong need for independence, she doesn't love to follow orders and often disregards them to do what she feels better. She often challenges Sariel's leadership. When she's actually spending time with the other Nephilim, she's usually sparring with Ambriel, indulging in the most decadent leisures with Gadreel or discussing - and more often than not, arguing - with Sariel.
Fun fact: While not a hoarder like Ambriel, she's quite prone to kleptomania. Also, for how cool and focuse she may look, she completely loses control if a bird, a squirrel or another small animal has the terrible idea of appearing in her line of sight (unless she's already on a hunt, of course).

Gadreel
The devious schemer
Most notable sins: Lust, sloth.
Gadreel does not love action as much as her companions do. To be sincere, she mostly loves to enjoy an eternity of disinterested sloth, interrupted by precious (but not that rare) hours dedicated to the most varied forms of debauchery. She's also fond of the fine arts of mortals, which she indulges in with fickle dedication. Painting, music, poetry ... she tried many and, with millennia of boredom to fend off, she actually got incredibly good at each one, despite her lackluster perseverance.
Gadreel has a brilliant mind. Perhaps too brilliant, and surely brilliant enough she can get away with not using it at all most of the time and being as careless, imprevident and quirky as she can. Not to mention the whole 'lustful' chapter.
While she may irritate them at times and entertain them at other times, the other Nephilim are well aware that a great deal of Gadreel's indolent, hedonistic behaviour is a deep melancholy, which often results in depressive attacks that can turn her into an almost lifeless automaton for months or years.
When she's in a good mood, though, she loves to play, tease and indulge in whatever desire strikes her ... which may vary from plentiful, steamy sex to much less conventional enjoyments. In either case, these activities tend often to involve captives and, sometimes, even the Tannin and Teraphim of the group.
While being seldomly directly involved in action, Gadreel is always a precious asset to the Great Hunt. She's smart - incredibly so. Despite her lack of dedication, she has excellent memory and plans and schemes hatch and unfold in her mind while she seems to be just mindlessly meandering around. While it takes Sariel's dedication to keep everthing togheter, the brilliance behind the Hunter's successes comes in large part from Gadreel herself. Her genius displays as well when it comes to machines, even the most intricated trinkets built by mages and gremlins.
When she actively takes part in the hunts, she tends to be very careful, if not always entirely focused; she prefers to avoid fights, but when forced to, she reveals the same ferocity of a cornered cat.
Fun fact: Plenty, really. Perhaps the most hilarious being how she melts to the promise of sweets, junk food and desserts.

Sariel
The huntmaster
Most notable sins: Gluttony.
Sariel holds the honorary title of Huntmaster in this little group. She's not the leader of the Great Hunt, just of a circle of hunters being part of it - one of the many packs that form the greater clan. While not as strong as Ambriel, skillend in the hunt as Eremiel or uncannily brilliant as Gadreel, she has the patience and foresight to put their skills to best use, and the leadership to keep them togheter. She's an excellent leader, a farseeing strategist and, not to forget, a strong, charismatic pillar for her friends, acting almost like a spiritual guide, helping them in times of anguish and acting as an unyelding beacon of hope lighting the way to their long-awaited reward-Eden.
On the field, Sariel is well-known for her steely resolution, her cold lucidity and her flawless guidance of the team. She has great expertise with many weapons which makes her a formidable opponent, and her keen eye and analytical mind can quickly find and exploit weaknesses on either side and act accordingly.
While being a rather collected individual, mostly stable and reliable and almost motherly to her friends, she has a well-known dark side - a ravenousness so dreadful it sometimes scares even her peers. It's not a constant state - it instead strikes her occasionally, unpredictably, a hunger too dark and deep to be fought back - a hunger that is also strongly erotic, as she gets much more than dietary satisfaction from devouring a wriggling, screaming meal...
Fun fact: She can't tolerate disorder, in a rather obsessive-compulsive way, which turns out particularly hilarious when she finds out the mess she had made after a hunger crisis... Also, she's deeply disturbed by the thought of platypi - their very existence seems to upset her.


THE NOBILIS SUCCUBI
Among the enemies and targets of the Secret Hunt, the most illustrious and deeply rooted are the Nobilis Succubi.
The Hunters take great dedication in their crusade against these foes; not only they're an insult to the Heavenly Father, which particularly desires their extinction, but also they are thrilling opponents to face, entertaining game to hunt, useful resources to harvest for the Spiral, and delectable prizes to claim for the Nephilim as well...

The entire idea behind this profile was inspired by, and discussed with, Nobilis_Succubi . Check their page, it's worth your attention!


ABOUT SCENES
These characters are primarily meant to hunt down vampires, succubi, demons and other such creatures, and lead them to an unfortunate doom, voracious or not.
Nonetheless, I’m open to a wider variety of scenarios.
For example, the Nephilim are likely to interact with witches, wizards and other seekers of the occult, which may or may not end well for the latter party.
A Nephilim could also just get the munchies and decide to snatch a human from the streets -who cares, they were probably sinners anyway.
I’d be very glad to play a Tannin or a Teraph on a ravenous rampage as well.