Church Record #143-G: Private Schmidt on Encountering a Roil Hunter
The following pages are an excerpt removed from the field journal Private Ingrid Schmidt and her platoon's encounter with the aberration classified as a Roil Hunter.
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16th of Zhutein, 536
Of course it's just my luck to be posted up here in the mountains. I've complained about it once, and I'll do it again. I hate the mountains and I hate the cold. Looking down the slopes gives me a sick swimming feeling in my stomach and the air up here makes me light-headed. I can't even moan about it to Rolf lest the captain hears me. We're getting punished for talking above anything other than a whisper for fear of avalanches now. Our guide from Whiteleaf says it's that time of year. The snow's been building up all winter and since we're dab in the middle, being up here is more dangerous than ever. Lucky us.
18th of Zhutein, 536
We're supposed to be scouting and clearing the hills of any half-elves or Florestinian scouting parties hiding away up here, but we've scarcely even seen game with all the snow. I'm glad we stocked up on rations before we came up here or we'd starve eating twigs and boiled snow. Werner, the dolt, sprained his ankle this morning by stepping wrong on a root covered by the snow. A wee little thing like him shouldn't be out here, but I guess the Bulwark lowered its standards with the draft. I ended up carrying his gear and I'm so dog tired I'm falling asleep writing this.
19th of Zhutein, 536
I think we - myself included - might have complained too much and so Tu'Zhwatein himself sent a blizzard to silence our groaning to remind us things could always be worse. I'm glad I had the foresight to pack charcoal instead of ink, or it would be frozen ten times over by now. I know my hands and feet are. At least the frozen pine trees of this gods-forsaken forest help break up the gale.
22nd of Zhutein, 536
Ainai'Ro save me from this frigid boredom and abate the storm!
23rd of Zhutein, 536
I'm done complaining. This time is serious. Captain Bauer has reported that two people from the watch have gone missing since last night. It's so hard to tell the difference between night and day here, I just have to take her word for the time. When I saw the guide, he was shifting around uncomfortably. He had this look on his face like he knew something the captain and the rest of us didn't. He's supposed to, he's the guide. I'll track him down later. Calling him out in front of the squad would just scare the blighter.
Evening - I cornered him and he tried to play dumb. Lucky I brought Rolf with me since he's a lot scarier looking than I (not to hear Rolf tell it though). Rolf shook him up and Meyer confessed there was something off about the storm and it wasn't the lightning. We tried to pry out of him what he was scared of, but no amount of shaking would do it. I guess we can only mark it up to the bastard being superstitious. We agreed it sounded like he was implying a patch of the Storm had blown in down the mountains by the way he talked, but that's just ridiculous. We're too far inland.
24th? of Zhutein, 536
Morning - The blizzard is gone for the most part, but visibility is still shite with all this fog hanging overhead. I'm having trouble keeping track of time. At this point these damn half-elves aren't even worth it. Any day of the year I'm proud to serve my country, but I'd like for at least of few of those days to be without frozen socks. We're out here in pairs searching for the two who went missing the other night and I'm writing this while Rolf and I catch our breath and thaw out a little. I hope we find them sooner rather than later and alive at that.
Evening - Rolf and I were forced to take shelter. Some one screamed - God-King knows why - and triggered an avalanche. We managed to find an overhang in time and we've been holed up here since. Rolf thinks that someone fell down a crevasse and explained what it was to me. The thought of falling down a hole I couldn't see made me want to retch and it slowly started to sink in that we might be dying up here. Rolf and I kept each other warm tonight.
25th? of Zhutein, 536
Morning - There's something out here. Rolf thinks I've gone barmy from the cold, but I swear. I was trying to find some dry enough firewood to take back with us before we left back for base and I saw a shadow pass over the fog, way up in the air. It did not look like another cloud. I'm starting to wonder if there might be some truth to that storm being wrong.
Evening - We made it back to base, but only half the squad is here and Captain Bauer is nowhere in sight. No one has heard from her and the guide since the two of them paired off. Now the ranking CO, Rolf stepped up and reorganized us into two teams of four, all that's left, to go looking for our comrades on the morrow. I could see in the tightness in his eyes how worried he is, but he's trying to be strong. The squeeze on the arm he gave me wasn't enough to last.
26th? of Zhutein, 536
Wee hours of the morning? - I'm writing now because I can't sleep. We heard another scream and it sounded like a human. It woke us all up and we went looking - as much as we could in the dark and running low on torches - but couldn't find anything in the forest. I know what I heard. I knew I saw something yesterday. There's something out here and it sounds like us. I tried to explain to Rolf, but he insisted it was just a bird or a fox. I know what I heard.
Evening - I'm dead tired. We went slogging through the snow for hours and I'm pretty sure we just walked in circles because I remember passing the same copse of two trees growing inside each other at least twice. This fog still won't clear up. The other team hasn't returned to base yet and it's got to be close to midnight. We're going to follow their trail in the morning, if the razor sharp winds up here don't blow it away by then. My lips are so chapped they're starting to bleed.
27th? of Zhutein, 536
Middle of the night again - I was on watch and I heard something move in the trees. Brigitte took a torch and went to find out what it was. If it was game, we needed it. Our rations were starting to run dangerously low. We were supposed to be returning to Whiteleaf by now. I hate Florestal. I hope the bastards all rot.
Brigitte still hasn't come back yet, I'm going to go look for her.
My hands, they tremble as I write this. I'm in Rolf's tent. He and the others went into the woods. I tried to tell them not to, but they wouldn't listen. When I was out there, I heard a crack. Not like a branch or twig, but like bones. I found the source of the sound and it was a steaming pool of blood. Brigitte's torch was smoking in the snow. I ran back to base as fast as I could. I know as I write this I can't stay here and cower. I have to join the others.
(The next several pages are an unintelligible mess of scribbles, dried tears, smears of blood, and sketches of clouds with legs.)
God-King save us it's coming it got Peters
Rolf. He
My ears are bleeding, my eyes, my nose. I can hear it. It's in my brain.
I can hear it.
I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT
10th of Aen, 536
Written in the barracks of the garrison outside of Whiteleaf - The best I can do at this point is an account of what transpired on the night of the 27th of Zhutein. The Church has requested that I make this recount, so forgive me whomever reads this for my shaking hands.
I followed after 2nd Lieutenant Rolf Keller and Privates Lehmann, Neumann, and Wagner into the woods after I righted myself. I returned to the site where I lost Private Brigitte Richter and then followed my comrade's footprints further in. I saw their torches through the fog and caught up with them. After this, 2nd Lieutenant Keller informed me that Private Neumann went scouting ahead against orders and we all were to find him. The trees and the fog were so dense we could not move without our torches. We noted that despite the stillness of the night, we could not hear anything except the crunching of our own feet in the snow. We stopped in a clearing to get our bearings. That is when 2nd Lieutenant Keller and I both noticed that the trees here did not have any limbs or foliage. They were smooth and crooked. Private Lehmann made the mistake of getting too close to one. Before any of us could move, the things that we thought were trees dislodged from the snow and skewered Privates Lehmann and Wagner like fish on spears. I then looked up and realized that these things were appendages equivalent to legs attached to a creature floating above us in the fog. It was the fog.
In truth, much after that is blurry to me. I recall 2nd Lieutenant Keller and I retreating down the mountain. We attempted to make our escape, but the fiend pursued us. In a selfless act of bravery, 2nd Lieutenant Keller attempted to distract it since we could not outrun it in the snow. The creature let out an unearthly scream that shook me to my core and scrambled my head for many days. This scream caused me great confusion and made me bleed from all my facial orifices. I was the lucky one. If 2nd Lieutenant Keller did not die to this attack, he was buried in the avalanche that soon followed. I doubt the beast accounted for this, for it too was buried in the snow like the rest of us. After returning to consciousness and sanity, I dug myself out and realized the creature took the brunt of the avalanche as it was buried belly up in the snow. I did not get a clear look at the creature other than its many legs.
I did not stay to find out if the fiend was still alive and retreated down the mountain to the Whiteleaf garrison.
I'm sorry, Rolf. Please forgive me. Thank you. I'm sorry.
(The remainder of this file is a catalog of the records taken from the lost scout patrol of the 17th Infantry reconnaissance team and the corpse of a dead creature identified as a Roil Hunter.)
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From the logs of Doctor Johann Schäfer:
3rd of Aeis, 536 PGS
09:37 - I have just received my new files for the unknown beast! I cannot wait to unlock its secrets.
14:02 - I am so enamored with this subject that I read right through lunch. My head is swimming! A creature from a confirmed Storm Pocket! I am beside myself with glee.
19:45 - I will be eternally envious of those able to go to the scene and examine this creature. If only I was there, I might have been able to perform a proper autopsy rather than this drivel and butchery the Bulwark cataloged.
23:57 - I wonder how one might find a Roil Hunter in the wild?
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16th of Zhutein, 536
Of course it's just my luck to be posted up here in the mountains. I've complained about it once, and I'll do it again. I hate the mountains and I hate the cold. Looking down the slopes gives me a sick swimming feeling in my stomach and the air up here makes me light-headed. I can't even moan about it to Rolf lest the captain hears me. We're getting punished for talking above anything other than a whisper for fear of avalanches now. Our guide from Whiteleaf says it's that time of year. The snow's been building up all winter and since we're dab in the middle, being up here is more dangerous than ever. Lucky us.
18th of Zhutein, 536
We're supposed to be scouting and clearing the hills of any half-elves or Florestinian scouting parties hiding away up here, but we've scarcely even seen game with all the snow. I'm glad we stocked up on rations before we came up here or we'd starve eating twigs and boiled snow. Werner, the dolt, sprained his ankle this morning by stepping wrong on a root covered by the snow. A wee little thing like him shouldn't be out here, but I guess the Bulwark lowered its standards with the draft. I ended up carrying his gear and I'm so dog tired I'm falling asleep writing this.
19th of Zhutein, 536
I think we - myself included - might have complained too much and so Tu'Zhwatein himself sent a blizzard to silence our groaning to remind us things could always be worse. I'm glad I had the foresight to pack charcoal instead of ink, or it would be frozen ten times over by now. I know my hands and feet are. At least the frozen pine trees of this gods-forsaken forest help break up the gale.
22nd of Zhutein, 536
Ainai'Ro save me from this frigid boredom and abate the storm!
23rd of Zhutein, 536
I'm done complaining. This time is serious. Captain Bauer has reported that two people from the watch have gone missing since last night. It's so hard to tell the difference between night and day here, I just have to take her word for the time. When I saw the guide, he was shifting around uncomfortably. He had this look on his face like he knew something the captain and the rest of us didn't. He's supposed to, he's the guide. I'll track him down later. Calling him out in front of the squad would just scare the blighter.
Evening - I cornered him and he tried to play dumb. Lucky I brought Rolf with me since he's a lot scarier looking than I (not to hear Rolf tell it though). Rolf shook him up and Meyer confessed there was something off about the storm and it wasn't the lightning. We tried to pry out of him what he was scared of, but no amount of shaking would do it. I guess we can only mark it up to the bastard being superstitious. We agreed it sounded like he was implying a patch of the Storm had blown in down the mountains by the way he talked, but that's just ridiculous. We're too far inland.
24th? of Zhutein, 536
Morning - The blizzard is gone for the most part, but visibility is still shite with all this fog hanging overhead. I'm having trouble keeping track of time. At this point these damn half-elves aren't even worth it. Any day of the year I'm proud to serve my country, but I'd like for at least of few of those days to be without frozen socks. We're out here in pairs searching for the two who went missing the other night and I'm writing this while Rolf and I catch our breath and thaw out a little. I hope we find them sooner rather than later and alive at that.
Evening - Rolf and I were forced to take shelter. Some one screamed - God-King knows why - and triggered an avalanche. We managed to find an overhang in time and we've been holed up here since. Rolf thinks that someone fell down a crevasse and explained what it was to me. The thought of falling down a hole I couldn't see made me want to retch and it slowly started to sink in that we might be dying up here. Rolf and I kept each other warm tonight.
25th? of Zhutein, 536
Morning - There's something out here. Rolf thinks I've gone barmy from the cold, but I swear. I was trying to find some dry enough firewood to take back with us before we left back for base and I saw a shadow pass over the fog, way up in the air. It did not look like another cloud. I'm starting to wonder if there might be some truth to that storm being wrong.
Evening - We made it back to base, but only half the squad is here and Captain Bauer is nowhere in sight. No one has heard from her and the guide since the two of them paired off. Now the ranking CO, Rolf stepped up and reorganized us into two teams of four, all that's left, to go looking for our comrades on the morrow. I could see in the tightness in his eyes how worried he is, but he's trying to be strong. The squeeze on the arm he gave me wasn't enough to last.
26th? of Zhutein, 536
Wee hours of the morning? - I'm writing now because I can't sleep. We heard another scream and it sounded like a human. It woke us all up and we went looking - as much as we could in the dark and running low on torches - but couldn't find anything in the forest. I know what I heard. I knew I saw something yesterday. There's something out here and it sounds like us. I tried to explain to Rolf, but he insisted it was just a bird or a fox. I know what I heard.
Evening - I'm dead tired. We went slogging through the snow for hours and I'm pretty sure we just walked in circles because I remember passing the same copse of two trees growing inside each other at least twice. This fog still won't clear up. The other team hasn't returned to base yet and it's got to be close to midnight. We're going to follow their trail in the morning, if the razor sharp winds up here don't blow it away by then. My lips are so chapped they're starting to bleed.
27th? of Zhutein, 536
Middle of the night again - I was on watch and I heard something move in the trees. Brigitte took a torch and went to find out what it was. If it was game, we needed it. Our rations were starting to run dangerously low. We were supposed to be returning to Whiteleaf by now. I hate Florestal. I hope the bastards all rot.
Brigitte still hasn't come back yet, I'm going to go look for her.
My hands, they tremble as I write this. I'm in Rolf's tent. He and the others went into the woods. I tried to tell them not to, but they wouldn't listen. When I was out there, I heard a crack. Not like a branch or twig, but like bones. I found the source of the sound and it was a steaming pool of blood. Brigitte's torch was smoking in the snow. I ran back to base as fast as I could. I know as I write this I can't stay here and cower. I have to join the others.
(The next several pages are an unintelligible mess of scribbles, dried tears, smears of blood, and sketches of clouds with legs.)
God-King save us it's coming it got Peters
Rolf. He
My ears are bleeding, my eyes, my nose. I can hear it. It's in my brain.
I can hear it.
I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT I CAN HEAR IT
10th of Aen, 536
Written in the barracks of the garrison outside of Whiteleaf - The best I can do at this point is an account of what transpired on the night of the 27th of Zhutein. The Church has requested that I make this recount, so forgive me whomever reads this for my shaking hands.
I followed after 2nd Lieutenant Rolf Keller and Privates Lehmann, Neumann, and Wagner into the woods after I righted myself. I returned to the site where I lost Private Brigitte Richter and then followed my comrade's footprints further in. I saw their torches through the fog and caught up with them. After this, 2nd Lieutenant Keller informed me that Private Neumann went scouting ahead against orders and we all were to find him. The trees and the fog were so dense we could not move without our torches. We noted that despite the stillness of the night, we could not hear anything except the crunching of our own feet in the snow. We stopped in a clearing to get our bearings. That is when 2nd Lieutenant Keller and I both noticed that the trees here did not have any limbs or foliage. They were smooth and crooked. Private Lehmann made the mistake of getting too close to one. Before any of us could move, the things that we thought were trees dislodged from the snow and skewered Privates Lehmann and Wagner like fish on spears. I then looked up and realized that these things were appendages equivalent to legs attached to a creature floating above us in the fog. It was the fog.
In truth, much after that is blurry to me. I recall 2nd Lieutenant Keller and I retreating down the mountain. We attempted to make our escape, but the fiend pursued us. In a selfless act of bravery, 2nd Lieutenant Keller attempted to distract it since we could not outrun it in the snow. The creature let out an unearthly scream that shook me to my core and scrambled my head for many days. This scream caused me great confusion and made me bleed from all my facial orifices. I was the lucky one. If 2nd Lieutenant Keller did not die to this attack, he was buried in the avalanche that soon followed. I doubt the beast accounted for this, for it too was buried in the snow like the rest of us. After returning to consciousness and sanity, I dug myself out and realized the creature took the brunt of the avalanche as it was buried belly up in the snow. I did not get a clear look at the creature other than its many legs.
I did not stay to find out if the fiend was still alive and retreated down the mountain to the Whiteleaf garrison.
I'm sorry, Rolf. Please forgive me. Thank you. I'm sorry.
(The remainder of this file is a catalog of the records taken from the lost scout patrol of the 17th Infantry reconnaissance team and the corpse of a dead creature identified as a Roil Hunter.)
● ● ●
From the logs of Doctor Johann Schäfer:
3rd of Aeis, 536 PGS
09:37 - I have just received my new files for the unknown beast! I cannot wait to unlock its secrets.
14:02 - I am so enamored with this subject that I read right through lunch. My head is swimming! A creature from a confirmed Storm Pocket! I am beside myself with glee.
19:45 - I will be eternally envious of those able to go to the scene and examine this creature. If only I was there, I might have been able to perform a proper autopsy rather than this drivel and butchery the Bulwark cataloged.
23:57 - I wonder how one might find a Roil Hunter in the wild?
Basic Information
Anatomy
The Roil Hunter is relative to its cousin aberrations with an unnatural form, twisted and shaped by the Great Storm. The main body of the creature is wide and flat. It is unknown what mechanism allows it to fly. It's most prominent features are its prodigious, spindly legs similar to that of a spider or crab. It uses its legs to kill prey by disguising itself amongst visually similar objects such as branches or trees. The Roil Hunter bears no eyes and a mouth filled with writhing tentacles.
Further examinations are underway.
Further examinations are underway.
Genetics and Reproduction
Unknown.
Growth Rate & Stages
Unknown.
Ecology and Habitats
The creature appears to reside in the sky as an airborne predator. It is unknown if it touches down for any reason other than to feed, but judging by it's anatomy, this is doubtful. It is theorized that its appendages cannot support the weigh of such an immense beast. Instead, it likely prefers to hover.
This creature has never been witnessed outside of a Storm Pocket, so it is likely they reside here, or at least prefer this environment.
This creature has never been witnessed outside of a Storm Pocket, so it is likely they reside here, or at least prefer this environment.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The Roil Hunter's anatomy suggests that it is a carnivore. By the information gathered by Private Ingrid Schmidt, as well as other accounts by those who claim to have witnessed the creature, the following can be pieced together:
- The creature is exceptional at blending in with its surroundings, moreso than other predators.
- The creature is not very fast, so it is an ambush predator. It lies in wait for its prey to come to it before attacking.
- It uses the sharp exoskeleton of its appendages as weapons to kill prey before devouring it whole.
- When prey threatens to escape, the creature unleashes a skull splitting scream to incapacitate them.
Biological Cycle
Unknown.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Seemingly random, but sightings appear concentrated in areas with Storm activity.
Average Intelligence
Intelligent enough to stalk prey and predict movements. Not intelligent enough for speech.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Since the creature has no eyes to be found, it can only be assumed it uses some form of hearing or smell to stalk its prey. Perhaps the mechanism is similar to a bat's echolocation.
Further examinations are underway.
Further examinations are underway.
Scientific Name
Aberration
Origin/Ancestry
A eldritch horror produced by the warping of the Great Storm
Lifespan
Unknown
Conservation Status
This creature is declared hostile and dangerous by the Church of Progress. It is to be avoided at all costs or killed, if possible.
Average Height
Legs: 30 feet in length
Body: 20 feet across
Average Weight
Several tons
Geographic Distribution
Related Myths
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