The Venators

After the destruction of The Inquisition in 1661 at the hands of The Spirit Crusher, the inevitable happened. The countryside became nearly overrun by monsters for the next decade until the The White Rabbits and King Alexander Hollyroot rose to the throne of the City States of Vedania in 1672. King Alexander Hollyroot laid a decree to the newly formed army of Vedania, that monsters must be hunted and kept in check. However, forces of the King learned quickly that their efforts were for nought. They were neither equipped or specially trained to deal with the threats that The Inquisition had spent nearly 1300 years perfecting. Thus naturally others filled those boots to the best of their ability.   Thus the holy order of Witch Hunters arose in the year 1674, trained to a great degree by wizards and stout warriors such as Danovir of the Peaks. At first, the Witch Hunters found a great deal of success fighting back against the swallowing darkness. However, by 1676 the order had fallen into zealousness and madness. The fourth era of "Witching Trials" in Vedania had begun and thousands were falsely slain or put to the stake. Under unknown circumstances, perhaps by royal decree or by infighting, the Witch Hunters appeared less and less frequently until 1679, when they were no longer seen in Vedania again.   In secret, three talented wizards that had once been Witch Hunters had been contacted by an individual that had returned home from a faraway land. Markus Fischer had arrived back on the shores of Vedania to see the once terrible land he once protected turn into a golden age of renaissance. Underneath the surface though, Markus saw what was really occurring. Monsters had risen in numbers not seen since the earliest days of the City States of Vedania. He spent the two years of 1682-1683 searching for the remnants of the Witch Hunters. Only to find the three wizards; Malfectus, Johan and Ceslestine. Markus, being the keeper of the lost knowledge of the mutation documents of The Inquisition, worked with the wizards to fulfill the dreams of the Inquisition come to fruition.   Thusly, in the year of 1688 the first Venators were successfully created. With the power of the mutations and sanguine magic infused into the new elite warriors, they would come to be superior to Inquisitors in combat, but without the strict structure and religious rites of the Inquisition. After the process was perfected and the Venators numbers swelled to nearly 300. Markus left, to disappear and never to be seen again. By 1690, Venators, primarily working alone, swarmed Vedania in a bloody and terrifying campaign of death. They in just 25 years had reduced the population of foul creatures down to numbers that hadn't been seen since the early 16th century. They had raised a great fortress in the misty shrouded mountains of the Mourning Soul Peaks, dubbed Fort Venator. To date no individual save Venators themselves had ever found, or set foot in its hidden halls within the secretive mountain valley it laid in.   However, where Inquisitors were feared, people had appreciated their necessity and secretivness. For the Venators, people feared them, and hated them. Seeing their demeanor, bestial appearance and bloody ways of dealing with creatures as stuff of nightmares. By 1798, the wizards had all passed away, taking the knowledge to create more with them. Whether the wizards had intended on this or not is up for debate, nonetheless it is a sad truth.

With the deaths of Malfectus, Johan and Ceslestine, the ability and knowledge to create more Venators died with them. Over time, the Venators numbers dwindled just by being casualties of the profession. Although no official date of disbandment has been declared, it is generally agreed upon that 1798 was the last year that Venators had been seen in numbers.