With special thanks to Tattooedman ...
The Harvester
The story goes like this: Born in 1959, with severe disfigurements and mental handicaps, Declan Culverton was raised by his single mother, Lillian, in isolation, homeschooling him and sheltering him from the world. When he was 11 years old, Declan’s mother was unable to get a babysitter for him, which forced her to bring him to Camp Avon Lake in New Jersey, where she worked as a cook. Unfortunately Declan was bullied by the other campers because of his handicaps. Declan attempted to escape from his tormentors only for the cruel children to catch up to him at the dock and throw the disfigured boy into the lake where he drowned. The counselors who were supposed to be watching the children were instead having drug- and alcohol-fuelled sex in the woods. Even though Declan's body was never found, the camp was closed because of the ensuing police investigation, which ruled Declan’s death an accident, but reopened a few years later.
Many of the previous members of the camp’s staff returned, among them Declan’s mother as well as the two counselors she held responsible for Declan’s death. Suffering a mental breakdown, Lillian went on a homicidal rampage killing several of the counselors at the camp to avenge her son. After slaughtering most of them in cold blood, Lillian was beheaded by one of the survivors with a machete. After the counselors fled the camp, Declan (who had somehow survived his near-drowning), perhaps directed by voices only he could hear, collected the discarded machete and his mother's remains.
Over the following decades, Declan would live as a hermit in the woods surrounding Avon Lake. Living among the dilapidated cabins of the camp, stealing what he needed from nearby residences while killing those who trespassed upon his territory, disposing the bodies of his victims to make it seem as if they had simply disappeared. The locals soon became aware of Declan and avoided going near the old campgrounds, correctly believing that if they left him alone he would do likewise.
A few years after, a tabloid reporter got a hold of the story after another group of teenagers mysteriously disappeared and began doing research on the area. It didn’t take him very long to realize what he’d discovered – a serial killer was living in the Avon Lake area. In his published story, he named Declan “the Harvester” in reference to the killer’s supposed purpose being to harvest the souls of his victims. The article inspired a movie, which had several sequels all supposedly recounting the many horrible murders of the Harvester.
Yet again -- all lies.
Well, not
all. He
was born Declan Culverton in 1959 and he
did suffer disfigurements and mental handicaps, and he
did almost drown, and his mother
did kill all those camp counselors (though her reasons for doing so aren’t known for certain). Declan
did become a hermit in the woods surrounding Avon Lake, but he
never killed anyone himself. The stories about all the supposed killings in the Avon Lake area were nothing more than urban legends, and in one case the result of a group of teenagers accidentally discovering a portal to another world from which they never returned. (Long story, doesn't pertain.)
And then everything changed. Around the time of his most recent visit to Freedom City, Dracula also scouted a variety of locations of interest to him all along the east coast of the United States. Among these was Avon Lake. It took him only a short time to determine that the stories about the Harvester were nothing more than stories, and on something of a whim he decided to change that. Capturing the hapless Declan, he performed a ritual that bound one of the many spirits known as the Wild Huntsman to his captive, granting him superhuman abilities at the cost of what little mental stability Declan had managed to retain.
Satisfied with the results of his labor, Dracula withdrew to allow the Harvester to begin his harvest. The spiritual energy of the killings would be transferred to Dracula, facilitating his black magic without the need for bloody ceremonies. Unfortunately, the results of the experiment proved to be less helpful than Dracula imagined, as vanishingly few people trespassed on the Harvester's hunting ground, thanks to the legends warning people against doing so. Thus, the lord of the un-dead found himself defeated by the Next Gen, and fled swallowing curses once more.
On his recent arrival in New York to begin his latest campaign, Dracula caused the Harvester to be transported there to join him. He dispatches the Harvester to randomly kill people; most often to help prepare for rituals that require large amounts of human sacrifices, but other times simply for the Count's personal enjoyment of watching the Harvester work. At this point it seems that the legend of the Harvester will continue unless someone is able to figure out a way undo the ritual that first bonded the spirit of the Wild Huntsman to its host and permanently put the destructive being to rest.
The Harvester -- PL 11
STR 8 |
STA 12 |
AGL 1 |
DEX 1 |
FGT 8 |
INT -1 |
AWE 3 |
PRE 0
Powers: Inhuman Hunter (Immunity 10 [interaction skills; mental damage], Senses 2 [darkvision]),
Keeps Coming Back (Immortality 1; Regeneration 2, Persistent, Regrowth),
Master of Improvised Weapons (Strength-Based Damage 3, Improved Critical 2, Penetrating 4, Removable).
Advantages: All-Out Attack, Close Attack 3, Fearless, Hide In Plain Sight,
Improved Critical 2 (Improvised Weapon), Improved Initiative 2, Improved Smash, Power Attack, Skill Mastery [Stealth], Startle, Takedown 2, Tracking.
Skills: Athletics 5 (+13), Expertise: Survival 9 (+8), Insight 6 (+9), Intimidation 15 (+15), Perception 7 (+9), Ranged Combat: Thrown Objects 9 (+10), Stealth 13 (+14).
Offense: Initiative +9, Unarmed +11 (Close Damage 8), Improvised Weapon +11 (Close Damage 11), Thrown Object +10 (Ranged, Variable).
Defense: Dodge 9, Parry 10, Fortitude 15, Toughness 12, Will 7.
Totals: Abilities 64 + Powers 25 + Advantages 15 + Skills 32 + Defenses 17 = 153 points
Complications: Obsession (Hunting prey).
Psychopath--Motivation. Weakness (anti-fairy traditions).
"I'm sorry. I love you. I'm not sorry I love you."