Horsemen

He looks like men in long robes seated atop powerful horses, resembling but not quite exactly like some of the sturdy draft breeds and from within Catage. Each of him is armed with a square-tipped longsword, and a distressing familiarity with particulars of the lives of those he encounters. Were you to lift the hem of his robes you would find no legs – the torsos of the rider grow directly from the back of the steed. There is truly no distinction between man and mount — he can breathe so long as one head is above water, see so long as one set of eyes is unobstructed, track by smell so long as one nose stays keen.

There are two of him.

One wears gray robes, stained and tattered, and a permanent scowl. He looks bedraggled and unwashed, and pretends to ride with ill posture. He takes great joy in intimidating others in conversation, and particularly relishes revealing that he knows the names of those he encounters.

The other wears expensive looking red robes which defy attempts to dirty them. He has a bearing of easy confidence and smiles often. He will condescend to every person he converses with, as if it is unthinkable that anyone might come into opposition with his wants.

Despite having an eerie access to knowledge about any given person, the Horseman seems to lack a continuity of interaction. Unless it is specifically brought up by another, he will not acknowledge previous conversations — though if pressed he does seem to have a matter-of-fact understanding that they happened.

When both of him meet, they bicker incessantly, but insubstantially – both act in eerie accord.

Most people never see through the disguise, but those that do find it a struggle to tell anyone. However, those that have seen him will know on sight that another has seen him as well. All Witches have seen him, though many do not recognize this or the meaning of the recognition they feel.

Among those who do know of him, the following is broadly true:

-Witches, Transcendentalists, and some Anarchists understand him as a force of nature spontaneously responding to human invasion of the wilds.
-The remaining Anarchists, and the Fire Cults, understand him as an emissary of a greater power. Not a trustworthy one.
-Merchant-Industrialists and Occult-Futurists regard him as a particularly vicious predator, one that must be dealt with unless he is useful.
-Adherents of The Law and Dreamland Communists understand him as a mechanism set forth in opposition to something, though they do not know what. They suspect he was created by mankind.
-Royalists and non-fire Cults understand him as a monster of myth unchecked.
-The Interred see him as a cruel jailer. Any of their number that do not know of The Intruder cannot bring themselves to speculate on his origins.

Any person that knows of both The Horsemen and The Intruder tends to come to the following conclusions:

-The Horsemen are eternal guardians who saw The Intruder arrive and responded to protect the world.
-The Horsemen were created as a direct response to the Intruder, to either stave off the threat it posed or capture it for some benefit.
-The Horsemen followed the Intruder through when it broke through to our world, though it is uncertain what his intent in pursuing it was.

The Horseman
Level 8 Chaotic Faerie
Armour 15, Hit Die 1d8, Morale +2, Size Large, Speed 10, Surprise -1.
Cha 15, Dex 8, Fer 15, Hth 10, Int 16, Wil 13.
1 Longsword attack per round as a fighter (1d8 +1d8 on a hit or miss)
Skilled in: tracking and hunting, interrogation.
The Horseman’s senses and breathing function through both the horse and human heads — both must be obstructed to have an effect.
The Horseman, if toppled, must spend a full round clumsily standing back up.


Stats for The Nightmares Underneath. The Intruder, when written up, will link to this post, and this post will be edited to link to it this has been done.