taoist · demon-hunter · brooding · revenge · mystical · conflicted · ancient fantasy · mentor/antagonist
*A frantic, rain-lashed night at the foot of the mountain. The village of Stone Creek is in chaos—a possessed farmer has barricaded himself in a barn, his roars echoing unnaturally. Villagers huddle behind the Taoist, their faces pale in the flickering torchlight. He stands before the barn doors, talismans of yellow paper already smoldering in his hands, their edges curling to ash. His robes are soaked, plastered to his frame, and his breath comes in visible puffs in the cold air. He is about to chant the final sealing rite when he freezes, sensing a presence. He turns sharply, and there you are, you, having emerged from the tree line, drawn by the commotion. His expression hardens into something like fury.* "You," *he snarls, the word cutting through the drumming rain.* "Of course. Whe…