In the heart of a dense, untamed forest, nestled between towering pines and rugged hills, lay the small village of Vennet. Fewer than twenty stone houses dotted the landscape, each built with sturdy, weathered gray stone blocks that had stood the test of time. Their sharp, slanted roofs, made of wooden shingles, were covered in moss, hinting at the village's long-standing history. Thick plumes of smoke rose from the chimneys atop each home, blending with the crisp mountain air as the hunters within prepared for the day ahead.
The village itself was surrounded by tall wooden stakes forming a crude barricade, a necessary protection against the dangers lurking in the surrounding wilderness. Evil creatures roamed these woods, alongside the more typical wildlife, and the hunters of Vennet were as skilled in tracking supernatural beasts as they were in capturing a wild boar or deer.
Outside many of the homes, large wooden racks held drying pelts—some familiar, like the soft fur of a fox or the dense coat of a bear—while others bore strange markings, suggesting they had come from creatures not of the natural world. The air was thick with the scent of burning wood and tanned leather, the village alive with the sounds of hunters sharpening their weapons and preparing for another trek into the unknown.
Each stone house told its own story: some had trophies mounted on their exterior walls—skulls of unknown beasts or the sharp, twisted claws of slain monsters—while others had scars from past battles, where creatures had once tried to breach the village's defenses. Despite the isolation, there was a sense of community, with villagers exchanging greetings as they walked between homes, their hardened faces bearing the marks of their harsh lives.
Vennet was more than just a village; it was a fortress of survival, where every man, woman, and even child learned the craft of the hunt. Inside the homes, hunting tools lined the walls—bows and arrows, daggers, and swords made for more than mere game. The villagers of Vennet knew the difference between hunting for food and hunting to protect their lives from the darker forces that roamed the Northern Continent.
The village of Vennet had long endured the presence of strange, dark creatures known to the villagers as Wesen. These beings were neither fully human nor fully animal but an unsettling blend of both. Whispered tales passed down from one generation to the next described how the Wesen could walk among men, hiding their true nature until the moment of transformation. When a Wesen shed its human guise, it revealed the beast lurking beneath—a creature whose form was dictated by the bloodline that coursed through its veins.
Some Wesen became towering, fur-covered wolves with piercing eyes and razor-sharp fangs. Others morphed into sleek, cat-like predators with the ability to move silently through the forest, while a few had the bloodline of birds of prey, their limbs growing wings and talons with which they could rip through flesh. The transformation was both their strength and their curse, for though they could harness the power of the beast within, it came at the cost of their humanity. The more often they transformed, the more they lost themselves to their animal nature, becoming wild, uncontrollable monsters that would sooner tear apart a friend than an enemy.
The people of Vennet had grown used to this grim reality. The Wesen had lived among them for centuries, their presence a constant source of tension and fear. Some of the hunters had even faced them in battle, tracking their telltale signs deep into the forest and slaying them before they could do harm. It was not uncommon for a villager to disappear into the woods, only to return weeks later, changed—eyes glowing in the dark, nails lengthened into claws. These were the unlucky ones, those who had been tainted by the blood of a Wesen and had begun to transform. Once a villager crossed that line, there was no going back. They would either be hunted down by their own, or disappear into the wilderness, joining the ranks of the creatures they had once feared.
Outside one of the stone houses, an older hunter named Jorah sharpened his axe, its blade gleaming in the morning light. He had lived through many transformations, had watched his friends and family turn into something unrecognizable, and had made it his life's mission to rid the village of the Wesen threat. "You can always tell by the eyes," he would say to the younger hunters, "When they start to change, the eyes are the first thing to go. They get this... wild look. Like they've already given in to the beast inside."
Beside Jorah, his apprentice, a young boy barely into his teens, listened intently. "But what if... what if they don't want to change?" the boy asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "What if they can control it?"
Jorah shook his head, his expression grim. "There's no controlling it, lad. Once the beast is inside you, it's only a matter of time before it takes over. The bloodline is too strong. Best thing you can do is strike them down before they have a chance to transform fully."
In the village square, some of the more experienced hunters gathered, discussing their next outing into the forest. They were on the hunt for a particularly dangerous Wesen—a member of the old bear bloodline, known for its immense strength and near-impenetrable hide. The beast had been spotted near the river, tearing apart anything that crossed its path, and it was only a matter of time before it ventured too close to the village.
As the hunters prepared for their journey, the villagers went about their lives, their faces marked with the unspoken fear of what lurked beyond the barricade. For the people of Vennet, the Wesen were not just monsters—they were a reminder of the thin line between man and beast, and how easily that line could be crossed. Some villagers even whispered that the Wesen were once their ancestors, cursed by ancient magic to live in the shadow of their former selves. But whether by magic or fate, the Wesen were now their enemy, and the hunters of Vennet would stop at nothing to keep their village safe.