The Asylumists

Bogeyman

Now bolstered by the vast numbers of Underan Warriors and Vomaran Lancers of the Dark Blade, the Coalition pushed further towards the Asylum cities. As they advanced, they passed through their former settlements, forts, facilities and homes—places once teeming with activity, now ravaged and bloodstained. With enemies such as Death Squads and Scarecrows attacking from the shadows of the ruins, the Coalition was forced to leave caretaker regiments behind to watch over the reclaimed territory while the main force pushed onwards.

At first, it seemed like nothing more than an old ghost story. Rumours began to circulate about missing soldiers being found decapitated and strange shapes moving through the night. The stories, however, could never do the reality justice. One by one, the caretaker forces began to realise that they were being watched. Members of their units started to disappear—slowly at first, and then en masse.

The soldiers began to speak of Bogeymen walking among them in the darkness, searching for careless individuals and those who feared the enemy. They snatched away cowards and soldiers who shirked their duties, and so the creatures gained their name.

Bogeymen, like many Asylumist variants, begin life upon the table of a Tic Tox. Moving with unnatural stealth, they pass silently from location to location in search of their next victim, who often dies without making a sound before being dragged away. The victim’s head is swiftly removed and placed within the central contraption that forms the Bogeyman’s horrifying visage. Through this mechanism, the Bogeyman can access the victim’s memories, revealing locations, routines and the schedules of future targets.

The body, now reduced to a headless frame of flesh and bone, is manufactured into a Shade: a crude imitation of the victim, pinned and lashed together before being outfitted with weapons and armour. These Shades serve as surveillance devices, tools and weapons for the Bogeyman, which sends them out to observe and attack on its behalf.

Entire regiments have vanished without a single scream or cry for help, claimed by the Bogeymen. Soldiers sent to investigate the sudden loss of communication with a nearby force have arrived to find nothing but empty settlements and howling winds.