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Writer's pictureIdyll Adventurer

Monster Hunting: R is for Rougarou


Weird and esoteric articles remain a great way to find monsters.

November 23rd, 2020

I won’t say its been a slow year, but how often does the news report on stray dogs biting people? Okay, so it wasn’t just biting. The attacks all resulted in death. That alone isn’t usually enough to get me moving, but I happened to be in the area.

It doesn’t hurt that I was able to get the autopsy reports and official police reports and those are less than indicative of an animal attack. See animals tend to savage people without any true rhyme or reason. A throat is ripped out or eyes gouged with claws, all in the goal of eating someone or defending itself. Once prey is down, the softest of the bits are usually the first to go: stomach, genitals, etc. Basically anything that’s easy to rip into and devouring much of what’s between.

With these attacks, the creature dug out the liver and heart, with a surprising precision belying the bestial nature of the attacks.

There’s also something that just feels off about the whole thing. So, I rolled into town. I’ll check out the attack scenes tomorrow. Don’t really want to walk into something nasty in the middle of the night.

 

November 24th, 2020

Okay, this wasn’t in the reports I read: the attack sites are all out in the open. This town has a fair amount of forest around, and dark things tend to prefer the forest and the cover trees can offer. There’s a reason almost all of the folklore and true fairytales paint a picture of the deep dark forest and caution against going into it.

Our ancestors rightfully feared the dark liminal space.

So, I figured the places (they were all clustered within a couple miles) the attacks happened would be nestled in the dark comforts of the forest with plenty of tree cover overhead.

But, nope. Each one took place in a natural clearing. They weren’t far from hiking trails, but were all out in the open. Not necessarily a damning thing but certainly an interesting tidbit.

I also got in to the morgue to see the latest victim. The guy at the front desk gave me a weird look when I flashed my US Ranger ID and said that I was looking into the wild animal attacks. He didn’t stop me, but maybe I should look into replacing the ID or retire it entirely.

The body was mangled and confirmed what I’d read. The markings on it definitely looked animalistic and match up with what I’d expect from something with sharp canines and blunted claws.

Might be a fluke and these were really done by a mangy dog. Gut still says there’s more going on here.

 

November 25th, 2020

Really, I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often. We hunters tend to be solitary, or isolationist, in nature, but we often follow the same patterns and look into the same strokes of weirdness. Colby showed up today and we compared notes. I showed him what I’d discovered up to this point and he concurred with my findings. At this junction he didn’t have a lot to contribute, having followed the same lead I had, but did say he’d be looking into what might fit the bill of evidence I’d already gathered.

Our plan for tomorrow is to hit different places around town to get a little more information. Someone must’ve seen this mangy dog creature if it was reported as such in the news. While no source was listed, that doesn’t mean we can’t track something down.

Interviewing an eyewitness, I expect, will lead to a more definitive direction to go.

 

November 26th, 2020

Not sure if it was just my bad luck or Colby’s weaving some sort of magic around his questioning. He certainly seems to have some extra guidance to help. Anyways, my talking was a bust with today. I won’t say I got doors slammed in my face, but the folk I chattered at certainly weren’t too keen in chattering back at me. Colby, on the other hand, has dug up some more information.

His chatterboxes told him that they’ve seen a mangy dog skulking around the area at night. They said that sometimes it ran on two legs rather than all four and that its howls were off and nearly human.

Definitely something up our alley.

I’ve been doing some research into whatever this creature might be and the results I’ve come up with are: Skinwalker, rabid dog, an underfed werewolf, or a Rougarou.

I’m honestly hoping for a rabid dog or a Rougarou. Most of my research tells me a Skinwalker comes with magic that I don’t want to have to deal with and a werewolf, even a mangy starving (might make it more dangerous) one might be more than a match for us. And, on top of that, werewolves rarely come as a single unit. They’re pack animals.

A mundane dog? Easy prey for us.

A Rougarou? Well, that’s a lesser cousin to a werewolf and only capable of the ultra-dangerous hybrid form at a new moon (which happens to line up with when one was seen walking on two legs). And they’re typically alone.

 

The bright side? Every one of the above has the same vulnerability to silver. Time to pack the silver shot, knives, and bullets. Time to take a daytime nap to be somewhat fresh for tonight’s hunt. It always nice to tackle things with a partner. Maybe we’ll even hit a turkey dinner afterward. I hear Chinese places are pretty good ‘round this time of year.

 

November 27th, 2020

Yeah, glad to have had someone else out there with me. Rougarou is the lesser of the shape changing wolves but still one nasty customer.

Some notes: Ignore (or thoroughly vet) what Jk1llz4432 has to offer for advice moving forward. The Rougarou, despite being nowhere near a new moon, came at us in a hybrid form. Colby took a shot to the ribs, but I don’t think it broke anything.

Silver: bring silver. Bring scattering silver. At least the one we fought was lean and mean and quick, but not super strong. Hitting it with a handgun might prove difficult, but shotgun spread works like a charm. I’d recommend avoiding getting in close and personal.

I can’t fully comment on the best time to fight one. Likely daytime, but that might also mean IDing the human side of the beast. Certainly not something impossible, but definitely difficult. Especially if you’re trying to track it down quickly to prevent any other innocents from being lost.

Beyond that, find its hunting ground and visit at night. You got this.


Used in this post is a newspaper template from TheGoodocs.com

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