Jacob Dean

[Nox]

Jacob Dean
American Atharim Hunter
Age 67

Jacob was Noel Durante's (Nox's grandfather) best friend and like an uncle to Bryan (Nox's father).  He hunted with the Durantes on a regular basis.  Nox and Aurora grew up calling him Uncle Jake despite no blood relaltion.

Jacob was there when Bryan's father died and was the one who relayed the news to the family.  They all felt the loss.

Jacob has been unable to get in touch with Bryan since Cleo's passing.  He's been looking for the family friend on and off again for years until he finds the recording of Nox that's gone viral of the kid he once knew and a reborn god getting the shit kicked out of him. 

Jacob takes it upon himself to hunt down the entirety of the Durante family and kill them all and heads to Moscow to take out the reason he has to kill his family.

[Nox]

**Growing up Atharim**

Jacob was born into the Atharim. He knew nothing else. His father before him knew nothing else. And so it would be until the ends of time. Or until Jacob died childless and without heir. The Dean line would die with him.

The road was harsh. His education lack luster, though through the good graces of the law homeschooling was easy in nearly all 50 states. Though they hailed from Colorado most of the time. Their base high in the rockies, where they called home, if it were a home. It had been where Jacob was born. And where his father had died. His mother had left his father when Jacob was 10. She'd had enough of the life. It had been surprising at all that she'd stayed.

Jacob's education revolved around killing monsters. He knew how to read and do the basics of everything else -- enough to pass the GED when he was 16. His life was all about killing monsters. It was rough, never had a roof over his head for more than a day at a time. The stars were his blanket during the summer, and in the winter they huddled in the truck and kept themselves warm by sheer will.

Hotels were expensive, shit motels too. Money better spent on food and gear, than sleeping in style. There were safe houses scattered across their territory, but all matter of scum hit them up too. Men who were in it only for the money -- or worse yet the thrill of killing a beast. They weren't in it for the cause -- for the innocent lives saved. They weren't Atharim -- just fucking cowboys looking for their next adrenaline rush and payday.

**Darkest Secret**

It wasn't long after Jacob turned 16 and his father let him venture out on his own that he met Noel Durante. A year or two older than himself, already married with a kid on the way. Doing his duty early he said. Loved his wife who stayed in the mountains not far from a safe house. She knew the game, but she choose to be a resource instead. Finding the jobs, relaying information. Not one for the hunt, which was good for the kid they were about to bring in.

Jacob tagged along with Noel at first. Their friendship blossomed over stories of their travels alone. And even more so when they found themselves picking up the same mark and taking it out together. It was simple, and easy. Until it wasn't.

Noel's boy Bryan was two when things changed. The friendly handshakes turned to soft touches. Back rubs after a hard fight became a thing. Shared showers to save on water -- not that they were paying for it. A room with two beds became one shared between the two of them. It was slow and secret even to them. Neither man acknowledged the shift in their relationship, it just was.

In public it was two best friends hanging out, having a good time. Friendly ribbing, names being called back and forth, fights and feuds. It was everything it should have been. But in the quiet darkness of a hotel room, it was more. And that's how it would remain until the day they both shared the earth one last time and found peace among the stars. Maybe one day they'd meet again. But not anytime soon if Jacob had his say in the matter.

**Black Viper**

Noel wasn't the only secret Jacob hoisted on his soul. There were others. Many others, but only one was kept in the same regard the identity of the Black Viper. One would think it was a family heir loom, but it wasn't. It was handed down from worthy hunter to worthy hunter. The gods had just reemerged in the day and age, they were kids, but Jacob had been The Black Viper for the past 8 years. His predecessor having found him worthy when he single handedly wiped out a nest of sin eaters above a brothel in the Texas desert. The brothel no longer existed, but those lovely ladies, they found new residences -- better accommodations too without those fucking leeches draining everything in sight.

When the gods returned Jacob took it upon himself to push the bounds of the Black Viper, taking whatever cases he could and downing godling after godling and nothing could touch him. His reputation preceded him in the Atharim way. And sometimes he even got a call to do a job. Gotta be sure, was usually the answer. But Jacob found that most of them were cowards. These were kids after all -- who wants to kill a kid. It wasn't a great gig, it was hard on the head. There were nightmares, faces in is dreams. He'd never not see them dying, but he didn't shoot them in the head like the others -- no he watched the light go out. He'd remember the children he took.

**Worst Day Ever**

Every hunter knows they are going to die. It's burned into their soul from the moment they pick up a weapon. They aren't going to see the sun one day. And that one day is likely gonna be sooner rather than later. Every hunter knows it will happen. And they see it happen every day -- see a hunter die to a monster who just got the upper hand.

It's a sad day. But it's a horrible day when it happens to someone you know -- someone you care about.

When that day arrived for Jacob he wept for three days at the mangled corpse of his best friend. No food, no water, and two dead bodies stinking up the air.

The oni was by far the biggest one Jacob had ever seen. Noel too. Thick as fuck grey armor plating for skin. Even the soft spots were hard. The eyes were small and it was massive in size.

The two days before it had killed two grizzlies and a bobcat. Nearly pulled them apart from the look of the corpses they'd buried deep in the caves where it called home.

It caught them unaware. Stealthy mother fucker -- which was typically not the case of big hulking creatures, but this one was smarter than most. It grabbed Noel's shoulder and ripped his head clean off. There wasn't a scream. No sound except blood pumping through the remnants of the body that a second ago had been his best friend.

It was a close call. Hardest kill he ever had to make while tears streamed down his cheeks. But the bolt flew true and the Oni collapsed on top of Noel's body. It had taken a day to retrieve his friend from the mass for a proper burning.

It took Jacob a week before he returned to Noel's family and told them of his death. Nox and Aurora had been three. They never got to know their grandfather, and Jacob took up the mantle, telling them stories and teaching them as Noel would have done. Nurturing the hunters in both of them. The boy was eager to please, Jacob saw himself in him. And she was a spit fire -- keeping the whole family in line and smart as a whip. He fostered her love of learning and insured she could protect herself and her brother. He gave her her first computer against her father's wishes. Girl needed more than a fight. Needed purpose -- a reason to keep on the fight. She found it and boy did she do wonders with it.