For years back into memory, the Creekmores and Fairmountains
and their ancestors had been looked on by the whites with a narrowed, suspicious eye. To the Christians, the power of
John's family was a dark, evil thing, born of pride and Satan's power. Only Old Scratch granted the power to speak to
the dead, since death was Satan's domain. This has always been the power of John's family...to be mediums and healers.
Despite the fear and sometimes hatred that the whites viewed the Fairmountains and Creekmore ancestors with, they often begged
the mediums for aid when conventional means failed them. And John's family never failed to serve, never holding fear
and superstition against those they helped. It was not until John's grandmother, Ramona, an old Choctaw wise woman,
served one of the most influential townsfolk by releasing his father from an afterlife of pain and fear. That coupled
with John's father William's display of his own powerful gift on the Chicago evening news as he released an entire hotel full
of haunts. After a long and arduous journey, both physical and spiritual, William and his bride-to-be returned to Hawthorne,
Alabama.
John was born in the early '80s, almost 10 years after his parent's
married, and was a surprise to all. William named his son John, after his own father, and gave him the surname Fairmountain
to honor the memory of William's grandmother, the woman who'd guided him through his vision quest, or mystery walk.
John's mother, Bonnie, was a quiet woman, gifted in her way as well, with precognition, and whenever she looked at John, she
barely held in her tears. She knew the hard road the boy would walk.
At the tender age of 9, John was faced with his first revenant, a
young girl he knew in passing who'd been murdered by her father in a fit of sexual perversion. John's mind was blasted
open by what he saw and felt. He ran home and told his father, who alerted the police, and then, alone with John, William
left to show his son the mystery walk. John came away changed, something in him having awakened during the ordeal,
knowledge and power suffusing his young body, forever setting him apart from his peers...and fear like he'd never known.
John's first encounter with the Beast with Many Faces came when
he was in the sweathut. It's face emerged from the smoke and flame and taunted him, as it had for generations, and revealed
that it knew such secrets about John and his life to come...It tried to drive John off the path with it's lies and fear, but
John withstood it. Ever since, he has seen it's power, felt it's touch and learned about it.
The Beast with Many Faces has been around for as long as man
has had memory. It has always hunted the Wise, and in particular, it has seemed to be particularly fond of John's family.
It has tormented them through the ages, delighting in their helplessness, but in recent years, it's power has grown.
It destroyed William's family, causing the deaths of Ramona and John, destroying William's brother and the religious ministry
Wayne had started, and nearly killing William before finally being driven off.
But now, the torch is passed, and John is the Walker, the warrior
who is destined to finally slay the Beast. He has no choice, because he is the last in the line.
He has taken the path laid out ages before by his mothers line,
stretching back to viking skalds and warrior-priests, blending the paths of his mother and his father together to better
gird himself for the coming battle. Aligning himself with Odin and Thunderbird, with Faerie and Shifter, John is finding
that perhaps this time, he will not stand alone against the Beast...and he prays that this time, it will be enough.
