Kyle Samson



Kyle Samson

Hiriraka Meninna

The Lodge of Luna's Tears

Early Life
Kyle's grandfather was an American G.I. stationed in the South Pacific during World War II. He met and fell in love with an Australian nurse working as part of that country's military. Like almost all nurses there at the time, she was a Catholic nun. She left her order to marry after the war ended, and they settled down in a remote area near the border of the outback, establishing a sheep station and raising the animals for wool and meat.

The call to serve, however, passed to their son. With the onset of the Vietnam War, Kyle's father enlisted. He eventually was tapped to join Australian Intelligence, where he excelled in counter-insurgency tactics until his country's withdrawal. The war enjoyed little more popularity in his homeland than it had in the United States, so he was met by the protests and scorn of anti-war sentiment and doubly-damned when he returned home with a young American bride who, a nurse like his mother, was military as well. Though being a soldier was inboth of their natures, they eventually settled down on his parents' farm after their passing. The couple tried for children for years, but they remained barren for almost another decade until finally, they became pregnant with Kyle.

Born June 11, 1983, in the northermost part of Australia, in perhaps a bit of foreshadowing, he was born under a total solar eclipse. A hale and hearty child, he grew to be a young man blessed with the keen mind, quick reflexes, and strong body of his forebears. Moreover, he shared their sense of civic duty and patriotism. When his parents, vacationing in New York in September 2001, were killed during the attacks on the World Trade Center, he immediately enlisted. By the end of his second tour, he was a part of the special forces group tasked with the fight against the Taliban, known as Operation Slipper. A year later, he was one of those selected to help train the Afghan National Army. It was during this time that his immersion into the Intelligence community brought him into contact with Ariella Hershlag, a Mossad agent several years his senior.

Marriage and Family
In the years that followed, Kyle and his future bride both left their respective employers. The political climate of the world was shifting, and neither felt as connected with the causes that had once defined them. In addition, their burgeoning relationship caused a shift of its own in their priorities. One of the American contacts both had worked with in Iraq offered them a job in the private sector working for Norhtrop Grumman, a defense contractor, in Los Angeles. Kyle's citizenship, thanks to his parentage, was shared between Australia and the United States, which facilitated his own move. In an effort to make things easier for Ariella, he made an impulsive decision and asked her to marry him. She agreed, and in 2010, the pair were wed.

They built a life together in California, but a brewing strife between Kyle and one of his-coworkers made things uneasy. The man was a cold-blooded killer, guilty of crimes from burning people alive to flaying the skin from their bones. Through Kyle's efforts, he was fired and eventually arrested, only to disappear before justice could be served, though not before he vowed revenge. When Kyle and Ariella learned that she was pregnant, he grew concerned for her safety and that of their unborn child. He convinced his wife to move to Australia with him and take up residence in the home built by his grandparents, abandoned since the deaths of his parents.

The Land Down Under
Perhaps there were none more surprised than Kyle that the man who had known no life beyond that of a soldier seemed to find serenity as a simple sheep farmer. It was a change of pace, certainly, but he was content. As long his family was safe at his side, the rest didn't matter. Gone was the "high-and-tight", close-cropped haircut favored by first the military and then his American bosses. The hair grew longer and longer, and Ariella and their friends joked that he was trying to live up to his (sur)name. It was a lack of convenience and time that were originally to blame, but it eventually turned into a jest of his own. He liked to say that it was like giving the middle-finger to his past, though his wife was quick to remind him that the ring on his finger meant he had a new person calling the shots in his life....

... And he was fine with that. The daily duties were more difficult as Ariella's impending delivery made her less able to contribute, but that trade was fair in Kyle's eyes. If anything, he thought he got the easy end of the deal. That view was only cemented in his eyes on May 11, 2012, when their daughter, Adina Shoshana, took her first breath in this world. She was perfect from the start, and Kyle considered himself blessed for all the joys he had known. He was so graced, he began to think himself untouchable. Perhaps that's when everything began to fall apart.

The Temple Comes Crashing Down
Sleep-deprivation and dirty diapers were a small price to pay for a perfect life. Miles away from anyone and anything, the quiet, rustic existence the Samsons knew slowly began to slip away from them. Their livestock was being killed, despite their efforts, and their savings were soon depleted. Kyle began to venture the distance back to the city with an unbearable commute in an effort to make ends meet. He was determined to provide for his family, whatever the cost, and that resolve enabled him to endure the reversal of fortunes without complaint.

At the end of a very long week, he returned home to find that his wife and child were dead. Their bodies had been mauled by some wild animal, presumably by whatever was responsible for his slaughtered sheep. He was overcome by grief, and the light that once exuded from him was replaced by a darkness that threatened to consume him. That was, unless, his turn to the bottle didn't claim him first. The smiles that were once omnipresent upon his face were just gone, perhaps (and even likely) never to return. Grief turned to despair. Despair gave way to bitterness. Bitterness became sadness. But in the end, all that was left was anger. Still, though, that was something. In time, he felt nothing. He became detached and cold, eventually pulling away from the world around him. He was ready to withdraw from it in a much more tangible way. He was ready to die.

The Face From the Past That Destroyed His Future
When all was lost, he was paid a visit by a face he had hoped to never see again. On the very night Kyle planned to take his life, there was a knock at the door. Alan Roberts, the very psychopath whose career had been destroyed, stood before him. He claimed to have been responsible for Kyle's ruination, just as Kyle had been responible for his own. Kyle thought the man insane, citing that some beast had been his bane....

... And that's when he learned the awful truth. Alan was some creature of nightmare. Like some twisted mockery of a Lon Chaney film, Alan transformed into a wolf-man before his very eyes. To the werewolf's surprise, Kyle was not driven mad with fear. Instead, a man contemplating suicide suddenly found the will to go on. His survival instincts kicked in, and he fled into the bush where he had advantage.

Against all odds, he managed to elude Roberts thanks to his skills and training. The rampaging war-machine, however, did not possess the sheer devastating capacity for extinction that the Australian wild did. Man versus beast was only one facet of nature's promise of destruction. He put as much distance as he could behind him, between himself and Roberts, until his car broke down and his satellite phone died. He was isolated and alone, miles away from any chance at survival. Wild animals, dehydration, and starvation were succeeding where a killer failed. Kyle was on the brink of death that he had so recently longed for. In the face of his own doom, though, the First Change was upon the uragarum.

The Uncertain Flesh
It had been almost thirty years since Kyle's flesh was blocked from the sun's light by the moon. The first time marked the gift of life. Now, it marked a gift of renewal. Hunger and thirst were replaced by something altogether more powerful. He felt no loss. He felt no fear. He felt only rage. He wanted nothing more than to exact his vengeance upon the man who had taken everything from him.

No, not a man. The solar eclipse, though, had leveled the playing field. This fight wasn't over... not by a long shot. It was now monster versus monster. When Kyle returned home, Roberts faced no trembling man, but a Garou with no drive beyond his annihilation. Fueled by the last vestiges of the sun-haloed moon, the murderer was no match for Kyle's blind fury, and so he fled.

The moon soon disappeared into the dawn's rays as the day replaced the night. Though he had tasted Alan's life's blood, he had not spilled it to the inevitable end vindication demanded. The naked and trembling Kyle had not been left with justice... only more questions. He didn't know what any of it meant, but now he needed answers. He still longed for death, but now, it was no longer his own.

A Child of Hikaon-Ur
Armed with only the most rudimentary understanding of what he now was, Kyle pushed such concerns aside. They would wait until Alan Roberts was dead. For months, he stalked the stalker across the outback, coming close but never quite finding him in time to force a confrontation. He dogged the man-wolf's steps, picking up a trail time and time again when all seemed lost. That was when they came.

A group of those, apparently like him, crossed his path. They explained that they, like Kyle, had transformed beneath the moon, marking them as Urdaga, the Forsaken, eternal foes of Anshega, the Pure. They were enemies of those like Alan, known to them as Zadok. Explanation of the war between the two factions followed, along with accounting of the sworn duties they performed. The decision was made for him in an instant. Higher calling and purpose were once again his, and they would define him when his current quest for retribution was done.

These Forsaken, members of a tribe called the Meninna, were predators and hunters. Impressed by both Kyle's persistence and skill, they invited him to join their ranks. For the favor shown him by Mother Luna, the fair coloring of his Hishu and Urhan forms and those in-between, and the hatred that plagued him from within, they called him "Shadows-and-Light". It was a name he neither ascribed to nor claimed. Whatever deeds would eventually name him, though, there was one thing was certain. A Hunter in Darkness had been born.

A Goddess Weeps in a Not-So-Strange Land
The path to find Alan Roberts, or whatever he chose to call himself now, criss-crossed the globe. Wherever he went, though, Kyle followed. He carved a bloody swath from one continent to the next, leaving the bodies of countless Pure in his wake. His heart grew numb, so he used his head. He studied them and learned their ways. That taught him the best way to kill them. Sometimes outnumbered and nearly dead from the effort, he refused to die. He could not until Zadok preceded him in death.

In Europe, he met those Irraka possessed of the same all-consuming need to kill every Anshega they met. They inducted him into their lodge, offering guidance and teaching him strategies, which he studied voraciously. With their advice and encouragement, plus the transient brands of the Stalker's Choir, he continued his pursuit. His journey brought him full circle, returning him to the place where it all began... Los Angeles.

He sought out the Forsaken packs in the city, expecting  representation like he had found in his travels, perhaps even moreso, given the sprawling expanse of the California metropolis. What he found, or rather didn't, shocked him. If he could find no allies, he would content himself with enemies. Their numbers were in amply supply.

The Animal Hidden Beneath the Flesh of Man
Kyle is not a small man. At some six-foot-three or -four, his weight doesn't fall much below two hundred pounds at its lowest, only to rise some twenty pounds heavier at his heaviest. Like his eponymous surname, his body is defined by muscle, and his blond hair often hangs long and loose. When practicality dictates, he will pull it back into a ponytail or wear a cap to keep it ouf of his blue eyes.

The battle-sculpted frame and chiseled features set him apart from many men, marking him as attractive, if not exceptionally so. He's aware of this and will use it to his advantage, but the kind words and easy smile are a façade, his true feelings hidden far below the surface, perhaps even from himself. The playful light behind the eyes is replaced as quickly as it appears by a stare both cold and empty, detached to the point that whatever pain he has known is little more than distant memory. The only thing that serves to remind him is the wedding band that is constantly on his finger. It is a memento of love and lost in his past that gives him clarity of purpose, driving him towards a crimson-soaked future. It was dedicated for him by one of the People he met along his journey. The Ritual Master offered to preserve more of Kyle's clothing, but the Chaotic Stalker declined. Trappings were but distractions.

PCs

 * Clay Danvers - The Ithaeur is methodical to the point of inactivity, and his "day job" as professor makes him expound endlessly to excess.  He seems to think that his experience and capacity as shaman makes him better, or at least smarter, than the rest of the pack, and he talks to people as though they're not his intellectual equal or ignorant of whatever topic is at hand.  As of yet, he has neither the years nor demonstrated wisdom to have earned Kyle's respect to the degree he seems to think he is entitled.  He talks to the pack as though he were Alpha or Beta, which is likely to earn him a beatdown... and soon.
 * Evan Cord - Kyle alluded to as much, but he had observed the pack for quite some time before presenting himself to them.  The accord between the Forsaken and Kindred in the city was strange enough, but that one of the latter was treated as an equal among the former seemed inconceivable.  That he was once one of the People seemed enough to assuage to Lunes into regarding him as a member of the pack, so it is no longer his to judge.  He's seen the vampire fight, though, and he's never seen anything quite so terrifying.  His terrible beauty in battle, however, has already given Kyle additional tools to add into his repertoire... just as the undead he's killed up to this point.
 * Fuller Lancaster - An Uragarum Beta is unheard of.  That he was once Anshega is unforgivable.  Once again, though, he finds himself in the unenviable position of having to simply deal with it, whether or not he likes it.  That the Alpha treats him would be enough, but none of the others seemed to have stepped up to formally challenge the role.  Kyle's crusade against the Pure even before joining the pack makes his balance precarious, so he's not about to challenge the status quo and risk losing more of himself on something that is little more an insult to his ego and perceptions.  His personal biases are simply something he was going to have to get past.  Mother Luna had seen fit to welcome him back into the fold, and one of the greatest of the Uratha of all time had restored her favor to him after he'd cast it aside.  That the Beta's mate is their Alpha and his son is their Spirit Envoy shows a deep and abiding concern for the pack's well-being.  Similar obstacles in their histories make him understand the former Storm Lord enough that he is willing to respect the man.  Only time will tell if liking him will be another matter entirely.
 * Josh Mackenzie - The Cahalith is far from typical of his moon or tribe.  He remains a tether for the pack's humanity.  He is also the most benign personality in an otherwise volatile mix.  In his own way, he reflects a mix in and of himself.  His resourcefulness in battle is a match for Raul, he shows wisdom that meets or exceeds Clay, he has a way with words, born of experience, that surpasses Chris' blessing, and he's as clever as Kyle himself, at the very least, without the boons of the Irralunim.  Kyle doesn't know him that well, but the Iron Master seems the most likable and easygoing of the pack, able to integrate seemlessly with any other member.
 * Raul Bryant - The Rahu is a capable fighter, but the whispers of his choir make him quick to anger and quick to act when, as they say, discretion is the better part of valor.  That he succumbed so easily to Kyle's verbal barrage makes the Hiriraka concerned for how the Blood Talon will deal with the madness that looms everpresent, ready to chip away at the sanity and soul of those who kill their brothers in battle.  He is standoffish and quiet, which is find for the contemplatives... not the warriors.  That he doesn't truly try to forge bonds means those threats to his harmony are going to be that much more potent.

NPCs

 * Chris Lancaster - The Elodoth is young and untested.  Whereas Josh's humanity is a tether for the pack, Kyle fears the Storm Lord's to be a weight that drags him down from knowing his full potential.  That's a weakness, not just for Chris himself, but the entire pack.  That concerns Kyle, but if he can be half the Walker Between his father seems to have been (in spite of having been one of those the Hunter in Darkness would like most to kill), then perhaps there is still hope.
 * Noah Christian - The Namm-Dar is truly his auspice incarnate.  Getting his true measure is all but impossible.  He leads from power yet respects the pack as equals, somehow guiding them into carrying out his orders of their own volition rather than by his commands.  Assertive and passive in equal measure, Kyle would love to find boon or blame in his leadership, but the Ghost Wolf is infuriatingly nebulous in his adaptability.  Thus far, though, the New Moon has no complaints.  Hopefully, his particular style of leadership will keep Los Pobladores from suffering the ravages of the Silver Road, nevermind help them preserve the world as they know it.

Equipment
The only thing likely to be seen in Kyle's possession from one encounter to the next is his wedding band.

Quotes
"Let no sacred place in your territory be violated." (Hunters in Darkness)

"Bring them my hatred, son.  Punish them in my name and in the names of all who die to uphold my Oath.  Steal their fury and destroy them utterly.  This is my gift to you." (The Lodge of Luna's Tears)