The Venators

The Venators are an elite order of monster hunters sanctioned by the Vatican, fewer than two dozen strong. Each is chosen in person by a serving Venator, goes through a process much like canonization, and takes the oath: their life belongs no longer to them, but to service. On this road, someone always dies. There are sisters in the order, too.

Theirs is a results-centric order. Before a hunt, the Carnifex Rite must be performed. Supernatural creatures that prey on man, werewolves, vampires — all fall within their charge. Venator calls himself the Sword of Saint Benedict.

“I am the Sword of Saint Benedict.”

“我是圣本笃之剑。”TL

Having brought a Venator down, Drifter, whom they hunt, sighed that this was not the first to fall, and he has little patience for the Holy See’s persistence.

“When's the Vatican gonna give up?”

“梵蒂冈什么时候才会放弃？”

The Venator has his suspicions about what Vindicta has done, yet still fights at her side, owning that he is only a flawed man who judges others. Calico once worked alongside the Venator; now, to hear the Father tell it, she has become a monster.

Grey Talon once asked the Venator how things were with the order, and was told that last year was hard, but they have been blessed as of late. The Father does not always agree with the Baxter Society, but has always respected them; he has also warned Grey Talon that if his protégé strays from the path, the order will show no mercy.

“If he strays from the path you won't be able to protect him from us.”

“他若偏离正道，你可护不住他，挡不住我们。”TL

Others are their quarry or their foes. Lady Geist and the Father are old acquaintances who spare each other nothing, and he has vowed to cut off her arm; Paradox stands accused of stealing something from the order; Shiv is told he has many crimes to answer for. Once a Venator gets his quarry, his fellows will buy him a drink.

“The other Venators will buy me a drink for killing her.”

“其他诛邪者会请我喝酒，感谢我击倒她”

From Abrams, the Church’s side demands the Tome, and what happened in the Brownstone Incident stands between the two men as well.

Kelvin, for his part, is someone the Venators find unsettling and will not trust entirely. In Venator’s eyes, this being is a ghoulish mockery of life. He admits plainly that if Kelvin doesn’t know what he is, or what happened to him, he cannot trust him fully. Kelvin says he is no villain, yet admits he never thought he would end up at war with the Vatican.

“You don't know what you are Kelvin, and if you don't know what happened to you, then I can't trust you. Not fully.”

“你不知道自己是什么，开尔文。你连自己遭遇了什么都不清楚，我就没法信任你，至少不能完全信任。”TL

Deadman Danny never expected to run into a Venator; in his eyes, these Church hunters are nothing but zealots trying to stop progress.

“There's always going to be some zealot trying to stop progress”

“总会有些狂热分子想阻挡进步。”TL

Violet has never had any use for organized religion, and she gives the Venators no quarter either, sure that they should be hunting monsters, not art students.

“You should be hunting monsters, not art students!”

“你该去猎杀怪物，而不是去找艺术系学生的麻烦！”TL