Tactical outdoor gear, GPS tablet harness, orange accents on a grey shell. Silver whistle at his chest, always. The haunted expression of a man who runs risk assessments in his sleep.
Alban Chastel
“Al”
Logic as a cage against inherited violence.
Alban Chastel is the Regional Director of the Jura Mountain Reserve, a man who has built his life around protocols, data, and controlled outcomes. He is a direct descendant of Jean Chastel, the real historical figure who killed the Beast of Gévaudan in 1767. When a wildfire tears through his reserve, he breaks his own protocols to save the animals, and the guilt of what follows triggers his first transformation. 34 years of carefully maintained equilibrium collapse. The Malbête runs again. And Alban is carrying it.
Chimeric Arsenal
Multi-directional melee attacks using reinforced claws and a whip-like tail, delivering devastating momentum from unexpected angles.
Boar-Hide Carapace
Localized hardened hide plating that can repel small-arms fire and bladed weapons.
Activates involuntarily when threatened; he can't always control where the plating forms.
Gévaudan Vault
Explosive panther-like leaps for impossible vertical and horizontal mobility; the geography of a landscape ceases to be an obstacle.
The Scourge's Pressure
A supernatural aura of dread and guilt that activates a prey-panic response in weaker combatants, freezing them in place.
Unbound Penance
Full release of retributive violence: the Malbête operating without restraint or target discrimination.
He loses himself entirely. Every time he uses this, he's less sure he comes back.
