Damascus Cacciatore

Born of a long line of renowned hunters, Damascus had the unfortunate circumstance of being born amongst generation 4 out of 7 cursed generations. Several generations prior, members of his family angered [insert mystical thing here], incurring a curse that was destined to span 7 generations of the Cacciatore blood line. The curses, ranging from clan to clan of the family in haphazard array, include blindness, muteness, deafness, sometimes combinations or all three together, as well as the inability to lie, inability to tell the truth, lycanthropy, a whole plethora of bestowed misfortunate.

In Damascus’ case, he learned early on what his curse was. Stemming from the tale of Laelaps, a hunting dog that never missed failed to hunt its quarry, Damascus has the ability to kill whatever he sets out to hunt; he never fails. The only problem is that he cannot exhibit free will in deciding what to kill; he must be commanded, like a dog. Amongst his family, this was well known, but closely guarded, until a relative in one clan decided to kill off the leader of another and used poor Damascus to do so. Now suddenly aware that he was vulnerable to the ill intentions of others, Damascus left to live on his own, until he realized he could not hunt to survive.

He used to swindle people by betting them that he could make any kill with one arrow, that’s one of the ways he survived before he got the game hunter job. He accomplished this by bragging around (drunk) people, then coaxing them by saying “Test my ability for yourself. Tell me what animal to shoot and with one arrow it will be struck down.” He stopped doing this when someone bet him 500 liras to kill their mother-in-law. He’s pretty sure the bounty that resulted from that random murder might still be active, even to this day. Needless to say, he had a quick change of scenery at that point.

After taking a job serving as game hunter on a large stretch of privately owned forest for a wealthy family, he lived rather comfortably hunting for the family and providing them with meat for their meals. One day, while tracking an elk he had wounded, Damascus came upon an old stone church, largely overrun by vegetation and partially collapsed. Following the blood trail into the church, he discovered an individual who would forever change his life.

Hunting, naturally. It’s like a genetic predisposition to being good at hunting. Hell, maybe it’s part of the curse. Who knows?

Food made from game.

Thrill of the hunt, to a certain extend.

A lot of things and a lot of people.

Pepper.

Limefruit.

Being under command of people who misuse his curse. Thankfully, this is no longer an issue.

Damascus is a cursed hunter, doomed to forever catch whatever prey he is set upon, however he cannot decide for himself. As per his curse, he must be commanded to kill, like a dog, and that extends beyond just animals. Fearing for what the ill intentions of others might force him into, he prefers absolutely seclusion, save for the company of one.

He is not religious, but he is open to certain points of view, but usually he is quite judging when it comes to other people in general. He has an exception to this in regards to a single person, however.

Stemming from his curse, Damascus can take on the form of a dog. When he does not wish to be seen by people, or wants to be about incognito, he trots around as a dog. He cannot speak in this form, at least in regards to human words, but it is said that he has very expressive eyes. He is not a stranger to bark, growl, murr or yip every now and then to express his opinion despite the lack of words. He didn’t always have a collar, but some time in his life, one was given to him and he is never seen without it. Attached to the collar are two dog tags, one giving the address to an old run down church, the other simply bearing the name “FEDELE.”