Benjamin Caddock here again. This is the last of my files, though this one is. Well. It’s odd. Unlike the others, the Beastkin found us first. There was a hermit painter, Harriet Hill, who lived in the woods, who made first contact. Mute. She never wrote things down. Instead, she would paint her interactions with people. So now it’s my job to attempt translating them. Fun.
Yeah, it’s going to be an interesting one.
I’ll do my best. She had an abstract style. We’re not sure if the thing she met looked as odd as she depicted. Doesn’t matter. It’s not human, and that’s what you’re here for, right?
Sorry, let’s begin.
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Painting 1/5
Title: Arrival of Spirits.
Artist credited: Harriet Hill
Brief Subject description: A fantastical figure approaches a log cabin in the woods during twilight.
Notes:
Brown Hair or Fur covers The Figure that approaches the log cabin in the Forrest clearing. It bears animalistic features, including a tail and what appear to be wolf's ears sticking out of its skull. No hair. The Figure’s posture is poor by human standards, with a slouched back, and its clawed hands are curled into fists.
Environment-wise, the log cabin, assumed to be the artist’s home, looks well maintained, and the surrounding trees are healthy.
From the colors of the sky, we believe the time to be Twilight. This is odd, as though the color of the environment is appropriate for that time. There is a soft glow around The Figure. A way to make the subject stand out more, or perhaps signs of it casting a spell? This is the only time it shows such a trait. An oddity is that there is a single set of footsteps, human, leading to the cabin. The subject doesn’t seem to have made any on its trip up the path.
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Painting 2/5
Title: Meeting of Spirits.
Artist credited: Harriet Hill
Brief Subject description: The Figure and Harriet Hill drink tea together
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Notes:
The perspective of this painting is over the shoulder of Harriet Hill. This allows the viewer a perfect chance to see the face of The Figure for the first time, alongside its general body language. Face wise is best described as beast-like, muzzled by an unknown metallic contraption.
If one looks closer at the metal, one can see Harriet’s face in the reflection, who appears calm at the interaction. This confirms the report given by the squad who approached her after her regular check-up, and discovered her sipping tea with her visitor.
The focus of The Figure, whose green eyes have slit pupils similar to a cat, is on Harriet. Lighter fur surrounds its eyes and mouth, a strip of which continues down, assumedly, underneath the table. A candle sits on the table in between the two, its light causing the pointed teeth of The Figure to glow. The one visible hand holds a teacup, though a series of scratch marks covered the table nearby.
Because of the title and the position of both subjects in the painting, we believe the two communicated, though we do not know yet how.
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Painting 3/5
Title: Dressing of Spirits.
Artist credited: Harriet Hill
Brief Subject description: The Figure stands against a black backdrop, dressed.
Notes:
This painting reveals the most out of them, though not about The Figure. In it, The Figure is now wearing a dark green dress, made of homespun material. It still wears the muzzle, in which we can see Harriet beaming as she paints. No emotion shows on the creature’s face, though most would consider its posture, if it was human, relaxed.
In its left hand, it continues to hold the teacup, which is now empty. Running a UV light over the canvas reveals a series of images in the background. Several spaceships from popular Science fiction TV shows, as well as screaming faces, and various symbols for fire. All symbols are placed at, seemingly, random points around the canvas, though none overlap the central figure. The symbol for water is placed underneath the teacup.
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Painting 4/5
Title: Naps of Spirits.
Artist credited: Harriet Hill
Brief Subject description: The Figure sleeps in a bed
Notes:
The Figure sleeps in a bed, in what appears to be Harriet’s bedroom. The sleeper’s face twists in a look of anguish, as though they are having a nightmare. Scratches covered the wall, though no examiner has yet uncovered any symbols or meaning behind the scratches.
Oddly, Harriet isn’t in the muzzle's reflection. Instead, it shows a roaring fire. The squad who checked in found at the property no signs of a blaze.
An examiner once again used a UV light, but nothing was found, nor would anything be in the fifth painting.
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Painting 5/5
Title: Damage of Spirits.
Artist credited: Holundria of the Walking Dream
Brief Subject description: The Death of Harriet
Notes:
In this image, a photorealistic version of Harriet Hill lies dead on the kitchen floor. Everything else is in her usual surreal style, however. The Figure makes no appearance in this painting, apart from as a shadow in the reflection of Harriet’s eyes. Outside the window, all is dancing flames.
On the floor next to Harriet is a hunting rifle, though no such weapon was located on the premises. Three rounds have been fired from the weapon, judging from the bullet casings that lay next to the weapon. No bloodstains are seen on any surface, nor were any found when the house was searched.