My name is Mathew Moore and this is my journal. I stumbled across something truly terrifying. I do not know if I will be able to sleep tonight. I have compiled the first volumes of my journals, recounting the start of my journey. I start at the day it all began, so many months ago. It was the day that set off my terrible journey. If only I had known what I was getting myself into!
July 7th
I can hardly believe it! It would seem my passion for beasts and animals has bore fruit. Just yesterday, as I was pacing in the forest behind the manor, a rabbit crossed my path. It was no ordinary rabbit, for near its front legs were two arms. I would have guessed that the arms were useless, if it had not been for the claws which it possessed. I suppose those claws serve a purpose for self defense if the animal is cornered, as rabbits ordinarily rely only on their speed to escape predators.
I must learn more. I have an iron cage somewhere around here that should be just big enough to contain it. I will set a trap and attempt to catch it this afternoon. I have gotten some carrots from the garden which I shall use for bait.
I shall start using this journal to record my findings as I analyze the beast. There are many things I wish to record about it for the sake of science. Knowledge is meant to be recorded after all…
July 8th
I’ve done it! It took me twenty minutes to find a good spot for the trap yesterday, but once I did, I got it set up fairly quickly. I returned to it today to find the rabbit had taken the bait and was trapped inside. I could see its arms more closely and much to my surprise, that there was in fact hair. Before, when I had seen it, it appeared to have no hair on its arms, but it seems to be a darker color of fur, similar in color to the flesh of its ear.
I took the creature back with me and right now it is being kept in the shed with the carriage. I have started a second journal with specific measurements and diagrams as I wish to share my findings with the public but do not want to bore them with large quantities of information, however I will still be recording observations in this journal, which I shall keep with me at all times when in the forest.
On that note, I did some testing of the creature I had found, when I placed the housecat near it, it swiped its claws at it indicating that I was correct in my hypothesis of it being used for self defense.
July 11th
I decided to release the animal back into the forest behind the manor. I have done numerous experiments on it. It seems to eat what a normal rabbit would, or at least what one of the maids told me rabbits eat. When I released it, it ran away instead of attacking, so it would appear that I was right in thinking it only uses it when cornered.
July 15th
One of the maids taught me how to make a trap using rope. I will be using this knowledge to attempt to trap another beast in the following days. I heard some weird sounds last night, almost like howling, and am excited to get to the source of the sound. I will use meat as bait.
July 15th
It is now nighttime as I write this, I am currently in the forest. I only brought a small lantern with me, which makes it hard to see, but I appear to have captured some sort of owl. I will take it back to the house to examine it further.
I was right. It is an owl, however it has horns on its head. Each horn protrudes from the temple and curves upward. It was not dissimilar to a bull’s horns, only smaller. It seemed to be rather friendly, unlike the rabbit thing that I had stumbled across yesterweek. With some slight encouragement with meat, it stood still and allowed me to sketch it in my other notebook.
When I carried it to the window and opened it wide, the owl looked at me then took off out into the night.
July 18th
Maryanne is writing this for me as my arm was wounded by a creature last night. It scratched my arms and shredded my shirt. Its noticeable features were some sort of flaps between its front and back legs and a dark marking on its face, similar to a mask to hide one’s appearance. I was walking through the forest at night, as I do often now, when it glided from a tree in front of me, landed on me, and began to attack.
I dropped my lantern and attempted to pull the creature off of me, but it dug in with its claws. It was between the size of the house cat and a medium dog. Another thing that I would like to note is that it appears to have nearly opposable thumbs, as one of the deep scratches on my arm was on the side rather than with the rest of the scratches on the top.
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I tripped over a tree root and fell onto my back as I was attempting to get away from it, and I punched it several times with my bleeding hand. Finally it let go and as it scurried away. When it ran away, I saw that it also had a ringed tail.
I have been bedridden by the orders of the doctor and should keep movement to a minimum for a full week.
July 18th
I had an idea so I asked Maryanne to write for me again, thank you Maryanne. It is currently nighttime, so I didn’t want to be a bother, but I do not want to forget this idea. To protect myself from any monsters that I run into, I am going to put together some equipment. My idea is to make a leather jerkin that I can wear over my shirt. Additionally, I will make arm guards of some kinds and possibly add pieces to protect my neck and shoulders.
July 20th
The healing is coming along nicely, I am almost able to write again. I am incredibly bored, being stuck in bed like this. I have asked the maids for help sewing together the leather for a jerkin. I have planned out the arm guards as well, over a piece of cloth, I will be attaching strips of metal. I will send someone into town to get the materials needed. In the meantime, I will be doing some research and reading a book.
July 21st
I can write! My arm has healed enough for me to write on my own. I waited longer though to be sure that it would not be hurt from writing too much. Maryanne forbade me from leaving the bedroom for another day, so I will be spending today making diagrams and sketches. Specific details about the “masked” animal need to be recorded, as well as an updated sketch of the rabbit. My drawings can always be improved upon.
July 22nd
I was able to leave my room today, although I wasn’t allowed outside, so I tried on the jerkin and we made some final touches to it. I am not exactly able to test a full range of motion in it so we just did the best we could. The jerkin fits decently and is rather form fitting.
July 23rd
Today the doctor deemed my injuries to be fully healed. I was able to go back into the forest again today but was unable to find anything. After a week stuck inside, it was disappointing to find nothing, not even the beasts I had seen before. I returned to the manor after several hours of futile searching. When I got back, I began working on the gloves. We arranged the strips of metal into a half circle and put it on top of a durable leather glove. I copied the design to make the left gauntlet and quickly finished it as well. Additionally, I placed a small piece of metal on top of each hand. Even though it was a bit hard to bend my hands upward, I was satisfied with how it protected my arms and hands.
July 25th
I found tracks from an animal while I was in the forest today. It appeared to be from a quadrupedal canine of some sort, I attempted to follow the tracks but I lost the trail. When I returned to the manor, I shared with the butler what I had found, I asked him if he knew anyone who could help me track it, and he gave me directions to the shop of a woodworker that lived in town who might be able to help me.
When I attempted to go back into the forest after speaking with the butler, I saw more tracks, these were just outside the edge of the trees. Not wanting to mess it up, I resigned myself to delaying the hunt until I convene with a tracker. I will now be leaving, to meet with the man.
July 25th
I met with a man named Victor. He was the one who the butler had recommended to me. We agreed to meet up later at the manor, and he would help me track down the thing that left the footprints.
We met up when he had finished his work for the day, in the late afternoon, and began to follow the trail into the forest. At several points, we lost the trail, but Victor was quickly able to refind it. As he went, he made a simple map of instructions to follow the trail.
As it got dark, we returned to the manor. I offered Victor a place to stay for the night if he so desired, but he turned me down and returned home. I am satisfied with the progress we made today, as now we are closer to finding the beast.
July 27th
No progress yesterday or today. This is rather bothersome to do for several days in a row. Each day we follow the trail and make little progress beyond what we had achieved the day before.
July 28th
Today Victor was able to help track the animal all day long. He pointed out several places that it seemed to frequent. Tomorrow I will be watching those places in hopes of spotting it. I will have a lunch prepared which I will eat while on watch.
July 29
Early today, I got my lunch sorted out and set off into the forest. I was waiting for some time when I saw steam rising from the hole. I retreated several feet and saw to my surprise that there was a fox-like animal. I say fox-like for it had different fur. The parts that would have been white instead had a greyish tint, as if stained by ash. Additionally, there appeared to be a fire in its eyes. I watched as its yellow eyes seemed to burn with rage. I could see that the steam, or perhaps it was smoke, was rising from the fox’s fur.
I retreated further from it and left behind my sandwich in my haste. The fox went up to the sandwich and pushed it open with the tip of its nose. It grabbed the large helping of meat that was in it and trotted back to its hole to eat it.
A few minutes later, when I returned to my sandwich, I could see that there was a slight burnt section, where the fox had pushed its nose against. If I touch it, it may burn me, so I will need to trap it. Foxes are intelligent creatures, so I will need to learn a new method that is harder for the animal to notice.