The Lurker

For the episode with the creature's name, see Deconjuration - Episode 14.

The Lurker
Elements	Knowledge Fear
Aliases	Witch Vanessa The Eye/The Eyes (by D-Force) Froggy (by Arthur) Beast (by Dante) Sheepskin (by Ivete) Eyed Thing (by Ivete)
Association	Occultism
Appearances
Deconjuration Paranormal Order RPG Playbook Initiation
First appearance	Deconjuration - Episode 1 - "Ordo Realitas"

Did you check if you closed the door?

Paranormal Order RPG Playbook

The Lurker is a paranormal creature of Knowledge with Fear complement which manifests itself through dark corners and cracks, observing those marked by it while present in these places. This creature was created by the book "The Lurker - and other horror stories", written by Daniel Hartmann based in the stories involving Vanessa Ângelo's life.

Its first appearance was in the 1st episode of Deconjuration, where only its eye is seen in the crack of the apartment door of Elizabeth Webber in the New Dawn Building watching Arthur Cervero. Over time, The Lurker begins to manifest to other members of the D-Force, even Ivete Beicur, and when the past of the Devilish Mansion and its old residents are investigated, it is discovered that this creature was the manifestation from the body of Vanessa Ângelo herself, becoming real due to the Forced Haunt Ritual.

However, only in the 14th episode it was clearly seen, where it gets ambushed by D-Force and engages in battle against the agents. This manifestation was killed by Kaiser with a shot straight to the eye located in its mouth.

Appearance

The Lurker, by its timid and observant nature, never shows up immediately. It reveals its appearance gradually over time as it gets closer and closer to its targets, but always doing it hidden, trying to go unnoticed.

When it is not hidden, it shows itself as a grotesque creature curved with rough skin and naked grayish tone. In some regions of its body there are several bizarre eyes of different sizes with a yellow color and pupils that multiply over time. At the top of his head there is the highest concentration of smaller eyes, also possessing a large size eye inside its mouth full of crooked and long teeth, which makes it produce a choking sound while breathing. A large amount of tears falls from its eyes and drip along of its body, as from its mouth, saliva comes out that can be confused with its tears if barely visible. It has short legs with a deformed foot, while its arms are larger and with disproportionately long fingers.

Behaviour

During the night, the tear that flows from The Lurker’s eyes begins to generate a leaky sound without a source, and at 2:11 AM, the creature comes out of its crack and slowly begins to approach its victims, emitting sounds and moans in lament. As soon as its victim begins to wake up, The Lurker is startled and goes back into its crack.

While lurking its target, the creature gradually increases its proximity and abandons its subtlety as time passes. At first only its big yellow eye is seen in the shadows watching through a dark crack, where eventually it doubles and saliva begins to drip, similarly to tears. Over time their manifestations became more frequent and noticeable, increasing the number of eyes seen and with its long fingers coming out of the crack. During the night, specifically at 2:11 AM, The Lurker watches its victims more closely when it considers itself safe, disturbing their sleep as it devours their sanity. When the victim gives any indication that it's awakening, The Lurker returns into the crack.

The way to keep The Lurker exposed is to solve its Enigma of Fear, tricking it and blocking the passage to its hideout before it can return into inside the crack. When prevented from returning, The Lurker becomes a helpless being who trembles in a manner as if feeling fear or anxiety, and fleeing from those who come close. If it feels threatened, the monster generates duplicates of its targets that have long been lurked by it, and so its "Devoureds" fight for it and protects it as bodyguards.

History

Resulting from the murders of children caused by Vanessa Ângelo, the "Remorseful Little Witch", at Canadense after the House 27's building in 1970, she could not bear to be tormented by the guilt of her actions and to feel constantly watched by the cats whose yellow eyes she had plucked. Vanessa ends up committing suicide, having her body devoured by the battered cats that lurked around her.

Daniel Hartmann

You know... making new friends... you... friends? New friends...? Yes! I like them! I like them too! You guys remember another friend of ours that were in this house too. A funny man. He came to investigate the house's past. He was really happy when we told Vanessa's story to him... the witch! The witch! Witch Vanessa. He was really happy when... he liked the story. He liked it, he said it was perfect for him. He said it was the perfect inspiration. He even had a name to the story already... A name for his book. "The Lurker". I miss him. What was his name? I can't remember. What was his name?

Devilish Mansion's voices, talking to each other

The horror writer Daniel Hartmann investigated the Devilish Mansion, where he contacted the dead childrens' spirits that were haunting the place through the Forced Haunt Ritual. The voices reveal to Daniel about Vanessa's story, serving as the "perfect inspiration" for one of his book, where he created the story "The Lurker". By the fear that spread due to the story, the creature became real.

Among the possible manifestations of The Lurker, there is the one that emerged from the body of Vanessa Ângelo herself and that lurked Kaiser, Arthur Cervero and Ivete Beicur after they adopted their alley cat, Jennifer. That manifestation was only killed after its Enigma of Fear was solved when ambushed.

The Story of The Lurker

"Before we start this story, are you sure you’re not being watched? Did you check if you closed the door? Do you even know what darkness hides? I would recommend to lock everything carefully, after all, we do not want any crack of possibility that something goes wrong, is not it?"

"Again, waking up with this damn trickle. The same sound that’s been waking her up every morning for the past two weeks."

"Furious, she raises once again seeking the source of the problem, already imagining that would not succeed. It watches her check all the taps, which were properly closed. It has also not rained for weeks and even the plumber who called twice said there was nothing wrong with the installation of the house."

"After all, since when did her sleep become so sensitive? When she was still a child, not even the cries of help coming from the next house woke her up. She slept like an angel, hugging her favorite doll."

"The clock ticks at 2:11 AM as usual. The problem was so recurring that Jorginho had already adapted his biological clock to receive his food, meowing and rubbing his legs."

"She smiles, how could a kitten who was so mistreated before being rescued from the streets be so spoiled? Those little yellow eyes can conquer anyone."

"It watches her drag the stool to reach a new food pack on the top partition of the closet, while holding her purring kitten in one of her arms. Her face already demonstrates the lack of sanity of an observed mind."

"The trickle gets louder every night. No matter what room she is in, the sound doesn’t seem to come from a specific place, but it always seems to be getting closer. It watches as she turns off the lights and goes back to bed, pulling the duvet to cover her feet. Not because she was cold, but from an inexplicable instinct."

"Unable to fall asleep, all that remains is to look at the closet next to the bed, which never seems to close properly. After all, why do all closets have the same problem? Always need to have a damn crack, no?"

"Of course she knows there’s nothing inside, so... where does that constant feeling of being watched come from? It watches her hug her cat, one of those it chose to accompany. She forces her eyes closed to sleep, trying to lie to herself who does not know it is there."

"It cries one more tear. She’s so beautiful. The lights are off... She won’t notice if it comes a little closer, will she? It’s not like the door’s gonna close before it goes back into its crack..."

"She's so beautiful up close."

Abilities

• Lurking: When watching its victim during sleep, The Lurker can drain its sanity and cause insomnia.

• Drain Energy: Making eye contact directly with one of The Lurker’s eyes, it is able to drain the life energy of the victims in its field of vision. With this, The Lurker exhaustes them and consequently hinders any kind of approach or attack against it.

• Run Through the Cracks: By entering cracks where it is barely visible, The Lurker is able to disappear quickly without leaving any trace. This also allows it to teleport from one crack to another.

Devoured Arthur	Devoured Ivete	Devoured Kaiser

• Watched Copy: After lurking its victims long enough, The Lurker manages to generate near-perfect copies of them, called Devoureds. The eyes of the affected begin to burn, described as if acid had fallen on them and their vision was temporarily totally blurred. As they open their eyes, they see a grayish duplicate with yellow traces of themselves and with the same eyes of the creature that drip tears. These entities are unable to communicate and act as protectors of the creature. If The Lurker tries to create copies of people it hasn’t observed enough, they would be imperfect and weak duplicates.

• Strengthen: By grabbing the head of one of its Devoureds as it is protected, The Lurker manages to strengthen it, causing more tears from it eyes after obtaining a level of force far greater than the copied person itself.

Appearances

It is known that before it was actually seen by its victims of Ordo Realitas, The Lurker was heard by them inside the house where they live together, being confused with just a common leaky sound. The sound was usually heard at dawn, and its origin had never been found by them.

New Dawn Building

Arthur Cervero saw The Lurker the first time in the door crack of Elizabeth Webber's rented apartment after feeling that he was being watched, noticing the creature's eye in the door. After vanishing, Arthur and Tristan Monteiro go to check, but finds nothing.

São Paulo Store

Knowing that Kaiser was having a panic attack in the store, Arthur Cervero goes to help and in the entrance, notices The Lurker's eye, ignoring it. After calming down, Kaiser passes through the door and also notices the creature after hearing the familiar sound of the leak he heard at home. He stares at it for a few seconds and notices its eye trembling and shedding a tear, revealing the origin of the sound. Kaiser panics again, but immediately leaves.

Ordo Realitas Base

• Verity's Office: Arthur Cervero notices The Lurker's eye watching him through the crack of Mr. Verity's office, which disappears when it is closed as soon as Arthur runs towards it. Concerned about the Mr. Verity's safety, Arthur knocks on the door and meets with the leader, starting a conversation about the creature.

• Main Hall: During a dialogue with Kaiser and Joui Jouki, Arthur Cervero notices behind his two friends, under one of the tables of the Order, a black mass full of eyes watching him. After Arthur’s fright, Joui then goes to look under the table but finds nothing.

• Prison: After a dialogue with the prisoner Nathaniel, Kaiser notices a small crack in the door of a cell behind him, where The Lurker’s eye watched him, trembling and with tears that when they fell made the sound of leaks. When Kaiser finally manages to stop the eye contact with the creature, it disappears without a trace that was there. After this, Kaiser searches for The Lurker opening the door, but finds nothing but an empty cell.

• Guns and Ammo Shop: Kaiser notices Ivete Beicur distracted in the guns' shop desk. Approaching, he sees the various eyes and fingers of The Lurker coming out of the crack in the closet next to the desk. Kaiser plans to run towards the closet, but Ivete is scared and faster, closing the closet quickly. This would be the first appearance of The Lurker for two people simultaneously, also showing that it was lurking Ivete too.

St. Menefreda Orphanage

• Computer Room: Shooting at the lock of a closet to unlock it, Arthur Cervero notices The Lurker watching him through the newly opened crack. As he looks to the side to call out to Kaiser, the creature disappears before they can look at it again.

• Library: As it passed through the library door, Arthur Cervero’s flashlight momentarily illuminates a crack where The Lurker's eye is seen, disappearing shortly thereafter.

• Dormitories: During a dialogue between the D-Force, The Lurker appears in the crack of the closet behind Joui Jouki, being noticed by Arthur Cervero who was facing it. Along with the eye of two pupils, the crack increases as the creature’s long fingers come out of the closet and approach Joui. Arthur hurries to push Joui away from the crack, and as he looks again after pulling him, The Lurker is gone.

• Cells: While D-Force was locked in the St. Menefreda Orphanage cells, Kaiser was visited by Bruno. In some moment of the talk, Kaiser notices The Lurker watching him through the cell's bars, vanishing right after. Bruno demonstrates to know that Kaiser was being watched and says: "Maybe the one that watches you... maybe the answer to it is already hidden within you, Cesar".

Devilish Mansion

• Window: Outside the Devilish Mansion, Arthur Cervero feels being watched, and after looking to the 2nd floor window, he sees The Lurker's eye. When Arthur questions whether other D-Force members could see it, only Kaiser is capable of it. From one moment to another, the eye disappears. That was the first time that Kaiser and Arthur saw The Lurker at the same time.

• Double Bedoom: During the investigation in the double bedroom on the second floor, while Joui Jouki searched the chests of drawers, Dante stays in charge of looking in the closet. However, as soon as the occultist begins to open it, from the small crack that formed, he is paralyzed to notice the yellow eye of The Lurker watching him, trembling and dripping. This is the first time Dante sees the creature and also the first time the Game Master asks for a Power test to the player affected to the eye, being described as: "It looks like the eye is watching your soul deeply. It seems that it's devouring you some way. Devouring your mind, only by watching you." Dante looked away as he heard Joui’s call, and as he looked back, The Lurker was gone.

• Cat Eyes' Room: Exploring the second floor, D-Force finds the room where Vanessa Ângelo comitted suicide. Joui Jouki tries to open the door, but it sticks leaving only a crack where it is seen between 15 to 20 yellow eyes of The Lurker that stare at him to devour him, making him walk away by fright. Kaiser also notices the eyes, but the creature ignores him while watching Joui, so by not being affected he takes the chance to close the door. After that, Kaiser tries to put the phone in the crack to take a picture of what was in the room, but something like a wind makes an attempt to take the phone from his hand, failing. That was the first time that Joui Jouki saw the creature.

• Living Room: Kaiser was watching the other D-Force members resting with Beatrice Portinari, and when he was almosta getting to sleep, he hears leaky sounds, feeling watched. Kaiser looks for the cause and ends up noticing The Lurker's eye in the open crack of the room's rack watching him. He rubs his eyes and the creature disappears.

• Children's Room: In the investigation of the children’s room, Joui Jouki and Dante are distracted by The Lurker’s eye that appears in the closet. As the two fall into a trance and feel compelled by the creature, Kaiser also notices them and looks into the eye, also feeling his energy being drained. The other members break this trance, where The Lurker flees after an attempted attack from Joui. Kaiser is the last to be released from the trance.

• Cat Eyes' Room: As they pass through the second-floor corridor, Kaiser stumbles upon The Lurker's diverse eyes in the crack of the door. Kaiser trembles and feels rejected by the creature, but is then taken away by Arthur Cervero.

• Double Bedroom: Kaiser and Dante notice an eye staring them through the crack in the double bedroom closet. Both agents resist the temptation to approach The Lurker, and the occultist ends up kicking the closet door, closing the crack.

• Double Bedroom: During an attempt to defeat the creature, Kaiser pretends to be asleep in the double bed, waiting for The Lurker to appear at 2:11 AM. At this time, the agent feels observed and a sound coming from the closet seems louder every moment, in addition to feeling a strong smell and the bed getting wet. Upon realizing that his colleagues were taking too long, Kaiser jumps out of bed and closes the closet door quickly, leaving the creature trapped outside.

Trivia

• The Lurker was the creature that most appeared in Deconjuration, if its appearances as only its eyes counts; being in 9 episodes.
• In his creatures' sheets, Cellbit always writes an onomatopeia phrase related to the creature, and for The Lurker he only wrote "GHLRLLGHRHGH GHLRRHGL".
• On the first trailer of Enigma of Fear, The Lurker's lineart was shown censored.
• The Lurker has a theme song: "The Lurker".
  • The Watched Copies also has a theme song: "The Devoured".

Gallery

• Arts
• Tokens
• Documents
• Covers

The Lurker's art shown at the end of the stream from day 02/27/2021

The Lurker in a crack in Paranormal Order RPG Playbook

The Lurker's Concept Art in Paranormal Order RPG Playbook, by Kael

The Lurker's Lineart, by Kael

Art of the Lurker in Surviving the Horror

The Lurker dead

Story "The Lurker" written by Daniel Hartmann

The Lurker in the cover of "Remorseful Witch"

The Lurker's book in the cover of "The Lurker"