Notes

**The Lore**

Before I go into any lore related to my characters, it should be known that I originally planned for this story to be used for either a horror game, or an ARG style webseries. A lot of the lore and characters I wrote, I wrote for the purpose of fitting into this kind of genre. So that should be taken into consideration while reading anything I post here. Also, the working title for my story I made is "Dreams of an Insomniac" so if you see that name popping up that's what it means!

**The Veldigun**

The Veldigun are the species I created for my story, and they act as the main antagonists as well as my two mascot characters. As of right now there are only two canon Veldigun to my story, Clyde and Winfrey.

The Veldigun are a mysterious species of monsters who were first sighted back in the 1800s. They are monsters who feast on the sanity of other creatures, taking their memories and personalities with them after they've finished a meal. After this feeding process has ended, the victims of the Veldigun are left as nothing but mindless husks, only capable of repeating the last thought they had over and over again. The mind's of the consumed live on the heads of the Veldigun, existing as pieces of their personality and influencing their decisions. For this reason, Veldigun may end up stalking prey who are related to previous victims, as well as using locations the victims may have visited in their life before being consumed as a hunting ground.




Before the Veldigun began hunting and devouring the minds of people, they were very animalistic creatures which were incapable of higher thought. They were primal, quadrupedal, monsters who survived off of instinct alone. It was only after the two Veldigun, Clyde and Winfrey, devoured they're first human victims that they began to think as something greater than mere monsters, taking the names of their first victims and beginning to walk on two feet. As the Veldigun consumed human minds, they developed greater human traits, like speech, personalities, and interests. Than began to partake in the interests of previous victims, living for greater purpose than merely eating and surviving.
As urban legends about the Veldigun began to spread around the common locations they hunted, people began to take note of the signs that a Veldigun was near by. It is said that if a Veldigun is near by, you may hear the voices of previous victims arguing amongst one another about how to approach their victim, you may begin hallucinating bright colors and strange patterns in places they don't exist, you may begin seeing silhouettes of previous victims on the walls like shadows, and you may hear the voices of the Veldigun in the form of all their victims speaking in unison.

**Veldigun Origins**

The origins of the Veldigun are a heavily debated topic among those who believe in their existence. Some believe them to be demons, others believe them to be forces of nature, and some believe them to be the last of an ancient species. While their true origin has yet to be discovered, the theory which carries the most evidence is that the Veldigun were created by an abstract entity which many have simply referred to by the name "Six." This belief stemmed from a noticeable connection that all Veldigun had with the number 6, as well as the stories told by the very few Veldigun survivors that investigators were able to find.

The very few who have survived attacks from Veldigun claim very similar stories to one another. Most of these stories entail the victim being completely unaware of what's happening around them, with the Veldigun seemingly sending them into some kind of dream-like trance that they can't break out of. Once the victims were in this trance, they would see they're life flashing before their eyes, with each face and name in their memories being forgotten to them just as quickly as they appeared. Once this brief vision faded, the victims claimed they could see something in a black void staring at them. An entity larger than anything they'd ever seen, with 6 piercing yellow eyes and a massive smile which mocked them. This entity is believed to be the creator of the Veldigun.




The story of one particular victim claims that "Alongside this massive entity, there were more of them. 4 more of them, those things, the Veldigun. Those 2 you're hunting, they won't be the last of them..." This story left many investigators confused, because if it were true, that would mean that there were really 6 Veldigun out there rather than the 2 they originally believed.
As for the Veldiguns' connection with the number 6, there have been several observed events in history which have allowed investigators to develop it overtime. The most notable of these events being interviews with the victims of Veldigun as well as their attack patterns. It's been noted in the past that Veldigun typically select their victims in sets of 6, with the victims usually being connected by either close relationships or family. Many victims of Veldigun are found only being able to utter the number "6" repeatedly, or saying something like "there are 6," or "6 of them are coming." Veldigun attack periods have also been observed to occur over a 6 day period.

**Coming in Pairs**

It has been observed within the many years of Veldigun activity that the species seemingly come in, and work in pairs. This has most notably been observed in the two most active and well known Veldigun, Clyde and Winfrey, also known as "The Boogeymen," who are never seen far from one another. Winfrey's more monstrous personality and activity perfectly compliments Clyde, who seems to be a more intelligent and strategic variant of their species. Whether or not this ability to work together is inherent or a result of the people they devoured has yet to be determined.

If the Veldigun are supposed to come in pairs of two, this would also imply that of the 6 Veldigun that could potentially exist, they would all be divided in to 3 groups of 2. Considering the capabilities of the two Veldigun investigators have had to deal with already, this has made many scared for what the others may be capable of.

**Winfrey**

Winfrey was the first Veldigun that was supposedly sighted back in the early 1800s, and sightings of him continued within a small community where he most notably hunted. Sightings of him increased through the mid to late 1800s, with many claiming him to be a whole plethora of different mythological creatures ranging from the Wendigo, to the Boogeyman, to some even believing him to be some kind of demon. These ghost stories of the monster continued until the early 1900s, where sightings of him seemingly halted.

The first of Winfrey's victims was a man by the name of William Winfrey, a song writer and recovering schizophrenic in the early 1800s. William struggled in his day to day life because of his mental condition, having been released from the Lankmann asylum only 3 years prior to the day his mind was devoured by the Veldigun who would steal his name. In order to cope with his condition, William wrote music that was supposed to delve into the chaos and sadness he went through both from dealing with his condition, as well as the horrible treatment he endured during his time at the Lankmann asylum. On the night that his mind was devoured by the Veldigun, he was found wandering far into a forest nearby his home town, seemingly wandering out there for no reason. He was found in the morning in a fetal position underneath a tree, his violin at his side. All he could mutter was "It heard my music, it stole my voice."

After Winfrey devoured his first victim, he became obsessed with the music and art he learnt of from William's memories. This led him to venture to many locations of interest, mainly art museums as well as anywhere that music could be heard. Those who claim to have seen Winfrey in these places always claimed that "they could hear violin music in the far distance. It sounded angry and out of tune." As Winfrey moved around at night, claiming new victims and learning more about them, he became more and more obsessed with the art and minds of humans, choosing to devour the minds of those he wanted to learn more from. He would go anywhere that would allow him to achieve this goal. Anywhere except for the Lankmann asylum. Something inside of Winfrey hated that place, and he avoided it at all costs.
https://youtu.be/nr3XFv8NCHY this is the music I imagine playing in people's minds who have encountered Winfrey

**Winfrey Continued**

Winfrey would feed regularly near the woods where he claimed his first victim, often tracking down and catching people who were out hiking. This pattern of hunting, though effective at first, eventually led to him becoming predictable to the locals of this town, which inevitably led to him being hunted. The hunt for the monster causing the "madness" epidemic through the small town was led by Dr. Lankmann, owner of the Lankmann asylum. He led a small crew into the woods through the night, eventually discovering Winfrey when the veldigun decided to attack them. As soon as he attacked the crew of people, Winfrey recognized Lankmann. The man looked like his father, the doctor responsible for the treatment of William before Winfrey devoured him. This caused Winfrey to recoil and lower his guard, allowing for Lankmann and his assistants to capture the creature.

After Winfrey's capture, he was taken to the asylum overnight. Lankmann wanted the creature delivered quietly, so the people of the town would be unaware of what they found. After his delivery, he was taken to a special room underneath Lankmann's office where he would be the subject of a plethora of different horrible experiments and tests. Day in and day out, Lankmann would test on Winfrey, learning much of the characteristics of he, as well as the veligun species. It was through these tests he learnt of the veldigun's ability to alter the minds of their victims by consuming memories and sanity, and their ability to cause hallucinations.

After these tests, Winfrey would be used as a tool by Lankmann to try and create a new form of therapy to treat the many patients of the asylum, a violent and extreme method known as "alteration therapy." Alteration therapy was a method in which Lankmann would allow Winfrey to partially devour the minds of patients in the hopes that in doing so, the monster would remove their "mental flaws" and allow them to develop new and freshened minds. This therapy method would prove to be extremely cruel, as it would cause many patients to endure extreme psychological trauma, as well as taking a toll on Winfrey.

Of the 6 patients this therapy method would be used on, there were only two that were seen as successful, these patients being named Klaus Krueger and Jack Walker.

**Winfrey's Escape**

After keeping Winfrey contained inside of the asylum for months, Lankmann would soon meet his end on October 31st, the day that Winfrey's partner woke from his hibernation to save him. It happened late into the night, as Lankmann struggled to stay awake after a restless night of experimentation. Lankmann left his office, walking down the corridors of the asylum to make his way to his living quarters. But something seemed off the further Lankmann walked through the halls of the asylum. The walls seemed to shift color, and all sound in the building went quiet. It was then that Lankmann realized what was really going on, as the cold wind of the outside hit him, and the hallucination he was experiencing stopped. Lankmann had been tricked by the hallucinations caused by a veldigun, one which stood before him outside the asylum, towering over him.

The veldigun which stood before him was the one which sparked Lankmann's obsession with the monsters, the one he saw the night his father died. The orange veldigun, the one with the foul yellow smile and the piercing yellow eyes. Lankmann attempted to run away, but he'd already walked into the monster's trap. The orange veldigun pierced Lankmann with his tail, and the wounded, terrified old man experienced the horrors he put upon the patients of the asylum has the monster consumed his mind, and then devoured what was left of him alive.

With Lankmann consumed, the orange veldigun learnt of where Winfrey was being held within the asylum, entering the building and finding where Winfrey. The moments after Winfrey's escape were a blur of chaos and terror, as the monster made its way through the asylum, devouring the mind of each and every one of the patients inside. In mere moments the asylum lit up with hundreds of screams which went unheard, as Winfrey binge ate to his heart's content.

Little did he realize though, the consequences that would come from devouring so many minds all at once. Winfrey became overwhelmed by the voices which screamed out in his mind, entering an animalistic state with which he couldn't escape from. The orange veldigun led Winfrey out of the building, leaving the asylum full of nothing but raving husks. Winfrey and his veldigun partner disappeared after that night, with sparse sightings across their town of the veldigun duo. Those who spotted them began to refer to to Winfrey as "The Boogeyman"

**Klaus**

Klaus Kruger was only 16 years old when he was admitted into the Lankmann asylum for his disturbed behavior.

The boy was deemed criminally insane after the disappearance of a 3 year old boy named Danny, who was later found buried in Klaus' backyard alongside the clown costume he wore to lure the young boy away. Nobody in the town of Eastridge was surprised by this revelation though. Klaus was always an unsettling child. Many of his neighbors recounted stories of Klaus walking up and down the streets of their small town for hours at a time, trying to collect whatever dead rats and mice he could find. One of these stories even described the young boy crushing one with his foot when he realized it was still alive. Some other accounts of Klaus' strange behavior described the boy having a bizarre phobia of birds, acting out with extreme violence when he saw them and even beating a wounded crow to death with a bat when he was given an opportunity.

After the body of Danny was discovered, Klaus Kruger was deemed criminally insane and was admitted into the Lankmann Asylum for therapy. The boy spent years there, with little to no progress being made to help with his mental state. He was notably very violent towards any patients who were noticeably younger or smaller than him, and he showed a distinct fear of the adult staff who worked there, especially Dr. Lankmann. The only patient at the asylum he seemed to be able to get along with in any capacity was another boy who was admitted there around the same time named Jack Walker. Jack and Klaus were very close, often being seen playing games with one another, and talking often with each other.

Despite Klaus showing signs of empathetic behavior towards Jack though, no treatment seemed to work to better the boy's mental state. His violent tendencies seemed to worsen the longer he stayed in the asylum, and his phobia towards birds and the staff reached an all time high in his last years there. It was for this reason that Klaus was one of the first patients to be chosen by Dr. Lankmann to receive a new treatment method known as "alteration therapy."