Hellboy: The Four Kings

[DannyBoy7783]

I recently had an idea for a Hellboy story. I was curious what people thought of it and if anyone wanted to collaborate on some artwork or storyboards. I'm open to suggestions and critiques.

Background:
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (b.1657 d.1680) is one of only four Native Americans to be venerated by the Catholic Church. A large shrine is dedicated to her near the Mohawk village she grew up in: Caughnawaga , a few miles west of Amsterdam, NY.
Not far from where she lived is the Fort Hunter Archaeological Site. In 1710, Peter Schuyler, mayor of Albany, invited three Mohawk chiefs and one Mahican chief to travel to England and visit Queen Anne to solidify their trading alliance. The Mohawk chiefs asked for help in defense against the French, including Anglican missionaries to offset French Catholic influence among their people. As a result of the Mohawk request for aid, Queen Anne authorized Schuyler to build Fort Hunter; the complex was completed in 1712, located near where the Schoharie Creek entered the Mohawk River. The fort was 150-foot square with a blockhouse at each corner. The main gate faced north. A wooden chapel was built at the center. The chapel was named after Queen Anne, who sent communion silver and other items to furnish it.


The Four Kings
September 1964
Upstate, NY near the Mohawk River

Hellboy is sent by the BPRD to investigate a series of murders. The bodies of the victims shown signs of blunt force trauma and piercing wounds. Upon Hellboy's arrival and inspection of the bodies he finds a stone point lodged in the shoulder of one of he victims. The coroner mentions that he used to find arrow heads like that in the fields outside of town when he was a kid.
Hellboy goes out later that day to investigate the location of the most recent murder: a quiet, idyllic historic house site next to some very old fort ruins (very little remains) on the Schoharie Creek. Hellboy watches the sun set and as it finally dips below the horizon he hears an arrow zip past his ear and stick in a nearby tree trunk. Surprised, he turns and another arrow whizzes by. Hellboy sees that his attacker is an eerie, glowing figure. Cue typical Hellboy brawl. The spirit evaporates and it is unclear if Hellboy defeated it or not.

The sun finally rises and we see Hellboy sitting on the side of the road, licking his wounds and smoking a cigarette. A local police car drives up. The cop mentions that there was a report of some strange noises in the area last night. Hellboy gives his typical matter of fact reply and then asks where the closest Catholic church is. The cop directs him to one and it turns out to be the Kateri Tekakwitha shrine. He mentions that Father Vroman is a decent guy and has lived in the area his whole life. The cop finally tells Hellboy to be careful and call if he sees anything unusual. Hellboy: "Will do."

Hellboy speaks to the priest at the Shrine. The Father jokes that Hellboy is used to the monsters and demons of Europe but North America is a little bit different. Vroman tells Hellboy that their communion equipment was from the old Queen Anne's Chapel. He's heard rumors of unsettled spirits but hadn't witnessed anything unusual himself. They talk a bit more. On his way out Hellboy dips the Samaritan in holy water.

Hellboy decides to head back to the site later that night. He hides out and waits for sunset. Once again, as the sun disappears the spirits present themselves but this time we see a ghostly version of the original Fort Hunter and Queen Anne's Chapel appear, right next to the old house. Four ghostly figures are seen walking through the front gates of the Fort and the chapel bell rings. Just as Hellboy is about to move closer he's stopped by a voice. He turns to see Kateri Tekakwitha who tells Hellboy that the Four Kings are loyal to England and see the people of this community as interlopers and enemies of the Crown. She reaches out and gently touches his gun telling him there is more than one way to bring peace to these restless souls. Hellboy: "Whatever gets it done, lady. People are getting hurt and this ends tonight." He turns and makes his way into the Fort and another fight ensues with the Four Kings. Hellboy shoots one outright and it falls. The king was holding two clubs. The chapel bell rings. The next one throws a stone dagger and hits Hellboy in the leg. Hellboy shoots it and it falls from an upper level of the fort. The chapel bell rings. Hellboy is then hit by a glowing arrow. Then another. And another. He shoots his attacker multiple times. The chapel bell rings. The final King wields a wooden sword with stone blades embedded in the edge (similar to this). Hellboy gets hit in his left shoulder but blocks the second strike with the Right Hand of Doom which shatters the sword. He shoots the King in the stomach and it falls over. The chapel bell rings.

Kateri appears once again and performs Last Rites on the fallen Kings and then they, the Fort, and the Chapel all disappear. As the sun comes up we see Hellboy sitting on a wall of the Fort ruins enjoying the view of the river and sunrise.

Visual Prompts

• Native American projectile points (arrow heads)
• Native American ghost warriors
• Kateri statue
• Bear, wolf, turtle imagery to represent the various clans represented by the Four Kings
• Catholic and Anglican imagery
• Silver communion objects
• Sea voyage of the kings, Queen Anne, royal court, the kings being painted (as shown on their wiki page) in a flashback sequence?

[zerodemon]

This would make a better Witchfinder story I think.

[thwhtGuardian]

Thats pretty awesome