The Savior

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The Savior is a character in the rough draft version of the novel Nocturnal by author Scott Sigler. The character is initially introduced in episode one of the audio version of Nocturnal.

Character Background

Origins

According to Mr. Biz-Nass, The Saviors were a group that had began as a response to the brutal actions of the cult named Marie's Children. This cult had been in San Francisco for 150 years and were said to be cannibals. The group first appeared in the early 1800's and by the late 1800's they had been declared witches due to a series of murders that were attributed to their group. In 1873, a group called The Saviors rounded about 100 people believed to be followers of the cult and burned them at the stake at Mission Delores. However, not all of the cult members were eradicated. Since then, there had been similar murders every decade.

Among the Nocturnal creatures there was a legend that said that you never really saw The Savior coming, never had a chance to run. He just killed his prey. The Savior was always out there, lurking. The protection symbol was all that they had to evade The Saviors.

Golden Gate Park Slasher Connection

Mr. Biz-Nass shows Homicide Detectives "Pookie" Chang and Bryan Clauser a San Francisco Chronicle clipping of the Golden Gate Slasher. The newspaper mentions a silver arrow that murders the suspected serial killer that had been murdering children and leaving their bodies in the Golden Gate Park.

Pookie and Bryan questioned retired SFPD Homicide Detective Parkmeyer on the Golden Gate Park Slasher murders. He had been the lead investigating officer on that case and recognized the symbols of both Marie's Children and The Savior that Pookie and Bryan had shown him from the recent murders.

Current Events

Protection Drawing

The symbols of both Marie's Children and the protection symbol are found at the scene of several recent murders in the San Francisco area. Bryan finds the symbols at the murder scene of Alex Panos scrawled on a brick wall that was obscured by a dumpster. The same symbols are found at the murders of Kyle Souller and Paul Fischer.

Both the symbols depicting Marie's Children and the protection against The Saviors that have shown up in the recent murders do not show up in the San Francisco Police Department paper archives or in the online Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Symbols Analysis Database (SAD).

Bryan Clauser’s Connection

Bryan dreamt of the attacks on both Alex Panos and Paul Fischer and in both dreams he felt as if he was an integral part of the murders as they were happening. As the dreams became clearer he felt an adrenaline-pumping urge to drag the boys down and kill them. The dreams grew more intense, more real, more visceral, causing Bryan to choke back a noise that might have been half cry a of terror at wanting to butcher a human and half bloodlust war cry made just before taking that human down. The intense dreams caused him to wake up with an erection, with blood lust, and with sense of terror.

Even stranger, Bryan woke with a semi-instinctive act of drawing a symbol that made the anxious, short-breathed fear fade away. At first Bryan didn’t understand was the scratched lines meant, but after visiting Mr. Biz-Nass, he learns that the symbol was the drawing made to protect against The Savior. Later, at the scene of Kyle Souller’s murder and at the scene of Marco Gastineau’s murder, Bryan hears an ethereal voice telling him that The Savior was near. Bryan gets a glimpse of The Savior at the murder of Marco Gastineau, and further investigation of the rooftop where the arrow came from showed evidence that The Savior had been staking out Gastineau’s home for the opportune moment to take him down. Bryan’s connection to The Savior is not fully known at this point in the story.

Attributes

Name

Initially the character is referred to as The Savior. However in episode 14, retired SFPD Homicide Detective Francis Parkmeyer implicates Jebidiah Erickson as The Savior from his experience with the Golden Gate Slasher case.

Outward Appearance

Initial glimpses of The Savior at the murder scene of Marco Gastineau described a green cloaked man carrying a curved object.

Weapons

V-Cross Symbol of the Saviors
Eye Dagger symbol found on the shaft of the arrow

The Savior uses a bow and arrow as his preferred weapon of choice.

The arrow extracted from the body of Marco Gastineau allows Medical Examiner Robin Hudson to research the composition of the weapon. It is unique in that the arrow is made out of metal and bears two distinct symbols:

  • 1) V-Cross symbol on the arrowhead
  • 2) Eye Dagger symbol on the shaft of the arrow.

Hudson reaches out to several area experts on archery and all of the sources she confers with point her to the Jessup family, who are well known crafters of custom bows and arrows. Hudson relays this information along with the address of the Jessup family to Pookie and Bryan but does not formally submit this information in her case reports.

Pookie and Bryan pay a visit to the Jessup household and are greeted by Alder Jessup and his grandson, Adam. Adam is hesitant to release information but Alder reveals the history of the arrows to the two detectives. He explains that they had indeed been making the arrows, with these particular symbols, for Jebidiah Erickson and had been doing so for over sixty years. They further reveal that the Jessup family had been making the same arrows for the Erickson family since the 1800’s and that the two families had once been very close. Alder Jessup reveals although he fills orders for Erickson, he hasn’t seen him in over thirty years and that Erickson has become a sort of recluse. In recent years, Erickson had normally phoned in his orders but he hasn’t made contact in the last three years. Despite the waning contact, the Jessup’s are able to provide Pookie and Bryan with Erickson's address.

Bryan presses the Jessup's for an understanding of the mechanics of the arrowhead, and after further probing, Adam Jessup reluctantly reveals the composition and detailed mechanics of the specialized arrowhead. He indicates that the arrowhead is a one piece, four blade, cut on contact head afixed hooks and made from stainless steel glazed with silver powder. The hooks stop the arrowhead from penetrating so the arrow doesn’t go through the victim but rather it stays in the victim and continues to cut. The arrows are 800 grains, which is heavy and is shot from a custom bow with a draw weight of 100 pounds delivering a velocity of 333 feet per second and 195 pounds of kinetic energy. Without the hooks one of these arrows shot from a hundred pound bow would travel through a Kevlar vest like rice paper.

See Also