Kat Drummond

Kat Drummond is a monster hunter operating in Hope City, starting her career first as a part-time monster hunter and then a professional private investigator and hunter. She is the protagonist of the Kat Drummond Series and centrepiece of the Katverse.

Abilities

 * Swordsmanship: Kat is an adept swordswoman, specialising in dual-short swords against primarily unarmoured foes.
 * Undead Encyclopaedia: Kat has a borderline encyclopaedic knowledge of the undead and how to hunt them. She uses this knowledge to put them down decisively.
 * The Vessel: Kat has a mysterious connection to the In Between, which allows her to maintain a connection with Treth of Concord and other spirits.
 * High Physical Fitness: Kat maintains a high level of physical fitness. While not superhuman, she is close to the peak of what a mortal can hope to achieve with their human body.


 * Purification Affinity: Due to her connection to purification magic users in the Vessel, Kat can cast many purification spells as if she was a sorcerer, but without the need to use spark or a Weyline.


 * Immunities: Upon the increasing strength of the Vessel, Kat has gained immunity to many magical curses and afflictions, including Lycanthropy.

History
Kat lived a somewhat normal life in Post-Cataclysm Hope City. Her parents, Rachel Drummond and Frederic Drummond were devout members of their local Catholic Church, with their local priest, Father Digby remembering the family fondly even years after they stopped attending his sermons.

In 2024, Kat and her parents were kidnapped by a necromancer who performed a dark ritual on the three of them. Frederic and Rachel were killed, with Kat barely escaping as Puretide interrupted the ritual.

Kat’s aunt and her mother’s sister, Mandy Caleb, looked after Kat for a short while, until escalating conflicts between New Zealand and New Sintar led to the need for her aunt to return to her duties as a diplomat.

Kat was looked after by the Davisons, parents of Trudie Davison, Kat’s best friend. Kat grew up alongside Trudie and her other friend Pranish Ahuja, until eventually graduating high school.

While babysitting children before going to university, Kat fought a zombie to defend her charges. While in the throes of the fight, the spirit of Treth of Concord entered Kat’s mind and helped her win the fight.

While surprised, Kat accepted Treth’s presence and they both began to pursue a life of monster hunting.

Book 1: Part-Time Monster Hunter
The events of Part-Time Monster Hunter detailed Kat’s rise from a student and part-time monster hunter to becoming a semi-respected professional in the employ of Conrad Khoi. After exorcising a Horror from a haunted house, Kat enters professional world of monster hunting, where she first encounters The Necrolord and is pitted against Jeremiah Cox.

While she began her journey due to a hatred for the undead and a need for vengeance, the events of Part-Time Monster Hunter helped Kat realise that protection of her loved ones was a much more important ideal.

The Vessel
Kat is in possession of a magical condition called the Vessel. Simply, her soul allows the presence of a conduit spirit. The conduit spirit can control her actions, and act as a gateway to the In Between. Fortunately, Treth is her conduit spirit and while he has controlled her during some dire times, he does not do so lightly.

If Treth leaves Kat or strays outside of her local weyline, dark spirits may flock to her and attempt to take Treth’s place as her conduit spirit.

When times are direst, spirits who Kat has connected to through compassion and forgiveness can manifest around her and fight her enemies. This is referred to as the Army of the Vessel.

Personality
“Hesitation is death. Hesitation is the end. Evil doesn’t hesitate. It doesn’t care.” – Kat Drummond, Devil’s Gambit ““I’m a frustrated anarchist. I just want to be left alone, but I know I never will be. Because there are always psychopaths wanting to rule and sheep willing to follow them.” – Kat Drummond, The Fae Hunt <p class="MsoNormal">“I cannot believe in, much less worship, a being who created the evil that killed my parents.” – Kat Drummond, Devil’s Gambit
 * Headstrong and Reckless: Kat is brave and fiery. Early in her career, she was also quite impulsive, leaping headfirst into action.
 * Frugal: Kat is a miser, foregoing decent meals and even upgrading equipment if it means saving a buck.
 * Shy: Early in her career, Kat’s social anxiety was a big stumbling block, also manifesting during her attempts at dating.
 * Snarky: Kat hides a lot of her trauma and sadness behind sarcasm and humour.
 * Protective: Kat ultimately wants to protect her friends and will do anything to do so, even risking her own life.
 * Brooding: Kat is prone to melancholy and prefers to suffer alone in her own head. She feels guilt for her actions and lets them stick with her forever.
 * Decisive but Self-Critiquing: Kat seldom hesitates, preferring swift action. But this doesn’t stop her from considering her actions after the fact and second-guessing herself.
 * Politics: Kat describes herself as a frustrated anarchist and a capitalist. She believes that governments are ultimately incompetent and parasitical. At their best, they are inherently incompetent. At worst, they’re malevolent. Her practical political position could be described as a Libertarian, as she is willing to compromise her anarchism, as seen especially with her cooperation with Jane Phoenix.
 * Religion: Kat was raised Catholic but is an atheist. Her approach to religion is that of the Problem of Evil. Simply, that she doesn’t believe that an all-loving, all-powerful god is compatible with the existence of evil and suffering in the world. She does, however, believe in the other godlike beings who have settled on Earth, but she doesn’t worship them. Even if her adoration for Athena may resemble worship at times.

Relationships

 * Treth: Treth is the ghost inside Kat’s head. While they argue and have differences of opinion over a variety of issues and activities, they’re ultimately the closest of friends, if not more. Treth’s feelings of romance towards Kat are short-lived, and as of Dead World, the pair are united as comrades and friends without any other confusing emotions.
 * Brett Callahan: Brett starts as a Drakenbane agent who Kat finds mildly irritating. Through the course of the series, Brett and Kat grow closer and as of Silver Brotherhood, they have begun dating, with Brett providing a much-needed intimate and emotional partner to the usually reclusive Kat.
 * Rachel Drummond: Kat’s mother. Deceased.
 * Frederic Drummond: Kat’s father. Deceased.
 * Candace Evergreen: Through the course of Darkness Beckons, Candace and Kat go from rivals to soul sisters, eventually sharing not only a tragic background, but eyes and a portion of their souls. Kat is highly protective of her soul sister, even defending her from older friends.
 * Trudie Davison: Kat’s childhood and best friend. Trudie acts in an almost motherly fashion to Kat, trying to caution her to stop her monster hunting at the beginning of the series. But Trudie soon accepts this side of her friend and even becomes a monster hunter herself.
 * Conrad Khoi: Kat’s first employer and monster hunting agent. While Kat initially distrusts him, they grow very close. Kat trusts Conrad with her life.
 * Cindy Giles: Kat’s mentor. Cindy is an adept healer and has saved Kat’s life on many occasions.
 * Kat’s Crusaders: Kat has a relationship of sorts with all members of her organisation.
 * Duer: Kat’s pixie tenant and friend. Duer irritates Kat, but she ultimately kills to protect him and would do so again.
 * Colin Phillips: Kat’s first love. Deceased.
 * Pranish Ahuja: Kat’s other best friend. Pranish is an adept wizard, providing much needed magical theory and advise to Kat, as well as dry wit and snark. Pranish’s cool head often keeps Kat sane in the direst circumstances.
 * Alex Drummond: Kat’s house cat, who she saved from undead dogs.

Possessions

 * Ithalen: An enchanted sword of elvish design, crafted by Nimue, the Lady of the Lake.
 * Seax: Kat’s trusty dagger. A mundane blade that has served her well.
 * Voidshot: The Realm Defying Pistol. A C96 Mauser Pistol found by Cindy Giles in the Undying Woods. It can fire even conventional rounds through a halfway point between the physical realm and the In Between.
 * Aegis: The mythical shield, gifted to Kat by Athena herself.
 * Salamander Coat: Kat’s sentient flaming coat provides her protection and a fiery rebuke to any that attack her.

Trivia

 * Kat’s biggest fear are zombies, which she reacts to by facing it head on.
 * Kat’s favourite food is ramen noodles.
 * Kat is a fan of a book series called Warpwars, a spoof of Warpmancer, another series by Nicholas Woode-Smith.
 * Kat’s favourite band is Fleetwood Mac, with her favourite song being The Chain. She generally likes rock, of all different types. Trudie calls her a punk.