Scene 1, Act 1: How to Organize a Hunt [To the Hunt!, Wyld that is...]

Red Shadow Claws

Red Shadow Claws

Six Thousand Club
Ascendant Earth 4, Cloister of Wisdom


It is a fine morning outside, when you are finally called before Cathak Setod, a respected Earth Aspect whose battles against the Anathema earned him the status of an Hero of the Realm. He appears as a powerfully built man, despite his age, which is said to be over 250 years.


He inspects you carefully before he begins to speak, and his gaze seems to evaluate you, and you each feel as if you are found wanting in his eyes.


"I see not all of you have made it here. We are missing Cynis Gavarin the damned fool, and Ragara Inirlan. I have been notified that Inirlan was sent to bring Gavarin, but apparently was a bit delayed on the way, but they should be here shortly." His gaze sweeps you, and settles on Brother Shooting Stars. "Since you are the highest ranking Immaculate Monk amongst this group,c you will be the one to lead them. We have recieved disturbing news about a couple of Anathema spotted in the town of Magne, between Great Forks and Nexus. Our reports show that they seem to be trying to rouse the peasants in the area, and set themselves up as rulers, or worse, as gods. As far as we know both are Solars, but we only know the caste of one of them. And he is a Forsaken.


Any questions?"
 
Jihn


Itching to begin the Hunt Jihn is still careful about the details. Those beatings for rushing into situations he didn't fully understand at the House of Bells did manage to teach him something.


"Sir." Jihn says to get the man's attention "Are there any reports of Lookshy forces in the area and do we know of any contact, good or bad, they've made with Nexus or other local kingdoms with sizable military forces?"


The last thing Jihn wanted to face was two solars and a well-equipped army. With some good luck a neighboring kingdom might be bribed or threatened to lend them some mortal fodder. With some bad luck they might have those same forces aimed at the Hunt.


And then there was Lookshy, which was always bad luck.


------------------


If we're anywhere near the Scavenger Lands Jihn wants to hear intelligence on Lookshy. Being the main open opposition to the Realm I have no doubt the city was dwelled on in the House of Bells.


That said Jihn is naive enough to take whatever Cathak Setod says as truth.
 
Cathak Setod turns his attention to Jihn.


"We have no knowledge of them hving any contact with either Nexus, Great Forks, or Lookshy. But then again, those three are not on very good terms with the Realm, so don't get your hopes high to get aid from them. As far as i know, some of you have troops of your own, so whatever rubble the Anathema manage to raise, you shouldn't have much trouble dealing with them swiftly."
 
Yugo


Biting his lips that someone he didn't know was actually going to lead him and his men in the heart of battle Yugo started to look at each other present members, evaluating them. His scar usually made people uneasy, looking away instead of straight at him, and it was a good indication of their behavior under pressure.


"These beings have a tendency to bend the minds of the mortals surrounding them. I've fought one of the Forsaken with my unit once, he made the peasants, who were not his allies at the time, join his cause and fight to protect him with just one senseless speech and we had to slay the whole town before getting to him.


According to the latest reports I have read about the situation, there is an extremely high probability that one of them is a sorcerer.


Do we have their names and physical description ?


If not we will have to send some spies first to gather intelligence on them, identify them and prepare for a really quick strike... worst case scenario is we are facing a sorcerer protected by a forsaken. In this case we absolutely need to catch them off guard to succeed and minimize both casualties and colateral damages.


My name is Cathak Yugo by the way, my men and I are honored to having been chosen to fight at your side." he added bowing.
 
Cathak Setod regards you for a second before answering. "If you have a report of one of them being a sorcerer, I wonder why neither you nor your House has given such a report to the Wyld Hunt, because I know of no such report.


As for names and descriptions, we only know them for the Forsaken. He goes by the name of Brilliant Edge, and is a very tall man, around 6'6", with a great physique. His hair and eyes are light brown, and apparently he is a competent archer, but as far as we know he's got a mundane bow. He's already gained followers and some influenece in the town, but we don't know just how much. Normally we would try to send in more spies to find out more, but the Mouth of Peace herself has decreed that they are to be hunted down.


The only things we know about his companion is that he is about a foot shorter, and has got a burn mark on the right side of his face."
 
Ojaih


The wastrel regards the entire scene unfolding before him with amusement, especially because of Yugo's blunder. Everyone knows that the Houses sometimes have information of their own that they don't share with the Immaculate Order. It doesn't mean they have to go around telling the Immaculates of that.


Giving a quick, grinning bow, he asks Setod, "How do the Scavenger Lands feel about us hunting the Anathema in their territory?'
 
Yugo


Bowing respectfully to his elder Yugo says innocently:


"I just got that report myself before leaving my residency to get to this meeting and was therefore entrusted with the communication of the information to the Order." he says without with a neutral tone.


How many souls are there in Magne more or less ? In case we have to face the whole town...


It would be convenient for our leader to have a full résumé on your skills so he can devise the proper strategy with the options he has." turning to Shooting Stars. "Mine's at your disposal, Brother." he adds holding a leather file.


***


I guess I have the coordinates and location of the shipment ? it wasn't clear if I just had to secure it from the greedy mnemons and anathemas, or if I needed to secure the convoy all the way back to the Isle.
 
"They do not much like us conducting the Wyld Hunt in their midst, but so far they have refrained from interefering too much with our efforts." He says in answer to Ojiah's question.


The town has about 1000 people, but it's unlikely the Anathema have managed to sway them all. They do not seem to be too capable in swaying people to their cause.


-----------------


Yugo only has to secure it from greedy Mnemons and Anathema, not all the way to the Isle.
 
Jihn


"Sir. Thank you for your intelligence;" meager though it was "I have no further questions."


Lets hunt down this archer and burn victim. It looks like I'll get to dance.


Jihn has yet to try his Elemental Defense Techniques against anything but blunt practice arrows shot by clumsy mortals he could have dodged or parried anyway. Fighting an Anathema Archer will really put the Charms to the test.


-----------------


By the way, should we figure out the mechanics of that in OOC?
 
Iselsi Gebbon stood silently taking in the facts handed to all of the hunters...Watching each in turn, thinking on what little he knew of each.....His thoughts of course similarly focused on the anathema at the heart of their gathering.....He wondered at the thought of potentially facinf an anathema sorcerer....He knew there were others so-gifted amongst his 'team' but even so, he made a dcsion to swing by his manse before departure.....There was something he might need.....
 
Just as you have finished with your questions, the doors behind you open.


Cathak Setod looks to the doors, and with a slight scowl on his face says "Ah, if it isn't Ragara Inirlan, and the one and only Cynis Gavarin. I see that you have finally decided to join us, as we were about to conclude the briefing.


Why don't you join us, while one of your fellow hunters can fill you in on your mission. I do not like to repeat myself."
 
Jihn


Jihn give a curt respectful bow to Cathak Setod "Sir, I can do this duty."


--------------


Jihn fills you both in.
 
Gavarin blinked slowly, still feeling pleasantly muzzy despite Inirlan's best efforts, and with a wicked smile at Inirlan's expense. Poor lad. It had probably been his first time with something like that too...


A lone thought presented itself for consideration.


"How are we approaching? An obvious pack of Dragon-blessed bearing down on them? The Anathema will be gone before we even reach town. We should go in undercover. I think I might be able get us in as a part of a merchant caravan, papers and all, if we're willing to take our time about this...." he voiced, the recent punishments his throat had endured impinging a little buzzing sound over his voice.


"And not some obvious Realm trading envoy to the middle of nowhere either. Something less out of the ordinary."
 
Jihn


This will not do.


"I couldn't pose as a trader if you took all my possessions and sat me in front of a stall to sell or starve! What self-respecting Prince of the Earth would want to?! Of course we'll march up Magne with superior force, a town of 1000 is easily intimidated. The good people of the Immaculate Faith" useful tools that they are "will provide what we need to track the Anathema down to the place of their slaughter!"


Anybody looking at Jihn can see titanic battles being waged in his mind's eye.


"I'd like to requisition some performers for the trip" to sing my praises "...for missionary purposes, of course. To make sure the people don't harbor Anathema again"


------------


He really couldn't pose as a trader (Manipulation 2, Larceny 0). Further, it's unglamorous. Jihn's interested in the most flashy, most talked about victory one can achieve. Subtlety is not his strong suit.
 
Ojaih


Sensing Jihn's frustration, Ojaih puts his hand on the warrior's shoulder and simply says, "Remember." He assumes that Jihn would recognize what he's talking about, being this close to Memnon's audience with them, and then moves on to more pressing matters.


"It will be wise to draw the Anathema away from this town, so that they don't have as many resources to draw on.


And so we can move them towards this caravan


"We need to be blunt enough to rouse their curiosity, but subtle enough that they would immediately assume a Wyld Hunt is on their trail. Perhaps we can arrange for 'bandits' to attack Magne's townspeople on one of the routes into town, and set up an ambush when the Anathema come to investigate."
 
Yugo


Smiling in his interior, Yugo frowned on the outside.


You don't think it's going to be that easy, do you ?!


"I disagree, else we will not be able to identify and track down their followers, getting rid of the anathemas is our priority, but capturing and or disposing of their minions is also important. We need to show the people the consequences of following the demon kings so they do not support them any further.


We will leave the men to a port while we infiltrate the city for at least five days to make their city our hunting ground, and move our forces to the city with a delay of five days.


The Anathema will either face them and we will take them by surprise when they do, or they will flee, and when they do, we will catch them off guard.


A target aware of a danger can be either afraid or over confident. Both states of mind are valuable tools for our mission.


We only need to let them know that a group of soldiers is coming their way... this is a small town, and pillages happen all the time in the zone."
 
Ojaih


"And waste the lives of good soldiers? Men who have followed the Immaculate Code since birth? I think we have better respect for them than that. It is their duty to serve the Dynasts with their lives, yes, but shouldn't we enable them to serve us the best that they can? If we threaten this town, I think that this Anathema, reckless as they are, will march on us, and more soldiers will die than necessary."


He smiles, and says, "We must show the townspeople that the Anathema are the worst thing in Creation for them, and that the Realm brings them peace and prosperity. If we can kill the Anathema without linking their deaths to us, and then sweep in with replacement leadership, and a few mortal monks, it will show these ersatz followers that the Realm will improve their lives, and they will be unlikely to accept the Anathema ever again."


"My plan does exactly that. If we can get the Anathema away from their followers, and ambush them on the road, we leave no trace. However, if we attack them as they defend their town, the people will know who killed their leaders, the ones who they falsely believe will bring them to a brighter future, and will feel resentment towards the Realm."


Ojaih finishes with a bow to Brother Shooting Stars, saying to him, "But, as our leader, it will be your decision what we ultimately do, Brother."
 
"I belive that Cynis Gavarin's plan isn't so unwise, though it would be to let him carry it out. If a reconnaissance is needed, I wouldn't object to possing as a trader, and since I REALLY am a trader. We could combine this with Yugo's plan and all go there but in several groups that will pretend not to know each other. But before we continue, could I please get a short summary on the situation? I might be a sorcerer, but I'm not capable of mystically guessing all the details."
 
Gavarin blinked. Well...that was surprising. A bit of a downer but surprising. He didn't think anyone would be willing to listen to him, least of all the Ragara. Maybe his mind had been opened up by his recent experiences. Pleasant or otherwise.


"I have some friends out in that direction, and may be able to arrange some mortal caravans to detour. Far cheaper and easier than bringing all those trading props straight from the Isle...somewhat more believable too."


He neglected to mention his "friends" were Guild members involved in the drug trade. If this worked right he could potentially be looking at a week with nothing to do but sample the products as the caravan moved ever so slowly towards this flyspeck of a town.
 
Jihn


Jihn shrugs. This is why we have a chain of command, after all.


"Yes, my cousin is corret. Brother Shooting Stars, please let us know your thoughts."


-------------


Is demi even around?
 
Brother Shooting Stars


Brother Shooting Stars muses over the plan. "We could use more info about them, but i believe this might be too risky, so maybe we can send someone into town once we get close."


-----------------------


Since we barely started it's hard for me to gauge what he would have done.
 
Lyrik


"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Lyrik leans against the door frame with a carefree insouciance, a slight smile on his face. "No need to get up, gentlemen. Allow me to introduce myself. I am V'neef Jhin Lyrik. Musician extraordinaire. I have been assigned to this Wyld Hunt," here a nod to Cathak Setod, "at the last moment. Please forgive my tardiness. I was only recently informed of my assignment."


The musician pushes himself away from the door and enters the room, coming to rest before the others gathered before him. The smile is gone, and there is a focused intensity about his gaze. "Being a musician, I often wander. It is not untold for me to enter a town - or a village, or a hamlet - and look for places to play. Under this guise, it would be simple for me to scout the location where the Anathema presides. And there wouldn't be the need for involving innocents in a trade caravan. Or the possible complications that might bring."


Lyrik turns to the members in the room and gives a little nod to each. "I don't mean to speak out of turn, of course. I have not heard the entirety of our mission - I've only heard the tail end of the current conversation - but I do want to ensure that we are ready for the fight at hand. If I can be of service by providing reconnaissance, then I gladly offer my services. Particularly when we use that reconnaissance to bring down the Anathema." There is a brief pause. "Because those battles are what epics are made of...."


With that, Lyrik gives a jaunty wink and a carefree smile.
 
Yugo


Yugo smiled and nodded.


"Who ever said last minute change of plan were bad was wrong. Your services and expertise are more than welcome here V'neef Jhin Lyrik."
 
Jihn


Jihn's eyes light up, and a broad smile crosses his face. "A Musician Extraordinaire?! Why it is a pleasure to meet you!" Jihn gives Lyrik a heartfelt salute. "Regarding your reconnaissance, though, I find it a waste of your talents. I have been itching to hear a good rendition of the entire saga of The Ten Thousand Gouts of Steam and perhaps we could swap stories afterwards?"


I've got plenty regarding my own exploits that have the need for further circulation...


---------------


This is meant to be somewhat rude and distracting. Jihn is in it for the glory and can't let this opportunity pass him by.


As a player I find your reconnaissance mission a good idea.


The Ten Thousand Gouts of Steam (Blessed Isle book, p84) are the arguments between the Paragon of Water and the Paragon of Fire regarding the actions taken by the Immaculate Order. The saga of The Ten Thousand Gouts of Steam is an epic poem put to music that I just made up, similar to the Iliad or the Odyssey. It would take hours to perform, and is no small request.
 
Lyrik


Lyrik raises his hand in a half salute to Jihn and Yugo. "Gentlemen, I am honored to be traveling with the group of you. I am sure we will stride across Creation, proving, yet again, the inevitability of our greatness, to the Dragons and to those who benefit from our rule. Yugo, I believe Sextes Jylis advocates a flexible strategy when it comes to plans. If one is not able to bend and move according to circumstances, one will be broken in the end."


"As for The Saga of the Thousand Gouts of Steam," Lyrik says, turning to Jihn, "I will be more than happy to give you a performance of that esteemed....ditty. But we will be traveling to this village, and that will take time. Don't you think it prudent that we discuss the mission in the here and now, and allow our travels to take care of The Thousand Gouts of Steam, and the swapping of stories? Anathema are not to be taken lightly. It's how too many of our brethren have been slain. Are the Anathema dirty monsters who deserve to be put down? Absolutely. Are they any less dangerous because they're dirty monsters? Absolutely not. They are more so. As such, it would certainly behoove us to garner as much intelligence as we can before we make our play. As for my talents, I don't think anyone's talents are wasted in the Hunt for this Anathema. Or in the hunt for any Anathema. If my meager skills can gain us information that will help our Hunt, no manner of discussion will persuade me away from that mission."


The bard bows slightly toward Jihn. "I understand you are a swordsman of some little renown. I know you want nothing more than to plunge your weapon into this Anathema's skull. Who wouldn't? But, our greatest weapon is our brain. We have to out-think the monster. That's how we'll defeat it. In order to use our intelligence, we have to have information on which to formulate our plans. So. If anyone has any better idea of how to gather this intelligence, this is certainly the time to speak...."
 
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