"Pardus Journal" The Hunted || Pardus

Pardus’s Journal
Early Jan. 2019 The year ended on a rough note. Our group is beset by distrust and anger at being tricked into attacking the dwarves. It has been confirmed that while under the “blessing” of Rhexus, we attacked and killed 8 members of Clan Graniteheart. More shades to follow me. More people whose forgiveness I must try to earn. But worse is the fracture that’s growing in the group. Sahlrek sought allies to convince us of what we had done and to help us get revenge on Rhexus for his betrayal. This has caused the rest of the group to further distrust him and his motives. Is he slipping further under Synn’s hold and will eventually betray us? Or is it our guilt that’s pushing him further away? In either case, this rift must be mended or we will turn on each other the same way we turned on the Granitehearts. Compounding this problem is the knowledge that Rhexus has definitely betrayed us and is using Mavia’s stone to perform some kind of ritual. He’s bringing over the army that was attacking Midgard. This betrayal has driven Puma and Lord Vago to forsake Rhexus and join us in plotting to stop Rhexus’s ritual. If the Hunted can set aside their differences long enough, they will be joined by the forces of the Order and Draxus’s armies to assault Rhexus. Speaking of Puma and Vago leaving Rhexus’s service, they’ve joined me to establish a new blood hunter lycan clan. We will work to build and expand Clan Geri so that we’ve got allies and can protect more innocents here in Evermore than the 3 of us could on our own.
Early Feb. 2019 The plans to bring down Rhexus have fallen aside. Distrust between the Order and Draxus and us is preventing any of us from working together. So Rhexus is proceeding unhindered. But the Hunted have at least reunited and are seeking to work past our differences. We recently brought a portion of the Granitehearts to Falone Peaks. There they will build a new forge. We also decided to check out a nearby portion of the Catacombs. The foray went well in that we succeeded without any battles and found quite a few things. We found a powerful new weapon that we brought out. We’re still debating whether to unleash such a weapon on the world but it could make all the difference if we challenge Rhexus. We also found some interesting swords that the group has let me take. They appear on my arms as tattoos and can be summoned at will. They’re stronger than my scimitars but just as light. Unfortunately, the journey was not as smooth and restorative to the group as we’d hoped. Sahlrek made contact with his patron, Synn, and was joined by 3 Onyx Guards. The presence of such henchmen is a boon to the group but it also makes everyone nervous since Sahlrek has more power than the rest of us can counter at the moment. I think that Sahlrek even tried to tempt Dench into making a bargain with Synn while we were in the Catacombs. I’m not sure though. This uncertainty is contributing to the group’s unease though.
Mid March 2019 Well this past month or so has been interesting. The planned assault on Rhexus had fallen apart but his ritual was nearing completion. The Hunted decided to attempt to disrupt it and if possible, retrieve Mavia’s stone. We started our assault by approaching openly as if we were still allies of Rhexus. The gnollmen at the base of the plateau accepted the ruse but still wouldn’t let me pass. So I challenged the alpha for leadership of the pack. It was a surprisingly easy fight and now I’m the alpha for Pack Gevaudan. After taking control the gnollmen, I ascended the plateau to confront Rhexus. The others made their way up as well. At the top, I tried to distract Rhexus by telling him that Draxus and his armies were approaching and that we needed to leave. My ruse was not successful and Rhexus decided to end me. He summoned a demon to kill us and let him finish his ritual. Unfortunately for Rhexus, his ritual was on top of a plateau and I was able to get near him. Once there, I kicked him off the cliff to his death. A while lot of luck resulted in the ritual being stopped and Mavia getting her stone back. We also found a ring with a single Wish spell in it. This should come in handy someday. After stopping Rhexus, I’ve left the group for a short time. I need skills that Puma can’t teach me and I’m in the port city in Gheryi learning these skills from a local thief. I’ve also gotten some tattoos. I wanted to commemorate Rhexus’s death and find a better way to access my blood hunter skills. The ink looks good and has created a permanent wound to use to tap into the blood sacrifice necessary for my hunter’s magic. So it’s been a successful trip but I need to get back to the others soon.