The Griarstalk

Cultural event

The beginning of the Augury's hunt for the Aufalten after years of training their new Griarvarsi, which ended in tragedy.

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The Hunt for Erengel

  The Griarstalk would serve as the Augury's first failure, in which they decided to heed the warnings of Vestergil regarding the Aufalten. The force was trained and rose to 50 members when they set out to hunt Erengel, the Darklight within the Orphi Gap. Their relatively small force rendered them undetected by the aberrations known to lurk beneath the waters, but Erengel himself is not so easy to subvert; fortunately for the hunters, this was the intention.     Erengel would make his guiding light seen after several nights, when the crew had allowed the ship to drift off course. Upon seeing his light and following off course for miles, the Griarvarsi let loose their ballistae. Attached to each bolt was a chain and weight, each weighing roughly 200lbs. Eight of these were attached, in hopes that the aquatic devil would sink into the depths to be crushed by the pressure (though it is unknown if Erengel could tolerate deep sea conditions). While all seemed to be going well when his foul light sank beneath the waters, the Griarvarsi would be forced to retreat when all 8 of the weights thrashed from the water, crashing into the ship from the skies. It was reported that the weights fell through the top deck, resulting in the great fish dragging the ship and nearly capsizing it.   While the weights were able to be removed, the hunters were chose to abandon the hunt. Their quarry seemed to agree, refusing to take chase after the fleeing ship. Erengel would not be slain on the hunt, but the attempt would not go to waste. From collections of stories and sightings, it appears that the creature has grown skittish in the face of ships, rarely attacking or luring sailors in the modern era. Many believe that the event proved Erengel's fear of being forced into the ocean's depths, resulting in those crossing the Gap to carry weights themselves if their ship can afford it.  

The Hunt for Epithet

The hunt for Epithet proved a long and arduous task. The Griarvarsi searched as far as the Augury's borders could take them. The hunt for the dragon took nearly 4 years and mostly ran off of rumors. It wasn't until they spoke to the dwarves of Gilir, outside of the Augury's territory, that they finally learned valid information about his location. The dwarves claimed that they had crossed paths with the coven of Ghattadon, the Gentle in decades past, who were fleeing from the onslaught of Epithet's coven. The white dragon's kin claimed that the Epithet coven had planned to eventually retire their travels in a land far south, where the world was a perpetual beach.   Humanity knew of a land down south from their surviving history, but had rarely traversed the region after the need for trade with the Snow Rock Isles had ceased. The Augury had no interest in the land prior, but allowed for the voyage down south in hopes of bringing the dragon back to justice (as he had essentially become an escaped convict after escaping his imprisonment under the Eldurgrund Empire). The voyage led the Griarvarsi to discover villages of Tara-Jhen that had long departed from Mot D'nir. Their faces were reportedly flat with smaller eyes, and they had notably more webbing with slimmer bodies. The natives would eventually communicate that they had heard tales of a "flying fish" in the region. The investigation would later take them to Taktaalak, where villages of similar Tara-Jhen resided. When the Griarvarsi investigated the volcano across the lake, Epithet would reveal himself.   The creature reportedly showed little interest in fighting. It attempted to return back to its den several times during a conversation with the assassins, who eventually showed their hand as several of them descended from the rocks above, in hopes of chaining the beast's wings. Epithet would first attempt to flee by air, but returned to meet the assailants in combat for unknown reasons. He would manage to slay 38 of the 50 attackers before striking down the nearby village with his lightning.   The Griarvarsi cut their losses, unable to chase down the Aufalten as it fled north. After returning home, the hunt was considered a loss, and was concluded by the Augurs. Open bounties were put on the creatures' heads, but few ever attempted. The hunters would be repurposed as a guard for the Augurs from this point on, later serving as spies and assassins as well.