The Hunter, Hunted
General Summary
Prelude
At an evening fire, the group of adventurers from Bastion are gathered around the hearth in the arcane sanctum when the fire begins to go wild. The flames take the form of the head of a devil, one that some of you will recognize as Azazel, the last remaining devil prince. It addresses the group.
"You mortals, who have aligned yourselves against the forces of the Heavenly Chorus, your aide is required. I have learned that an emissary of the Silver Accord will be venturing to the Mortal Realm and I am not in a position to send someone to collect them. They will be arriving at the Origin of Magic, which I believe is right under the nose of a large garrison of Imperial forces. Find the emissary before they do. They will be an asset to you and your cause, and in turn ours too will be bolstered. Ignore this request at the peril of yourself and your world."
Robin's Report
This would be no easy mission. The Origin of Magic sits not under just any garrison but the monastery itself, complete with the Empire’s occupying army. We don’t even know if the Empire had discovered the cave by now and blocked it off to hide the “sacrilegious” knowledge it contains. We agreed on a plan of stealth… except perhaps for Russel, who decided to bring Daisy along. Monique would teleport us, elephant and all, to the old Mage’s Tower outside the monastery walls. From there we would circumvent the southern boundaries at a safe distance until we could cut north to the cave where we would find the emissary.
Our plan immediately hit a wrench when we teleported into the derelict tower and found it occupied by a troop of Imperial soldiers. We stalled conflict for a few moments when Sir Elron feigned having classified business as a Templar, but when they were dubious we saw that the fight was inevitable. The spellcasters among us briefly lamented not having the option of casting a Fireball to clear the room, but personally I doubt the ruined structure around us would have survived.
Daisy proved useful here, and together our group dispatched the enemy before they could signal our arrival to any other parts of the garrison. Everyone fought well and Vinny pulled off a “chivalrous” act, as he put it, to cut down one of the soldiers getting too close to me while I was focused on shooting. Though I’m not sure if his winking at me there was an attempt at flirting or just Vinny being Vinny. Probably both.
After chasing down the last fleeing soldier, we investigated the space while Vinny looted the bodies; neither of those endeavors bore anything of interest. Then we dumped the bodies unceremoniously in the lake and discussed the next parts of our plan. As we spoke, we spied distant angels flying over the walls into the valley. Vinny’s eyes were sharp enough that he could discern that one carried a sword on its back and the other wore gilded armor and carried a bow. Based on his description, Sir Elron concluded that the latter was Vinandi the Hunter, also known as the Sinseeker - the strongest of the lesser angels, who hunts down enemies of the Empire. We would have to proceed with caution, as this is an adversary we have no hope of surviving. We were lucky in our last fight; If an alarm is sounded, the angel could be upon us in mere minutes.
Carrying on, our travel involved quite a bit of rock climbing and forest traversal but went without incident. We managed to pass undetected despite Daisy’s bulk and Sir Elron’s clanky armor. We avoided detection by three separate groups of scouts wearing imperial guard uniforms and overheard that they had orders to search for anything “out of the ordinary or otherworldly.”
After a while we came to a large cleared pass in front of the Mountain Gate. We would be very exposed here, especially if an angel were to fly overhead before we made it across. We spend several minutes devising a strategy to bring everyone across unseen. The conversation started to feel like that riddle about a ferryboat and a river.
Our solution was this: Russell would cast the invisibility spell on Sir Elron, Vinny and Monique. Robin and Patrick each had a potion of invisibility to drink, and Patrick would send Russel and Daisy across using a Dimension Door. The plan worked perfectly, and our full group passed safely.
At the end of our third hour traversing the woods along the southern wall, we finally approached the natural pass that would allow us to climb up and into the valley not far from the Origin of Magic. But as we approached the pass, a horn sounded and a flare blazed above the treetops ahead of us. I couldn’t fathom how we could have been spotted with all the precautions we had been taking. Our only escape route was the way we came, or to scale a seventy-foot cliff. We opted for the cliff.
Climbing is no matter for me with my Slippers of Spiderclimbing, and Daisy took turns flying everyone else up the cliff… I realize how crazy that sounds as I write it.
At the top we discovered a group of dead soldiers, some torn by wounds resembling an animal attack. From our vantage point we saw Vinandi approaching the area where the flare had gone off. As it turns out, the alarm was not for us, but perhaps the person we were seeking. The emissary was apparently using this same route to escape the valley as we were to enter it, and had been discovered. That was the theory, anyway, but we had no way of knowing for sure and there wasn’t time to investigate. We took the gamble and rushed to the stranger’s aid.
Sir Elron called for his steed and casted a quick Blessing on himself, Patrick and I that would later prove to save my life. Vinny and I took cover on the high ground overlooking a bloody scene in the forest clearing.
A man we’d never seen before was surrounded by soldiers of the Empire and several who appeared to be monk assassins. The man, who we later learned is called Vareyal, had a pale complexion, piercing blue eyes and a Sheleighleigh in hand. He was dressed in warm furs as though prepared for winter and was accompanied by a large white wolf with a saddle crafted from similar pelts.
The already wounded Vareyal was fighting off the assassins with a thorn whip alongside the wolf Iyfa, who mauled any who came too close. Based on where we had last seen Vinandi, we could be sure the angel was less than a minute’s flight from arriving to put an end to the battle. With no time to lose or even question whether this was the person we were here to find or just some random unlucky traveler, we rushed in to join forces. Vareyal looked both confused and skeptical of the unexpected allies, especially given the Templar among us.
Monique set straight to work setting up the ritual to open the portal for our escape I focused on targeting the assassins, who were too quick for Daisy’s trampling charge. The glen exploded in a crosswind of arrows, Eldritch blasts, thunderwaves, flying weapons and clashing swords as we raised the clock against Vinandi’s inevitable arrival. We were not match for the Hunter, and we all knew it.
I heard Patrick shout over the fray. “Robin! Vinny! Take down that assassin!”
Right on cue, I turned to take aim at the monk moving in on Monique as she was in the middle of casting the teleportation portal. I took my shot, but the first arrow was snatched out of the air and dropped harmlessly on the ground. The second struck home. Vinny begrudgingly took his attention away from the cleric he was shooting and targeted the monk, too. But the damn Templar jumped in to protect the assassin. Our arrows seem to curve into his shield or were otherwise caught by the deft monk. It took several tries before I finally managed to snipe the assassin. Meanwhile, the other soldiers closed in on Monique’s circle, and our party rallied to defend her.
Patrick called out to Vareyal, “Hey Druid, if you wanna get out alive, you’d better be ready to get over here on the drop of a dime!”
Druid looked around at the attackers and his unexpected allies, and then he and his wolf made for where the portal was beginning to form. As he joined the group, Sir Elron put a hand on the Druid’s shoulder and healed him. “You’ve made it among friends.” The druid still looked a little confused at receiving help from a Templar, but didn’t protest.
Russel broke free of his bout with soldiers, rounded up Daisy and, with a kick of sand under his sandals, sprinted to where we were beginning to gather around Monique.
Then the clearing erupted in a thorny jungle as brambles sprouted rapidly from the ground, stopping at the Druid’s feet just paces from the ritual circle. With the nearest templars and assassins defeated, Monique was safe while we picked off the remaining nearby soldiers outside the thicket’s radius. At last, the ritual was complete and the portal to safety was opened.
Elron speared one last soldier before making his way to the portal. “Tarry not, Vinny!” he called back as he stepped through. Patrick followed next, looking in bad shape. But the remaining crossbow men across the brambles began to take fire at Vinny, and several bolts hit their mark. Venandi also struck an arrow at Vinny, although I did not see what came of it.
What I remember next was staring down Venandi across the glen as the Sinseeker drew their bowstring and a spectral arrow wrapped in arcane Chains appeared nocked. And fired. I was certain that it would strike true, but some angel or spirit out there must be looking out for me because it missed by a hair. I don’t know what that arrow would have done, but I know it would have been very bad. The shot was followed by a great gust of wind from his wings that launched Vinny and I off our feet. Vinny took advantage of Vinandi’s change in target and Misty Stepped through the portal, and I scrambled to follow to safety.
Now only Russell remained on the other side, and we waited with bated breath for him to cross. After a long moment he did, stepping backward through the portal with a cocky smile and an elaborate pouch in hand that had not been there before. I don’t know how he did it, but I think that scoundrel just nicked it off Vinandi’s belt.
We arrived safely at the Wizard’s Tower north of Edeau. Monique explained that she directed her portal here to throw any followers off our trail, explaining that the Empire’s agents would be able to study the runes she’d used to cast it and discover their destination.
Addressing the (figurative) elephant in the room, I turned to the stranger. “Please tell me you’re the one we were looking for. Are you a friend of the Silver Accord?”
“Yes, I am a member of the Silver Accord,” he confirmed.
We all breathed a heavy sigh of relief. At least we didn’t derail our entire mission on a whim to rescue the wrong traveler.
“I am here to search for the angel Vigilous.” He means Virgil.
“We’re friends of his,” Monique assured him. “He’s been missing for a while.”
“I see. Well, I am sure there is much we need to discuss, but for now we could all could use a rest.”
From there, the party returned safely to Bastion.
Scribed by Robin Foster
Adventuring Party: Russell, Robin Foster, Monique, Patrick Smith, Vinny Maze, Elron Cartwright, Vareyal
26JAN25
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