Nothing is ever as it seems. The ideology of a Hunter: always look through the veneer of the world around them to find the hidden truth. For Matthias Terenti, tonight would be the culmination of a week of chasing down obscure leads and veiled facts: a meeting near the docks, late into the night, close to a warehouse Matthias suspects is used by the local Thieves Guild. Those involved were members of said Guild and a wanted fugitive Matthias has been sent to find: Captain Nicolau “Storm Crow” Hann, a military deserter who disappeared almost a year after the end of the War, and has been rumored to have joined with an anti-establishment movement recently. The purpose of this meeting was supposedly a deal for information, or so Matthias was led to believe. Hiding in the dark near an alley, Matthias intended to disrupted this meeting and apprehend Hann alive, if possible.
Matthias had taken cover in an alley between warehouses, where he would have a good view of anyone coming and going dockside. He suddenly saw three men come down the nearby street, near a fish stall. Thanks to the streetlamps, he was able to see that these men were dressed in ragged clothes and one of them had a gun in his hand, though Matthias was confident they all were armed in some fashion. Matthias noticed another one of the thugs carrying what looked like a satchel bag, presumably carrying what the thieves intended to sell. He lowered his wide brim hat to hide his face and withdrew further into an alley to avoid detection, using the night and his dark coat to his advantage. Matthias followed them as best he could while staying hidden in the alleyways. He could hear broken pieces of the scoundrels’ conversation as he went, catching “makes me uneasy” and “a night at the Rose”. Matthias couldn’t help but scoff at the base thoughts of the thugs, but continued to keep pace until they came to a stop in front of a warehouse. Peering around the wall, he could see a figure waiting in front of the warehouse: a man in a very fine maroon suit, with close cropped black hair and cold steel eyes; the eyes of a killer. His devilish smirk and singed eyebrows left no doubt in Matthias’ mind that he had found his prey at long last: Captain Hann. Much as he wanted to, Matthias couldn’t rush out and skewer him with his blade. Not without seeing what he had offered these thugs. It is also not the way of a Hunter to take their target until they had found the perfect moment. He continued to watch as Hann walked towards the approaching thugs. “So good to see you, gentlemen,” he said, “I was worried you had called me out here simply to kill me.”
“Who’s to say we haven’t?” replied the thug carrying the revolver.
“I imagine you would have done so by now, if that were the case. If not, can we get down to business?”
The gunman motioned towards his compatriot, who placed the satchel on the ground in front of Hann. Hann then proceeded to produce two stacks of talsen bills to hand to the thugs. Matthias knew the thieves’ bag contained some form of information, but was unable to gather any specifics. Locations of military storehouses? Patrol details? Matthias wasn’t about to let Hann find out. He readied one of the alchemic vials he brought with him for tonight, a mixture that instantly vaporizes, producing a layer of smoke and allowing him to steal the satchel without incident. He was preparing to throw it, when he saw Hann walk towards the thugs, raising his hands towards them. Hann’s face formed a twisted smile as his hands crackled with energy and shot bolts of lightning at the thieves, who screamed as they were electrocuted. Matthias cringed and as he saw the horror that earned Hann the name “Storm Crow”, the same horror that, on a larger scale, caused the deaths of Hann’s own men during the Civil War, and those who attempted to arrest him for the deed.
The electric display had finally ended and the thugs have fallen over as crumpled, cooked heaps on the ground. Hann grabbed the satchel chuckling maniacally as he did so. “You boys should have killed me when you had the chance,” he said with great relish.
Matthias had seen more than enough. He threw the vial towards the psychopath and quickly drew his sword. The vial smashed on the ground and smoke spewed from the remains, clouding Hann’s vision and invading his lungs and eyes. He coughed as he attempted to breathe and started to whip up a whirlwind to blow it away, when Matthias rushed out from the alley and grabbed for the bag. Hann could feel the bag being tugged at, even if he couldn’t see the one responsible. He held onto it with all the strength he could muster in his one hand, while his other swirled around, causing the smoke to whip around in a small cyclone, allowing Hann to see his assailant: a man in a black coat and hat trying to pull the satchel out of his hand, a sword in his other hand. Hann and Matthias both struggled to wrest the bag away from the other. Hann shot his free hand, crackling with electricity, towards Matthias, intending to give the same shock treatment he did to the other unfortunate souls. Matthias, however, had come well prepared for a confrontation with this dangerous mage. He raised his sword to meet the lightning bolt he knew would be coming, just as Hann cast the spell. The lightning arced from his fingers towards its intended target, only to be deflected by the blade, and sent down to the ground between the two. The resulting explosion sent them both flying a couple of meters and the bag even further. Matthias and Hann both recovered fairly quickly, each ready for more. Hann let loose a larger arc of lightning towards Matthias in a fit of anger, hoping to eliminate this latest nuisance. Matthias rolled back and to his right to escape the bulk of the electricity and raised his sword horizontally to block the rest. Matthias had to close his eyes to fight the pure blinding light, even as his sword deflected the bolts like arrows on a shield. Lightning hit everything around Matthias: warehouse walls, market stalls, and the cobblestones on the street. Hann began walking forward and tried to narrow the arc to concentrate on the Hunter, attempting to break his defense. The light in Matthias’ eyes intensified, though the lightning still made no headway on getting past his blade. Matthias then swung his sword to break the shocking assault and rushed forward to strike the mage. He managed to inflict shallow cuts on Hann’s hands, causing Hann to take pause. Matthias wasted no time in gaining momentum, thrusting his blade straight for Hann’s stomach. The mage managed to sidestep out of the way of the Hunter’s attack. Matthias continued to swing his sword, trying to make contact with this elusive mage, but every swing only met air as Hann darted away just enough for the blade not to touch him. Matthias ceased his fruitless assault, and threw a vial at the ground in front of Hann, this time freezing the ground it impacted and spreading towards the mage, reaching his boots and encasing them in ice. Hann attempted to melt the ice, when Matthias charged towards him, blade first. Hann then explodes with electrical power, discharging lightning everywhere around him, sending Matthias flying back and destroying the ice encasing his boots. Matthias could feel the electricity coursing painfully through his body as he impacted on the ground and tumbled back, his sword beyond his immediate reach. He felt as if his legs were severely burned, and his body was sore from the impact. He could hear Hann walking towards him, laughing gleefully. “You’re certainly full of surprises, aren’t you? That blade of yours; it’s made of Black Iron, isn’t it?”
Matthias could barely move from all the pain, but he could tell that Hann stood very close to him, and inspected him. “And Black Iron armor, too. That would explain why my spell didn’t kill you.”
The only response Matthias could manage was a grunt of discomfort.
“I know your kind, Hunter. How else could you have such tools at your disposal? You put up a valiant effort, though I already have what I need.” Hann then walked away, and picked up the bag, finding it close to a destroyed market stall. Matthias tried to fight through the pain and stand up. There wasn’t a chance he would let Hann escape. Not after he came so close. He rolled over onto his stomach and tried to push himself up on his feet. Hann looked over and saw the Hunter struggling and smirked.
“Face it, Hunter. You’re in no shape to fight me. I could burn you to a crisp, regardless of whatever defenses you have. You’re only still breathing because I’m on a rather tight schedule.” Hann turns to walk down the empty street, bag in hand. Matthias tries to stand up and run after him, but his legs give out from under him.
“Until next time, Hunter,” he said as he waved and disappeared into the night.
Matthias kept crawling down the street, trying desperately to catch up to him. He crawled and he crawled, but his vision had started to darken. He fought to stay conscious. I can’t lose it now! I need to get him before he disappears again! His thoughts racing, his arms continuing to pull his body along, he finally collapsed on the ground, burned, bruised and defeated…