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'''Title: About Hunters'''

'''Author: Karvath'''
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'''Background'''

Magic has long held a 
sacred and glorious 
position amongst our 
people, and is revered 
nearly universally amongst 
us as the true power in 
our world. It quickly 
became apparent that 
with the prevalence of 
magical talent amongst 
our people, most regular 
warriors would be unable 
to make much headway 
against magic users. With 
this problem in mind, a 
special caste of warriors 
was trained and 
designated as the Hunters 
and Huntresses. The job 
and task of a Hunter is 
to deal with rogue and 
dangerous mages, and they 
are trained from a young 
age in how a mage may 
cast a variety of spells, 
and how to defeat and 
systematically remove a 
mages ability to tap into 
the void and call forth 
magic. It is thanks to 
this training that Hunters 
are seen as the deadliest 
of warriors and the most 
dangerous of opponents 
for those trained in the 
arts of magery. A very 
specialized set of 
equipment and skills is 
passed down to these 
Hunters to assist them 
in their dangerous task, 
but one of the most 
unique are their living 
weapons, called Stingers. 

'''The Hunters Skills'''

A Hunter is taught from 
a very young age the 
arts of stealth and 
assassination, as the 
easiest way to eliminate 
a more powerful enemy is 
to do so when they are 
caught unawares. In 
addition to these skills, 
they are also taught hand 
to hand, close combat, 
unarmed combat, and 
acrobatic skills to allow 
them to keep fights 
confined to ranges that 
limit a mages ability to 
fight back and 
concentrate. It is at 
these close quarters that 
most Hunters engage 
their targets, and they 
are absolutely lethal. A 
mage who finds themself 
engaging a Hunter in 
close combat is generally 
fighting a losing fight, 
and rarely manages to 
last longer than a few 
brief moments. 

'''The Hunters Equipment'''

Hunters carry with them 
an array of useful tools 
in defeating mages, among 
them everything from 
basic tools such as rope, 
blindfolds, daggers, and 
gags to more exotic and 
rare items such as 
blinding powder and 
silencing powder. These 
last are some of the 
most useful but also 
most difficult to replace 
items due to the scarcity 
of their components. 
Their use can swiftly 
cause a mage to be 
rendered incapable of even 
the lowliest of cantrips, 
as the vast majority of 
spells require a spoken 
component and the ability 
to aim at the target. 

Since the advent of the 
Hunters as a warrior 
caste, mages have done 
their best to attempt to 
combat the way that 
Hunters prey on their 
weaknesses, and some 
spells have been fashioned 
that require only 
gestures, but these spells 
have limited strength and 
usage, and there is no 
known defense against the 
most potent of the 
Hunters weapons…the 
living weapons known as 
Stingers.

'''The Living Weapons, Stingers'''

Stingers were first 
discovered in the 
wilderness of Ishpuria in 
days long past, and their 
abilities seem to be 
unique amongst creatures. 
Wild Stingers are 
snakelike creatures 
covered in venomous barbs 
that they can fire or 
propel at their prey. They 
seem to have thrived in 
Ishpuria by preying on 
magic using creatures 
that were difficult to be 
predated upon by almost 
any other creature thanks 
to the effect of their 
unique venom coating the 
barbs on their bodies…it 
has the ability to sap a 
mages ability to reach 
into the void and pull 
forth magic. The venom is 
disorienting and nauseating 
as well, causing even non 
magic users to be sent 
reeling from their effects 
and left as easy prey 
for the main body of the 
creature. A Wild Stinger 
can be sated for weeks 
on a creature the size 
of a gazer larva, or 
longer with larger prey. 

It also seems to derive 
some of its nutrition 
from the magical prowess 
of its prey in a way 
that is still not 
understood. Hunters keep 
their Stingers fed on a 
diet of beetles, insects, 
and the occasional imp.
It was under the guidance 
of the Matriarchs 
themselves that the first 
of the Wild Stingers was 
converted into a weapon 
for the Hunters. Since 
that occurrence, it has 
been considered the mark 
of a true Hunter to be 
in possession of one of 
the living weapons, and 
makes it nigh impossible 
to impersonate someone in 
the Hunter caste. Each 
living weapon forms a 
bond with the Hunter who 
uses it and it is not 
unheard of for Stingers 
that lose their Hunter to 
become feral and have to 
be put down. 

[[Category:The Awakening]]