***The hard truth is that The Defenders of The Veil have answered a call that was always needed. Ever since the beginning, The Monk from The Sentinels Of Eternal Light discovered the Veil itself that connects all realities in to one, but also discovered how fragile it was. The veil worked as a highway with very little effort on either side. When the monk told the rest of his order what he has seen, they started work with The Sisters Of Druth to harness the essense that came through The Veil to their own gain. From this, The Voilatresta was made, The Defenders Of The Veil were never hard to reach Thanks to the magical talisman that is worn around their necks. It senses whenever Veil Essense is near, anything that comes through carries it like it's tattooed to their being. Armed with this, and several magical weapons created by The Sisters, The Defenders Of The Veil are ready for anything at anytime.***

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In the pale light of dawn, Jack and Serraphina arrived at the outskirts of the troubled village. A thick pall of smoke hung in the air, obscuring the ravaged buildings. The cobblestone streets were littered with charred debris and the stench of decay.

"My gods," Serraphina whispered, her eyes wide with horror.

As they cautiously approached, the silence was broken only by the crackling of fires and the occasional crow's cry. The houses stood empty, their windows shattered and doors ajar.

"Look" Jack spoke breaking the silence, Serraphina turned to his voice and saw what he was approaching. At the heart of the town square, stood a colossal monument, a testament to the town's sylvan heritage. A majestic deer, its antlers reaching for the heavens like intertwined branches. But this once-proud symbol had been defiled, its pristine form now a canvas of carnage and terror.

Blood, crimson and sticky, stained the monument's surface, its thick rivulets cascading down the deer's sleek haunches. The stench of death hung heavy in the air, a pungent symphony to the grotesque tableau.

Upon the deer's broad back lay the body of a man, his posture twisted in agony. His neck bore a gaping wound, its jagged edges still glistening with the life he had lost. His eyes, once filled with the vibrant hues of life, were now empty sockets, replaced with gaping holes that stared unseeingly at the heavens.

A long, deep gash marred his stomach, spilling his entrails like grotesque entrails upon the deer's pedestal. Flies buzzed and circled the open wound, drawn to the macabre attraction.

At the monument's base, an inscription in an ancient Elven script seemed to mock the scene above. The elegant characters whispered a tale of ancient glory and forgotten heroes, a stark contrast to the nightmare that now unfolded. Jack kneeled down wiping the blood from the inscription, it read "Na le hante mi dhar en car." He gazed at Serraphina quizzically. "Do you know it?" Serraphina was half Elven, her father was a hunter but when her mother died he decided he couldn't afford her, so he gave her to The Sisters, who have raises her around both magic and her Elven magic.

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"Yes." She managed to choke out, managing both not to cry at the horror before her, or vomit from the smell of death all around her. "May the hunt be plentiful." She forced herself to walk to where Jack was, stepping over the body of a headless woman as she did to Jack who was already prodding the corpse with his quicksilver sword. She cleared her throat once more trying not to cry "I know this place somehow. It's a hunting town." Jack looked back at her solemnly and placed his hand on her shoulder. "This is your first call, so I know it's a lot. But I need you to try and stay together. I'm with you, okay? Look whatever did this long gone. Our Voilatrestas arent glowing." Serraphina had looked up to meet his eyes and could tell he was forcing a smile on his chiseled face but the way the sun made his greying black hair and beard shine gave her some kind of weird level of comfort. She wiped at her eyes and nodded.

"Any idea what could have caused such level of carnage? It's sickening" she said with anger now in her voice. Jack shook his head sadly once "Not yet. As scary as it sounds, any matter of beast could have done this. We need to look around more for clues, search for survivors if there are any."

Suddenly, a faint whimpering reached their ears. They followed the sound to a crumbling barn, where they found four survivors huddled in a corner. "Who's there?" asked a trembling voice. Jack stepped forward surveying the barn. A headless horse was off to the side, a mutilated cow hung from a noose in the center of the barn, the sight was enough to even catch veteran Defender Jack off guard. He regained his composure and stepped forward again.

"We are the Defenders of the Veil," Jack replied. "Some folks in Redemption got concerned when they lost correspondence with you." Fear turned to relief as the survivors emerged from their hiding place. They were a diverse group: an elderly couple, a young mother with her toddler, and a wounded farmer.

"Thank you for coming," the elder man whispered. "We... we thought we were all doomed." He stook his trembling hand out to Jack who took it and shook it firmly. "I reckon this where I introduce myself." The bald short elderly man croaked while looking around at the barns carnage and taking back his hand as his smile faded "And uh, explain what happened here."

The old man looked back at his fellow survivors and nodded before meeting the eyes of Jack once again. "I'm Mayor Doug Reid. I'll skip the 'Welcome to Jasper' spill out. I'm afraid what you see here is a town that makes its money on venison. However hunting has always been a dangerous sort."

Doug patted the dust and dirt off of his expensive business suit "our lovely little town is surrounded by The Dark Woods. A dense forest of trees that seem to grow from seedling to sprout overnight. Not only is it difficult to travel because of that, the darkness that swallows the forest makes homes for all manner of beast and bandits."

Doug looked over and saw Serraphina tending to the young mother and her child and looked back at Jack who looked all too eager for Doug to finish. Doug rubbed the back of his neck while trying to find the words to continue. "It made it hard to hunt. Our ancestors were losing hunters by the numbers. Then they came to town. Said they were an order of warlocks that dealt in blood magic. Said they could cleanse The Dark Woods and keep our town protected. The bandits were starting to hit the town now, they were losing crops, animals, and women every week. The horrid stipulation however" Doug lost his words again and looked down trying to find the courage to keep speaking before Jack made a motion signaling that he was listening.

"Right. They said as long as they paid them, they would guard the outskirts while they researched and cleansed The Dark Woods. So they paid, for a long time. However times haven't been so good, and I decided it would hurt us to continue this arrangement. So I broke it off. And they did..this."

Doug said waving his around around him at all the bloodshed in the barn. The young mother who had been crying finally spoke through difficult sobs. "They were merciless," cried the young mother. "They took my husband... and my baby girl." The wounded young farmer on the ground groaned, his hand clutching at his bandaged bloody neck. He spoke between pained words "if you help us, we will go with you. There's plenty of them. They ran away through The Dark Woods this morning."

Jack and Serraphina exchanged grim looks before nodding to each other. "We will do what we can to help you," Jack said. "We must find these warlocks and end their reign of terror. Serraphina will see to your wounds before we travel. I suggest arming yourselves with something."