[Erevan Burkwood] [Session 4 - Level 1] [Part 1]

[Erevan Burkwood] sat just inside the Frost Stop Tavern near a window so he could keep an eye on his sled outside. The village was beginning to stir, it was just early enough that the hunters were leaving their homes, but no rooster had called out. Troike had told Erevan there would be roosters if he went south.

Erevan spotted five figures walking towards the tavern from down the road and scowled as he spotted Jaeger leading the group. There were three teens behind them; a half-orc woman with an axe, a dwarf man with a hammer and a bundle of blankets in his arms, and a human woman with a bow and arrow. Following the group was a barrel chested man with short blonde hair and wild facial hair. He had a massive war pick on his back with one of its blades silvered.

The five entered the tavern, the first four went straight to the bar, while the fifth stopped in the doorway. He looked over at Erevan with some curiosity.

“Broxton! We need some dried meat for a trip out of the village.” Jaeger called out.

The goliath, Broxton, came out of one of the backrooms. He was wearing an apron that had some sort of mixture of blood and flour on it. He walked over to the bar and stopped in front of Jaeger.

“Poor timing. The lad is leaving today and purchased half my rations. Seems he’s trying to make it to Jarn-burg.” Broxton glanced over at Erevan.

“Well, we can take whatever you have.” Jaeger put a sack of gold on the bar.

“Might as well come look at what we have.” Broxton and Jaeger walked into the back of the tavern.

The larger blonde man walked over to Erevan and sat across from him. Erevan’s eyes drifted in his direction, he glared at the man, and slowly moved the ballista outside to point in his direction. The man didn’t notice the weapon through the window. Instead he smiled and began to talk.

“I heard there was an orphan working for Broxton.” The man tapped his left fingers on the table. “Heard you were a great hunter, thought you’d eventually come to us, didn’t picture you skipping town.”

“My father trained me to survive on my own.” Erevan said as he lifted his chin.

“It’s easier to survive in a group. You could join our younger team on their next mission.” The man said.

“Why would you trust me to join this group?” Erevan shifted forward in his seat.

“Because I know you need coin, you need food, and you need a place to stay. The other’s don’t need to know, but Broxton’s already filled me in on what you are.” He slowly lowered his left hand and curled his fingers into a fist.

“Fine.” Erevan slouched back in his seat. “I’ll join the team for one hunt.”

“Good, it's settled.” The large man waved over to the other three. “Come sit down.”

“Who is this dad?” The female teenager asked as the three of them sat down around the table.

“Broxton said his name was Revan.” The man said before turning to Erevan. “I am Falin Koldottir and this is my daughter Celise Koldottir.”

“It’s good to meet you both.” Erevan stood straight and stuck out a hand.

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Falin shook his hand but Celise crossed her arms and scowled.

“Who is this guy?” Celise asked.

“Revan, I’m a hunter from further north, unaffiliated with your guild.” Erevan explained.

“Alright, nice introductions.” Falin sighed before pointing to the other two. “Kalile Toothhorn is a half-orc stalker and Darton Coldforge is a dwarf boar fighter.”

“And this is Trumpet.” Darton, the brown haired, young dwarf said.

They pulled back the blanket bundle in their arm and a small head emerged from the bundle. It was a piglet with the exact same coloring and features of the boar that was in the stable. It honked, kind of like a loud horn, at Erevan.

At that point the back doors opened again. Jaeger and Broxton returned with a few packs of food.

“Alright we split up the rations fairly between our two groups.” Jaeger called out.

“No need.” Falin replied.

“What?” Jaeger looked over at the table.

“The boy is coming with you.” Falin smiled devilishly.

“There’s no way you can do that to this mission while it is currently underway.” Jaeger said through gritted teeth.

“Talk back to me again.” Falin kept smiling.

With a grumble Jaeger waved to the others to follow as he led the young hunters out of the tavern. He grumbled unintelligible things under his breath as they left. Erevan walked over to grab his sled and follow the others when he heard their voices carried in the wind.

“What is up with the ballista?” Darton asked.

“Probably just overcompensating.” Celise said with a proud smirk.

Erevan ignored them as he followed Jaeger out of the village.

“So what is the mission?” Erevan asked Jaeger.

“We are being sent out to cull a pack of wolves. Their numbers are growing too large for the wilds to support.” Jaeger answered.

“I see.” Erevan was surprised by the almost altruistic nature of the mission.

Jaeger led the four young hunters through the snow covered hills heading North-West. Celise shivered in heavy furs while the others were all handling the extreme cold fine in their own ways. If the group had still been near the village they would have been able to hear the morning calls of a rooster.

“North isn’t a good direction to head in.” Erevan commented from the back of the group.

He followed them as he dragged his sled behind. He tried to show strain, but in reality dragging it had become so easy that he only felt the strain of the rope instead of any of the weight.

“We aren’t heading to the Giant Forest or too far we run into werewolves. The wolf den should be further west of this town. Just need to pick up the trail.” Jaeger called back.

“I’m not afraid of werewolves.” Kalile said.

“I mean. It'd be smarter if you were.” Darton commented.

“Fear is appropriate. Cowardice is inexcusable.” Celise held her head high.

“How would you kill a werewolf?” Erevan asked.

His voice seems to carry more weight in this group. As an outsider they all listened to what he said and seemed to be judging him. Erevan was acutely aware of every look casted his way.

“With a silvered blade of course.” Kalile scoffed as if the answer was obvious.

“Even if you are an orc, you're not overpowering a lycan.” Erevan shook his head.

“Then how do we kill the werewolves?” Jaeger asked in an attempt to amuse Erevan.

“Teamwork!” Darton shouted.

Erevan cocked a smile.

“What’s so funny?” Celise huffed.

“Well it’s just when my dad and I hunted werewolves he expected me to be able to go toe to toe with at least one. I didn’t need his help. I shot the ballista with an angle that allowed me to immobilize or pin my target before finishing them off. Usually via decapitation.” Erevan explained.

“You’ve killed werewolves?” Darton squealed with excitement.

“No way.” Celise crossed her arms.

“Hey kid, you told Broxton you went through the Giant’s Forest, right?” Jaeger asked.

“Yeah.” Erevan shrugged.

“So you lived past the forest. Closer to the Withering Gate. You’d have to kill werewolves to survive up there.” Jaeger said mostly to himself.

The Viking-like man cast a worried glance at Erevan, as if sizing him up, and the teen felt appropriately unsettled. Did this adult Hunter truly consider Erevan to be a threat?