Me And My Shadow

Hunter was up early for his ritual morning exercises to keep in shape. Then he had a small snack to keep him going. He needed to make sure his skills were acceptable to be a hunter since that was going to be his job for a while now. He had no desire to be a soldier, he lacked the proper training to be a scholar, he was a commoner and lacked the training for working as a merchant or farmer. His only real skill was killing people so he was only left with the option of being a hunter. The best part of being a hunter was he would not have to go without meals since he could eat in the woods. His past training did involve hunting animals for food when the nobles had to travel since they preferred fresh meat. So Hunter was some what proficient in hunting rabbits and pigs.

As he left the barracks he could see his destination town of Ostiarium's Stoneshade Keep. It was an adequately built Keep and Hunter could see the pros and cons of the design right away since it was his job to deal with unwanted pests. The large wooden gate doors allowed him to pass through as he noticed the guards of spearmen, archers and knights. Hunter quietly followed the others to the courtyard as they assembled before the Sergeants who told them. Then Sir Eudon Zane tells how things would proceed with their three options of paid commissions, paid militia and take on hunting and the city's guard.

The Sergeants then ran Hunter and the others through the basic drills, which were not hard for Hunter since his training was much harder. The worst of his training was three days long with no sleep while defending from random attacks. Back then the weak assassins in training would receive addition training to make them stronger or they would die and be discarded like garbage. The Nobles were really a sick bunch by nature since many of them looked down on others like they were tools and bugs to be squashed on a whim.

Hunter was not concerned with the drills nor was he worried about the crappy weapons he had to work with. Granted his weapons were way better than the loaner weapons, he was trained to fight with anything. Hunter had learned early that anything was a weapon if used correctly such as a rock, a knitting needle, a flag pole, a flag, a chain, a handful of dirt and even a broken sword. So when he picked up the old bow and arrows he checked them first and fired a test shot to see where it hit. The shot was off a few inches. Then he adjusted to the difference and remembered where the shot would go as he hit a bullseye. As he continued to shoot his arrows with little time between each shot he hit within the four inch center every time. Granted he was much better with his own bow, Hunter was focused on his task as he made short work of the stationary and moving archery targets. In the past he killed a lot of stationary and moving targets in silence for his ex boss. Hunter wanted to showcase his archery skills so he could become a Hunter and not an archer or guard. If they knew his old profession he might end up being forced to repeat his last job and that was not good.

So after doing well in the archer drill Hunter needed to reduce the chances of him being a guard or soldier. So he played down his sword skills to make himself look average compared to those he was watching. He noticed Alexis and Tarmen from the ship who were doing well. He figured they were going for a guard or soldier as they showed off. Hunter knew better than that as he only used basic sword skills with a long wooden sword. It was just enough to pass but not stand out. His ego was fine with keeping his real skills hidden, since he was taught to only use his skills when needed to keep the element of surprise. Since Hunter did not know if he would have to cross swords with anyone there in the future, he found this way best for now.

As it was the locals were on bad terms with nobles, the church and the local law. Bandits, pickpockets, thieves and other criminals could be found anywhere in this place and it was possible they did have some numbers even if their skills was crap. Hunter was taught that regardless of skill, when fighting numbers the odds of survival get much lower. So its best to make adjustments to your battlefield to gain the advantage. Hit and run strategies were usually bet along with traps and distractions.

Later on after the drills were over the group had a chance to aske questions about Ostiarium and Arcadia. Hunter listened as the others asked their questions. Granted he preferred to know more, but he knew there was a chance they were not getting the whole truth. If he wanted real answers he would have to uncover them himself while walking about and hunting alone. He could spy on the town folk, map the area, record the areas for hunting and other life forms such as animals and natives. For now Hunter would play nice but keep to himself as he analyzed the place.

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