3. Johnathan the Hunter

Johnathan the Hunter


  • Character name: Johnathan the Hunter
    Account name: Talgrath

    The tracks were fresh, the great stag had only passed by here a few minutes ago, and it no longer seemed to be fleeing as fast as it could; the end of the hunt was here, and they both knew it. He had been tracking the stag for two days, after seeing it in a clearing; a magnificent beast of great size, he could sell such a hide for a great deal of coin and the meat from the beast would likely give him enough jerky to feed himself for a month and sell off the extra for additional coin.

    Johnathan moved almost silently through the thicket, making sure he was downwind, finally finding the stag in a clearing. It turned, looking straight at him, and for a moment he thought he had been spotted; but then the great best turned back to its grazing, evidently simply gazing around as a regular precaution. He crept up further, until the he was just behind a thicket of blackberry brambles, just a dozen or so yards from his prey. He slowly came out of his crouch, raising up enough to aim his bow, the great stag was oblivious to his presence. He slowly, ever so slowly, drew his bow back in between heartbeats in order to ensure an even and silent draw. The fletching of the arrow was near his ear now, the stag began to raise its head to look around again; to Johnathan, time slowed down, he took careful aim and released. The arrow seemed to float through the air for a moment, but then time seemed to speed up again, and with brutal accuracy the arrow buried itself in between the ribs of the stag, piercing the lungs and heart and killing the animal almost instantly.

    Johnathan grinned at his success then muttered prayers of thanks to Silvanus, Mielikki and Malar for the successful hunt. He put his bow on his back and then made his way through the thin gap in the bryars that the stag had passed through not too long ago. He hummed a Cormyrean drinking song to himself as he walked up to his kill, preparing to butcher the beast when a horn blared out.

    Thinking he was under attack, Johnathan reached for his bow, and in the space of a heartbeat he had his bow off his back with an arrow nocked and ready to fire. Three horses came trotting down a nearby path shortly after the horn blew, Johnathan heard them before he saw them. A Cormyrean noble rode into view, followed closely by two additional guards on horseback. The noble's hair was blond, and was so clean that it seemed to shine in the sun; combined with his clothing it was obvious he was no real woodsman and that he lived nearby. The guards riding with him, however, were obviously adept at working from horseback. Shortbows hung from their saddles in holsters, and they carried longspears, they also had longswords hanging from their hips. They were dressed in thick leather armor, thick enough to deflect most animal attacks if they were unhorsed, but not so thick that they couldn't stalk prey by foot. To Johnathan, it was obvious that this was a noble's hunting party.

    "You there," the noble sneered with a mix of disdain and annoyance "how dare you kill one of my deer!"

    Johnathan relaxed and put his weapon away slowly, then looked up at the noble on horseback "Even if it is your forest, the deer started in another forest and then came here, I've been tracking this great stag for two days now."

    "And that's an excuse? And how dare you question me, of course this is my forest, I am Draonus Silvercrown."

    "I didn't see any signs." Johnathan replied simply.

    The noble narrowed his eyes, and Johnathan sensed the undertones of trouble, so he quickly came upon a plan, doing his best not to let his contempt show as he attempted the deception he cringed then said "I'm sorry your lordship, I didn't mean to kill one of your deer; I didn't realize where I was, how stupid of me. I mean, just look at your fine horse, you're obviously an important man."

    As Johnathan talked, he stepped closer to the noble's horse and reached into a pouch on his belt. He finally found what he was looking for, a piece of wolf's pelt that had been left over from when he had had the pelt made into his fur-lined boots. The noble sitting on his horse was obviously oblivious now that he was getting what he felt was "his due."

    "I mean, just touching such a fine animal would be an honor," Johnathan continued, "I mean just look at-" and then he sprung into action, sticking the piece of pelt up the horses nostril and running for the bryar patch from whence he had come. As expected, the noble's horse reared and threw its rider in alarm at suddenly smelling a predator so close by, and the noble's guards moved to check on him, rather than pursuing the woodsman.


  • Reviewed, XP pending


  • Johnathan wandered into the sleepy little town of Halesburg some week or so later, looking to sell the hides and deer meat he had collected during his time in the woods. Several villagers and travelers were crowded around a paper affixed to a tree by pine resin, chattering amongst themselves. Johanathan wandered over to take a look, staying back from the crowd itself. Sharp-eyed, he quickly noticed that it was a poster with a picture that looked much like him; listening to the crowd, he quickly understood why.

    "Killed a noble over a deer, how horrible!"

    "All he did was cause some fop to fall off his horse, probably wasn accident."

    "That reward is pretty good, especially since it's just for some simple hunter."

    Johnathan didn't stick around to hear the rest, he quietly pulled the cowl of his hood lower and began to head north. Already, he considered where to go, but he knew that going south would result in having to trek through the whole of Cormyr while dodging the authorities and bounty hunters. The north of Cormyr had fewer people and involved passing through less of the country; he could circle around after leaving Cormyr if he really had to get to an area where he would be able to work and wouldn't get trouble from Cormyrean authorities…