Sitting again in his private study, Alexander opens his journal and begins writing in it.
"Olivia was not in the outskirts. Her companion however was present. He seemed worried about something and was pacing back and fourth. Before I could speak with him however, I was approached by one of the newest witch-hunters in these lands. Anna, I believe is her name. She came here with her partner Kasper and immediately after meeting, I gave them some work. They handled my investigation on the Falkavonian Werner, which was later closed for reasons that I care not to elaborate on as I lost out on the prospect of future employment from a specific source. Anna had approached me to inquire about the status of said investigation and was pleased to learn that I had used her information to close out the affair. I see potential in both her and Kasper. In time and with proper training they could both become noteworthy hunters, but for now I shall have to keep close watch on them, lest they get in over their heads. After speaking with her, I noticed that Olivia's companion had quickly run off to the west toward the Von Zeklos keep. He was sweating profusely and I could only guess at the cause of his concern, so with Anna in tow, I followed him. Neither he nor Olivia have any skill in combat that I have seen, so if either are in trouble I shall have to pull them out of it."
He stops writing to accurately recount what came next. After a few moments he nods to himself and resumes.
"Ana and I had lost sight of Olivia's companion, but still we pressed on. It was likely they were both in trouble. I hadn't been given a moment to think however, for before my very eyes Olivia and her friend appeared before me, running for their lives. "Witch!" they both shouted in unison. That was the one word Anna and I needed to here. Immediately I prepared the proper tools and made myself vanish from sight. Anna quickly interrogated them while I scouted the road ahead. I found not a trace of the witch. Upon returning to the three of them, I learned that Olivia was assulted by a creature that she could only describe as "looking not alive." She claimed that it spoke to her and that it "wanted" and "needed" her. Given its ability to use spells and carry conversation, I ruled out the possibility of it being a mere ghoul, ghast or zombie. My next thought was of a blood sucking vampire but that was not possible given that night would not fall for another two hours. This left me to believe that her attacker must have been a Wight. She said he called himself "The Recorder."
He turns the page in his journal and lights another candle. Alexander then turns his head sideways to work out a few kinks before resuming his writing.
"I've dealt with Wights before on several occasions. They are known to be the daylight guardians of the vampires in the coven on mount Baratak, but never have those ones been able to properly use the arcane arts. The name he used, "The Recorder" sounded very familier to me. I've heard this name before, though I at the time I could not peice it together. On the roadside where he struck however, I could not stop to think about it, for my first concern was the safety of the civilians in my care. I decided that with darkness soon to be covering the land and given our proximity to any shelter, that we should set up camp off the road side. This may or may not have been a mistake, but at the very least it provided me with some answers. We settled in and I questioned both Olivia and her companion once more about their attacker. They could not give me much information to go on other than what has already been said. He was undead in appearance, wearing black tattered robes. One of his ears looked to be torn off. I pondered this, trying to recal my last encounter with a wight capable of sorcery. I was however interrupted by the sudden appearance of a heavily enchanted imp. The creature was hidden using invisibility, but I easly saw past it. The others did not. Immediately I approached the Imp and began questioning it. I could only assume that it was the pet of the wight responsible for the attack and speaking with the imp only confirmed this. It seemed suprised that I had deduced as much about it's master in so short a time, but this was not suprising. Imps aren't known for their intelligence or their wisdom. Looking to my own imp, Xoraxis, I can see this much to be true."
He pauses again to reguard the imp hovering over his shoulder. For a few minutes he watches the imp fly around the room before growing irritated with it. With a wave of his hand, the imp vanishes into thin air; leaving behind only a puff of smoke where it had once been.
"The imp's name I could not deterimine, nor could I determine anything about it's master that I had not already figured out. The imp explained that it's master was interested in Olivia for conducting certain experiments, which the creature did not care to elaborate on. After futilly prying it for information, I ultimately learned nothing. None the less, the name... "The Recorder" played over and over in my mind. I knew I had heard it before. Later, after returning to the Lady's Rest with Anna and the others, I had met with a man by the name of Bernard. It was obvious to me that this man was a spell caster by the way he carried himself, but since he offered useful information and he had no price on his head that I knew of, I decided not to investigate him. After a long conversation with him, I learned that he too has had prior encounters with this "Recorder" Apparently the two of them are children of the same game, though on opposite ends of the spectrum. Both experiment in the study of the human brain for whatever reasons they hold. Still the name stuck with me, for I knew I had heard it before. How foolish I felt when Bernard explained that the true name of the recorder was Jeffron! Damn it all! How could I have been so blind?"
Alex stands and clenches his fist in anger, summoning to his side once more, Xoraxis. As the imp appears, Alex quickly vents his frusteration on the creature by punching it in the head. As the imp coiled back in fear, Alex blasted it with a cone of cold and unsommoned it again. His anger satisfied, he resumes his memoire.
"Jeffron! I should have known from the start. I should have recognised that blasted imp. Back when I first began my hunts of villianous spellcasters I was hired by two Barovian nobles to capture or kill the wight known as Jeffron. I first encountered him in the Caliban Den known as the "Drain." Were it not for the rookie who was with me, blowing my cover, I would have had the creature then and there. Alas instead I was face down in the gutter bleeding all over myself while picking up the peices of the rookie that the creature had blasted to hell and back. I was saved that day by the most beautiful creature I had ever seen: An elven woman named Nara'ia Goldflame. Now that I am prepared to finish this, Bernard has assured me that together and with the help of one of his companions, we could finish where I started so many summers ago. This time Jeffron, I shall not let you live to experiment on any more innocent people. Let alone key whitnesses is my investigations! This time, you will be mine little wight. This time I will succeed where I failed once before. This time it ends."
