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Author Topic: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry  (Read 24017 times)

Winter83

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Fragments of the past #2
« Reply #50 on: May 03, 2012, 04:08:41 AM »
Fragments of the Past #2
                                          Dying music


January 754

Mordenthsire, my 22nd winter. I was a young man sitting on the clouds of happiness. I had a decent job at the docks, a small room rented, a loving wife. Took a couple of years to get over my first wife's death who died at giving birth to my son. They were both gone.
And then later, Lillian Emry, how beautifully her laughter tinkled, calling me her sweet Gilley.  

The music fills the air,
Joy around the market, freaks in a cage,
petty trinkets, gossips and rumors swapping place,
laughter, cry of a babe, the busstle and hassle,
She speaks, she smiles at the musician, throwing her hair, giggling,
He speaks, he smiles at the wife, his painted face, charming, wicked
...the flirt, the touch,
...next day she is gone, so as the circus
...the sound of a cracking heart,
...the trust fades
...the music dies

I will find you both I swear! Jacques Martis, I know your name, I burned it to my memory. Deep. I will paint that smile on your face with blood. [Last line is scratched out, entry crumpled]



« Last Edit: May 03, 2012, 04:11:10 AM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #51 on: May 05, 2012, 03:23:09 AM »
Whispers and circles

Being promoted to the highest rank of the Kinship is not as enjoyable as I expected. More politics and administration I get and less time to pursue my preys.
Sweet talking with ezrites, whacking the head of mouthy members, enduring the citadel's all complains, mediating between parties, getting secrets, keeping secrets, whispering secrets, flushing away rumors, modifying rumors, spreading rumors. It's a pain.
I would need only a handful or reliable agents in the Kinship, but it seems we managed to recruits all the righteous zealots, the berserk hotheads, the naive and sensitive lilies, or bossy women. They enjoy bickering and jumping at shadows, rumor mongering instead of focusing on facts, and priorities.
This Corem is nothing but a nuisance barely worth watching. Just to have an example.

And now sweet Diamond will likely be occupied in different circles. Although these may open up new opportunities I wanted to have her on my side. Not just to keep a closer eye on her, but because she's witty, talented, subtle.

The Inner Circle requires more skilled human material than we are currently observing in the Kinship. If they do not learn we have to substitute them one by one to more prospective members. This a waste of time


 [The last line is barely readable, scratched out]


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #52 on: May 08, 2012, 11:16:11 AM »
The nature of all things

[1]

In my years of observation, trailing poachers, criminals I have to draw the conclusion that one cannot deny it's nature that's been evolving in his heart from the birth. A frog will never become a hare, and a fish will never learn to fly. Humankind is a strange form of the fauna of this world. Behind so many various faces there are so many different natures.

While a wolf for instance can differ in behavior compared to the rest of it's kin, but this difference is dwarfed by the mankind's -and the other races included- variety in behavior.

This true nature however is well hidden often and only developing slowly. This true nature as I wrote it earlier cannot be changed. A criminal is borne to be a criminal and jail sentence will never alter his own self.

A petty thief might not be more than a nuisance a mouse among the men, alas it has it's use and own role. His presence allows the hounds to born, the garda and the hunters. The more the mice among the men the more the quantity of the human hound to borne. And this helpless petty mouse as it breeds will only create more mice, more thieves, more cutpurses, as it is in their own blood. Despite he wears the mask of a man, his true self, true nature is something different.

And as I observed, this land have more pesks than predators to remove the threat. The gardener weeds out the field to save the crops. The hounds devour the mice to save the barley sheaves.

There will be always mice and rats, but Vallaki is getting overpopulated by them.
A great imbalance is present.
And myself borne to be a hound, a weapon in the hands of nature, myself is responsible to exterminate the rodents.

A harsh punishment? Nonsense. Many believes in redemption, but one cannot deny his own true self. The hound stands with clean consience over the carcass of the rat.

Jail time is a temporary solution, feeding the pests, letting them to breed after the release, spreading sicknesses, feeding on society's wounds like parasites. They consume the resources of this soil from those who have a chance to be great in the world making it better.
 1. Painting Name: Rats amongst the Barley Sheaves 1851 by Thomas Hewes Hinckley
« Last Edit: May 09, 2012, 07:01:47 AM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #53 on: May 09, 2012, 01:29:12 PM »
Of Broken Roses and Games of Shadows

[One page from this journal was torn out, however the writing was written such a hasty manner the pen left some traces on the page under]

.....rose.....and.....tower.......the girl.....
P..y....besides me..... the....po.er....and the .....
...deal had been.....with the......o................shadows.
..Le..s......................................and.....nx........the.....Mo.....names and deeds....and........spies everywhere.
Sw...t....diam..d.................................this is a deadly game in the s..dows.



The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #54 on: May 14, 2012, 05:41:13 AM »
Fragments of the Past #3

The bleeding gardens


Spring of 749

My 17th years. Me and my mates and younger brother Paul was picking berries along the river Arden, stealing apples from the Smith' orchards. We were heading towards Mordentshire to deliver a small package, and we eventually picked the longer and more scenic route along the river.  
Not after a couple miles walking and fooling around we spotted a very inviting garden and a farmhouse. The garden was grown wild, the house was in bad shape, doors and window barred, crows were preening their feathers on the tattered scarecrow. Our curiosity got the better of us, and we went to look around in hope to find some wild cherries or other fruits.
Wish we did not.

The dusk...stars flickering on the purple sky...
Pumpkins in the weed, no birds singing, the lone building at the far end...
Pauley scareing crows, whacking the scarecrow...
...it cracks, and pumpkinhead...seeds and rot...
...old doors moaning in the wind, Jamey giggles, and crawls into the house...
...he said it will be fun...
...we wait ioutside, the silence grows, calling Jamey to come out already..
..no reply, more and more crows gathering on the roof...
...they eyes...the glares...the cawing and croaking...
..the shadows grow, of the old oak trees, like arms reaching after us, leafage ruffled by the wind...
...angry trees...we are terrified, Jamey still in the house...
..Pauley cries, and steps on a pumpkin in the weed...
..the smashed pumkin moans,  the pumpkin bleeds, Pauley screams...
..the crows shot up from the roof cawking circling above our heads...
...we start to run, running and running,
Jamey left in the house.

Saw Jamey after five years, when I was working at the Mordentshire docks. At least someone who vagely resembled him. But this man was an old man, balding, greasy unkept grey hair wrinkles, and dead eyes. He was a beggar but in my heart I knew it was Jamey. I avoided him, could not look into his eyes. I never learned what happened in the building.

...but I still remember the headless scarecrow...



« Last Edit: May 14, 2012, 05:44:32 AM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #55 on: May 15, 2012, 10:43:57 AM »
The Hunters' Code


Everything has a price and ever deed is followed by often unpredictable consequences. Removing one beast from the crowd makes space for a new one. And a good deed often results in horrid endings. Yet if one person upsets the balance there will be another on to counter it. It is an universal law.

But the Hunter is a weapon in Nature's hand, carefully upkeeping the ultimate balance. He shall not worry about the consequences as he is the servant of nature. His instincts are the guide, the message of Nature to decide what shall or shan't be done.

And the hunter follows the Code of the Hunt.

Never agree to play on the terms of your prey. If you fail to heed, you may find yourself being hunted. It is not the way of the Hunt.
Harass and weaken your prey. Even the smallest hunters are capable to bring down the largest of prey. Facing the prey in even combat is not the way of the Hunt.
Outwit your prey. Think ahead, and calculate the next few steps of your foe. It is the way of the Hunt.
Study and observe your prey. Without it the Hunter faces unpredictable surprises. It is not the way of the Hunt.
Respect and never underestimate your prey. It's the way of the Hunt.
Be merciful and swift ending your prey's life. Failing this you may find yourself in the receiving end of the dagger in the future. This is the way of the Hunt.
The Hunter has no emotions. Emotions distract and capable to cause undesirable results. The Hunter is empty, only the Hunt exists. This is the way of the Hunt.
And finally...
The Kill is the prize of the Hunter. A trophy is the reminder that the Hunter is Nature's fragile servant. It is the way of the Hunt.




The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #56 on: May 17, 2012, 04:48:53 PM »
Nobody is innocent


[A large collection of bounty posters on criminals, sketches made from were-wolves, several crossed out
Under a couple of entries there's a curious note scratched on the paper in a hasty manner, unlike of Giles's handwriting. Whether it is a note marking the last picture or a separate entry hard to tell because of the proximity]

This one hunts. Does the bidding of his instincts. Observes. Survives. This one is anonymous. and shall rip off the mask of whom he was. The hunter is empty. Nobody is innocent. This one is the humble gardener. No more. No less.

[Under the page the writing takes shape of Giles' usual handwriting]

I should give up with drinking. Yet that's what makes the nights bearable. Not the first time I woke up in some trench, laying face down in a pubble of mud. Last night I found myself doing the same in front the Wandering Billy. Whiskey is a slow killing poison.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2012, 04:51:59 PM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #57 on: May 20, 2012, 03:13:09 AM »
Dead eyes


When I close my eyes I see them in my dreams.
..Glassy, dead eyes.
...Bloodshot ones.
...Pleading ones.
...Sad ones.
...I see the terror in them, the fear facing their last last moment in their life.
...I see hope and desperation. 'Maybes'
...Denial.
...A glimpse into the well of memories.

I killed many humans every since I arrived to Barovia. Criminals, cutpurses, thugs. But it does not change that gut squeezing feeling, when I look into the eyes of the condemned.
They are people, with lives, with families somewhere perhaps.
...They laughed,
......and danced,
.......and cried,
.....and enjoyed their favored meal on the festivities,
..raises up puppies,
...........hugged their beloved,
.........struggled on the fields,
...blushed when courting,
.....dreamed dreams of a better life.

We are akin, but they are already dead.
They just don't know it....but when they realize death's approach....oh they do try everything.
Survival instinct is powerful. Yet I have to kill the compassion and pity when I face them. One moment of hesitation may have fatal consequences. The hunter is empty.

Whiskey seems less and less helpful with the nightmares, seeing them dead eyes of the condemned. I have to find some other way.





The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #58 on: May 21, 2012, 04:26:05 PM »
Survival instincts

How far one goes to survive? What's the price of a life? What's the worth of mine?
Writing these lines at the age of thirty eight after two failed marriages. Left my home, abandoned my family, my parents and siblings. For what?
Even though I wished them good I made foolish mistakes bringing more harm, no matter the intentions. And now I strive and struggle to save a few coins so I can finally return home and pay the debts I made. Mordent sweet Mordent.
But then again, I am too old to have a child of my own to raise him, to see him married, give life to my grandsons. And no telling how many bastards I left behind on my travels. It seems futile.

A simple life I wished, but seems another path was chosen for me. It was chosen or I stepped on it in the beginning, I will never tell. I cling to my failed life miserably, going to great length to preserve it. Hunting the hunters and in the meanwhile I became no better then them.

One thing I know though. If I settle down once I will do my best to raise a child to the best of my abilities and teach him the difference of man and beast.

If there is such exists at all.


Perhaps I am destined to this path and there are other things for me to experience. Time will tell. Yet at the moment....only the nightmares are constant and no flicker of hope that once I will be just a simple peasant working hard on his own field.

[An unusual handwriting follows the entry]

Nobody is innocent. And the hunter is a tool. A faceless one. An empty one
« Last Edit: May 21, 2012, 05:59:03 PM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #59 on: May 23, 2012, 04:50:10 AM »

Freedom in the Hollow



I was shackled in all my life. In the yoke of a landlord back in Mordent, under the thumb of the garda while I was the first militia here at Vallaki. I was in the possession of several witches....I remember the McCay twins, how they chanted in the darkness.
I remember the night when Lillith Mirror performed her ritual on me, forcing to face my inner beast, opening the hollow. I was bonded to her. Against my own will? Most of the time.
I remember all the women that held me through tears and emotions. Some of their names I don't even remember by now. Memories are fading. But I do remember Halgerd. Then I do remember sweet Diamond.
I was shackled by vengeance, by hatred, by the memories of Anna Carpenter. By the memories of Sarah Emry.
Shackled by my debts.
Shackled by leadership in the Wayfarers. Shackled by the Code. Shackled by all the Kinship's dreams and grievances.
Shackled by whiskey and opium.

I was running in all my life, running to survive, never to face my adversaries.
I ran from the elves when I arrived, I ran from the womb-freaks. I ran from the rebels. I was running from assassins. From the vampires. I was running from my Nightmares, from the agents of Set.

I grew tired of running. Perhaps now I have a chance to be free once and for all. I stepped on my own path.
The one I choose.

There's freedom in the Hollow eventually.
   ....and my soul does not scream anymore, but it sings, oh it sings. As I am not one who suffers the Hollow, I am one with the Hollow...



Quote

...end of Chapter II...

Quote


Quote
((Great thanks to all who influenced Giles' personality in various ways all along in this chapter of his story. It is a very long list. A very long one so here I short it down a bit))

For the Key persons that shifted his personality greatly

Yuliya Vorius - For growing Giles's paranoia
Ricard Dateel - For showing that who does not bend suffers eventually
Eliza Chirila - For the magic
Erynne Perselli - For the passion
Leo Crawford - For teaching Giles to empty himself
DM Stygian for darkling Werewolf that had a great impact on Giles
DM Macabre for the "cookies"
DM Decay for that Set plot from the previous chapter that is still affecting Giles
DM Tarokka for that tarokka reading - the bloody Marionette card stirred up Giles paranoia

All the others whom I played with and influence him in various ways, great thanks, your presence shapes the setting and characters!

Velanthe
Clydessa G.F Swift
Roxanne
Legos Sylvester
Lev Dragunov and all the garda
Cote Poisson
Soren De'neith
Tabitha
Nadie Gerner
Hrunt
Edward Hyde
Leander Hoppy
Dan Drig
Cord Tealef
Micheal Von Ritter
Kaeyna
Mother
Grevis
Caterina Morello
Arden Stanic
Talsin Marrinsbannard
Lin and her ghost


The mere existence of Senies, Jinx, and Corem ((although I never rp-ed with you directly))

((I hope I did not forget anyone - will ammend the list))


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #60 on: May 25, 2012, 08:23:41 PM »
Chapter III.

Quote


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #61 on: May 25, 2012, 08:24:16 PM »

Blade-dancer

Balancing on the razor edge of a blade is far from pleasant. But a faint hope that my name in Mordent can be cleared. An offer one cannot turn down. A chance to live a life I always wanted. A manor, a land, a title. Baron Emry. Is sounds pleasant.
One just have to pull the tail of a hungry yet slumbering wolf and leave to tell the tale. It is not a small feat to accomplish. A chance to be one of the most known persons, or die a gruesome death.

And yet I am not more again than an unimportant delivery boy. Running errands.

One takes makes great length for his own survival.

Have to acquire some more opium to ease the pain of the mind. Yes. That would work.





The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #62 on: May 28, 2012, 04:00:07 AM »
The shape of my heart


The doctor is in my hand now as well as his sweet little assistant. It was some time since the Barovian Slasher struck again, but when I heard about this man I knew that he will be the one. He has the description of the murderer as well as the talents and the tools. Invited him to the lodge, we swapped notes, I told him the details of the investigation. If he is our man he will make a mistake. Let him delve into the joy that he can work on his own case and mislead us. Let him enjoy this facade.

The spider spins the web. The little moth will be caught by it soon.

But talking with this man had an addition boon.  He agreed to teach me human anatomy. A useful skill in my trade. When one strives to perfect medical concoctations, it is necessary to understand how everything works.
The whole human body is like a Country. The heart is the city of Trade, and brain is the Capital, the blood vessels the trade routes. Everything has a purpose, we even have our sewer systems. A perfect but frail economy. The liver fight against the poison which is spread by the blood.
Now I wonder what to do with the natural toxin of the plants. Is it perhaps possible to distill them while I try to clean the medicine? Note to self: Red caps can be a good start.

The Shape of the heart is strange. Struggling with the blood, like an overgrown bizarre ball. It is but a slave. But as I was taught it is not the center of emotions. That is the brain.
Now makes me wonder if this is true, some with exceptional cunning can also fake her emotions, control her tears and smirks? 


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #63 on: June 05, 2012, 03:00:16 AM »
Of Freaks in nature


Mishappen they are. A natural order upset, a creation of unintended mistakes. Calibans. Malformed freaks. An insult to nature. And their blood, oh their blood carries no good intentions. Their true nature is below even of an animal's. Tho natural predators do not murder passionately for the sake of killing.
Even the animals despise those which are different and malformed. Even they tear them apart. Let their corrupted blood not have mixed into the pack's.

Fifty good men slain. Fathers. Sons. Husbands. Honest and honorable men murdered for being what they are, for performing their duties.
In the morning they consumed their early breakfast unexpectedly that it is their last one. And by nightfall their crimson blood washed the corridors, their bowels smeared on the walls, limbs chopped off.

Whatever creature is capable to such destruction deserves no mercy. And for these even death would be a salvation.
They have no place among the creations of nature, they are abominations, failed experiments.

The bloodhounds are released and they sniff the stench of fear of madness. They crave for the blood.


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #64 on: June 06, 2012, 07:59:28 AM »
Fragments of the Past #4

                              Twenty lashes


Winter of 765, Waterford, Manor fields.

I was the bloodhound and the trainer at the same time. A lash in the hand of the local landlord. I was the lance, I was the muzzle, I was the tracker. Driving the wild boars for the pleasure of nobles and inner circles as they thrived in the joy of shedding Blood, soaked they were, bloodstained, their fat little fingers, greasy mouth after the feasts of the hunting.
And while they drown in the finest ales, the hunters and hounds spent their times together by the barns and kennels on weak soup, and watered ales, gnawed off bones. Then the Drought struck the lands and it changed everything.

...withering corns on the fields, hordes of locusts,
...burning sun, the sweat, peasants nursing the last green sprouts, like their own children
...the Hunter strives to feed his family, the debts, the shaked fists of the merchants and kites,
...the miser, the landlord, who grows his own fat,  worst as the locust...
...sitting on the hoard, on his fields, on his treasure taken from the poor,
...then the Hunter steals the steed, the prized horse, the one that wins the races..
...the Hunter kills a man first in his life, good his heart was, the death by an accident, unintended
... to steal the steed,
... to sell the steed to feed his family..
...the Hunter is chased by the hounds he trained,
                ...the ones he fed
                ... the ones who knew him,
                 ... the ones he kept clean,
                   ...the ones held as puppies and buried later
                    ...the ones that shared the same meal the same pile of hay
...the Hounds do what they are taught to, they care not for the men eventually. The Hunter understands his hounds.
...the Hunter flees the country, never to return, bringing misery on his family, shame on his name, out-casting himself

...twenty lashes on the Good.  For the stolen horse, for the broken life.
...twenty lashes on his Mother. Twenty lashes strike the Siblings each, and the young sister, and the old father. Sharp cutting blow of the whip...
A hundred lashes divided, a hundred lashes that should have suffered by the Hunter.
...the Hunter is a coward, running from his own hounds...
...twenty lashes for the Good.
For the good intentions.

[1]
 1. Juliusz Kossak, polish painter


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #65 on: June 09, 2012, 02:44:06 PM »
All the pieces



Shard of broken mirrors, a distorted visage.  The shards fall into place the trembling hands cut and bleeding, struggled to keep them in their place. And if I look into that mirror, what do I see now? Do I want to look into it at all? Will I turn my face away? Or shed a tear?

Everyone has a purpose so I was taught by my father. I have my own. And survival is just a mean, the road is not easy, neither straight many bends and curves, often leads deeper into the pits of nightmares. If one hopes to ascend one have to dip himself in his own depths of sanity.

And this hollow is filled with many things by now. Good and bad alike, but all colors of grey.

Emotions are dangerous things. Distracting the one from the path.

Yet I found myself tangled up in it, unwillingly. One emotion that plays on the string of my heart like on a harp. Squeezing it. I wonder if this is an illusion or real. The sweet mixture of pain and joy. Bringing back memories.


[The next line seems to be added much later with a different tint of ink]

They are back.


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #66 on: June 12, 2012, 08:54:09 AM »
Poison



Resist. Resist her or run while you can, Giles. The kiss is a poison that dims your mind and numbs your senses.
The kiss is a poison. The most lethal. The most effective.

...It saps into your soul.
...Gnaws on the heart.
...Clouds your reasoning.
...Resist. Or run.
...For your own sake.

For her own sake. I wish her no harm, but those whom I made my enemies would think the same? Those who fail to catch me, would they fail to catch her also?

The doe among the wolves. The snapping of the teeth.

Damn the blues eyes that paralyzed me.


 


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #67 on: June 14, 2012, 03:30:10 AM »
The Grand Equalizer

I was baptized. Hidden from the prying eyes, at night. She is the one that fills the Hollow, the Grand Equalizer.
They believe she was a woman.
I believe she is a symbol.
She is the what created the Balance. But her role is needless without the Mists.

The endless circle of life and death. Give with one hand to take with the other.

I am alone in the alcove. I hear the peasants pray. I hear their desperate voice, their murmurs.
Between the lines of their prayers, some wishes the death of another, some wishes mercy and peace. Such is the heart of men.
And some are weapons in the grand scheme. To correct the unbalance.






The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #68 on: June 16, 2012, 04:44:51 PM »
Dice of Fate


[A hastily scribbled entry, the page dotted with blood]

How many lives a man has? The dice had been cast. And it leads the way. Fate laid the path from the beginning. Shrouded it in the mists. Heavy grey veil of the mistress.


[This page later was torn out of the journal]


« Last Edit: June 16, 2012, 07:53:31 PM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #69 on: June 18, 2012, 05:51:20 AM »
Running with the wolves
          Travel journal #1



On the wrong side of the hunt, so I decided to vanish for some time. I threw myself into the vast wilderness of Barovia. Untamed, untouched. I am running with the wolves, where my feet bring me. Living off the land. The leaves are my blanket, the canopy of the forests are my roof.
And yet I am not alone. Kaeyna decided to join me. She's around somewhere while I am writing these lines, by the flickering light of our campfire. I am grateful for her company. And this way she will be out of harm's reach at least.

We reach Cuzau by tomorrow if the weather favors us. Heavy rainfalls along the the foothills of the Ghakis. In this village we can purchase necessary supplies but I do not intend to tarry long. Along the forfarian border we go, sheltered by the shadows of the woods and mount Sawtooth, towards Uselix, then Hoessla, finally Immol. There's a grant lake there. Fishing while it is not frozen, hunting small game. A life of peace away from assassins and politics. Will figure out what to do with Lin. I won't be in hiding forever.

That is the plan at least, will see the rest.

We avoided the cartroads, keeping to the treelines, like fugitives. Passed a couple fields where peasants laboured. It is the harvest season after all. The worst we encountered so far were a couple wolves and a tax collector travelling the villages with his guards. From where we camp one can see Cezau in the distance like a small dot.

Closing my lines, I hear Kaeyna approaching.


[a small map folded between the pages]



The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #70 on: June 26, 2012, 05:50:46 AM »
Running with the wolves
               Travel journal #2



It has been a week since me and sweet Kaeyne left to travel. The nights are getting colder and we have to be careful to keep the campfire's flames small, but even that does not bring enough warm anymore. The woods are dangerous, the misty tendrils crawling around the trunks of the trees, grey thick cloak of the mistress. We decided to better find roadside taverns or small village to seek shelter for the nights. We bring game to the inns in exchange for cheaper rooms. A pair of hares is a fair exchange for bread, tsuika, cheese and room. Warm, yet flea ridden blankets, still better than be covered in snow.

During the days we hunt, finding new spots for the nights, concealing our tracks, at nights we talk quietly not to reveal ourselves. We share stories, small things from our past, my heart is warmed to see that there are so many common in the two of us. How we percieve the future. I would gladly have her settle with me back in Mordent once I cleared my name. That murder still haunts my nights, even though it was an accident and starting this whole madness. But to be fair without it I would not have met her neither.  

But it is too early to ask her such.

Immol is close, we are heading straight there from here, along the border, but still close to the cart pathes. The worst thing happened so far was a hungry bear waking us up one morning sniffing around our backpacks. We layed motionless until it got bored and walked away...with the remains of our dinner.

Wynter is very happy that I can be with him all night and day. And have to admit he makes hunting so much easier. Not to mention he is a great guardian at night camps, keeping wolves at bay. I believe Wynter is a dire wolf from the deepest forests, but hard to tell, he is growing fast yet still too young. Kaeyna confirmed it, inspecting the size of his paws and stout, fangs.

[a new line added to the page a bit later]

There is a great strength in these barovian peaple. We watched a mother and her daugher gathering branches for their hut. They survive everything in these dreaded lands of the mist. Gnarled, bitter and wrinkled, but sturdier than most of those idiot outlanders who fancy themselves heros and champions.


« Last Edit: June 26, 2012, 06:00:57 AM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #71 on: June 29, 2012, 06:39:07 AM »
Running with the wolves
       Travel journal #3


[1]

We reached Immol, sitting in the dale covered by the shadows of Mount Tererstrau. The Saniset river rolling down from the Balinoks lazily, feeding the dale, filling it with life. Life is peaceful, slow and covered in soft white snow. Between the bone ripping cold winds, and howling wolves there are luckily not much to be aware of. Hunting at days, sipping tsuika at nights in the tavern. We are too close to the Hazlan border however to drop our guards. Kaeyna's heritage is all but life insurance in these parts. Soon we will move further north as the weather becomes more forgivable. But according to my maps there are not many settlements ahead, which will make our nights very uncomfortable and dangerous.

Since the nights are long I have time to contemplate on the things waiting for me...us...back in Barovia. However possible have to keep her a secret, or at least not showing in public together too much. In my years in Barovia I have gathered more enemies than I wished for, and do not want to see her come to harm.

If I count my allies, I am not poor neither luckily.

The Wayfarers are a hardy bunch. Useful if not all would win a contest using their wits. But at least they know loyalty, revenge, hatred. These seeds are in their hearts. They would kill in the name of good. Murderers they are not different then me.

Sweet Diamond is a two edged dagger however. I wish the Red-coat will succeed, would be a shame to loose such a useful asset. But she would be the worst danger to Kaeyna also if she learns about us. A real demon she is in a lady's skin.

The Circles are balanced. For now. They can be used, as they use me for their own purposes. I am the Scale. They are my Puppeteers.

Kaeyna, sweet girl... I have to admit her heritage terrifies me. When I looked at the picture portraying her grandfather I was confused at first, and shocked later, ever since I am contemplating on this, how is such even possible. The mere thought who she is frightens me, makes me cautious, yet I am torn. I am drawn to her also. Her true nature is yet hidden from my eyes. Confusing.
I am grateful for her big brother and the hin lady who look after her. There might come a time, when I won't be able to keep her safe, and I do not wish to be neither the one who brings dread on her head. I am walking on a razor sharp blade, balancing over a deep chasm, and do not wish to pull her down into my own demise.

I dream about freedom roaming with the wolves, where none seeks me, and I am not asked to seek neither. I dream about the hunt, about the prey, the sweet odour of blood, watching the world through the eyes of Wynter.
There is a strange bond forming between me and the wolf. He knows my emotions, my fears, when I am happy, he mirrors all these.
An extension of my own self.  
Terrifying.



 1. hunqwert http://hunqwert.deviantart.com/art/Tavern-187063021
« Last Edit: June 29, 2012, 12:09:26 PM by Winter83 »


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #72 on: July 06, 2012, 05:55:36 AM »
Melodies that sap on the soul



Grey thick cloak of the Mistress. And all what is within shall remain within. Something Ana failed to understand when she carried that child through the Mistway back to Barovia. Unleashing the mysteries, and let the storm brew above our heads.  Ever since we found the baby left alone on that stone slab, bad things started to happen.

The melody the swadled baby was humming haunting me in my dreams ever since. The same melody Clydessa was shrieking before we gagged her and knocked her out cold. But she awoken and fled... wild and mad, she is creeping around somewhere in Barovia now, humming that accursed tune.

And the baby? Ominously it crawled out of the swadle and left... on his own feet. Vanished. Only the mists echoed the tune.

...her tune.

...that which saps on the soul.


[the next entry added later on the bottom of the page]

Have to find this Gabriel. I don't know whom he is or where to look, but he's in a serious deep mess, that which even a child can tell. Maybe the family of that dead peasant can shed some light on this. Maybe. If he had a family at all. Wonder if this is all somehow connected to this whole madness.


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #73 on: July 06, 2012, 05:58:28 PM »
Work to be done

[hastily scribbled notes]

Have to find Clydessa...maybe through her we can find the baby. But we have to be fast before the garda catches her. She might had a glimpse into the mind of the child when she held her? Or the child stole her memories? Then what about Anastacia? She was craddling the baby also.
Maybe the child is the source of Clyde's madness?

Also have to learn more about the Merchant. The Delivery is soon ready. But we lack the questions. If we are allowed to see him.

The Circles are pushing. The Trickster is on the job. The Hounds are soon to be released. They will snap their teeth at the boon. So soon. And the Raven shadows everything in the distance. The vile Nest.

Much to do. And all this, everything may bring me closer to clear my name, and move back home soon. Maybe.

Survival first.


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0

Winter83

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Re: A hunter's query - Journal and notes of Giles Emry
« Reply #74 on: July 12, 2012, 10:59:02 AM »
Skins

A death of a hunter has no meaning. Like a camouflage on can hide the skin. Or change it. A hundred skins painted brown and green, covered in leaves and mud, painted crimson and red, veiled in misty grey, rustic and worn, smudged by coal and smoke.

If my person is unknown, meaningless, If my name carries no weight then I am doing my job well.

The sacrifice is fame and renown.

When a hare realizes he was in false safety and the path to his hole had been cut off long ago. Then and only then I am doing my job well.

A sack of Gemstones, a chunk of Rock, smoldering Ashes, a cup of soothing Water.

The plans are in motion.


The Perfect Circle: The Hollow : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avgiqNapUx0