Page 104 - Hunter the Vigil - Mortal Remains

THE RESPONSE

Guardian Gardell,

It’s such a terrible cliché to say that something is a two-edged sword. It’s a cliché
and it’s facile. The real message that such phrases conceal is that a sword is a weapon
that can be wielded by your enemy as well as by us. It can be plucked from our hands
and shoved deep into our bellies before we even know what has happened.

This, then, is my last warning to you.

We know the power that can lie within the most unexpected of objects. We arm
ourselves with them — but so, too, does the enemy. There is, in particular, one group
amongst them who seems to crave such artifacts of power, and goes to any lengths
to obtain them. They are not prone to direct action, however. More often than not,
you’ll meet their puppets, duped humans who do the dirty work. They are often
utterly ignorant of whom they serve. Some think themselves trusted members of a
criminal gang, others in service to the state. But they are wrong. They are armorers
for our enemy and they are unaware of it.

I have only encountered one of them in person. My leg has never truly recovered
its strength since. My mind is in worse shape. I don’t want to recall those memories,
even for a moment, not even to warn you. Avoid them, but do not let them snatch
your prize from under your nose. They are the competition, and they are not to be
tolerated.

Whatever they do with the swords we seek, they are rarely (if ever) seen again
once they have won. Somehow, I don’t think they’re beating those relics into
ploughshares.

Once you realize that you are in a competitive environment, do not rest until
you have won your prize, and have returned it to The Temple. That will not keep
you safe, but if you do die, yours will not be a vain sacrifice.

You may die, but it will not be the sword in your belly. It will be at the hands of
your fellows, and they will avenge you.

Good luck,

Guardian Adred

tween them may be the local hunters who triggered the con- keep the mummy busy, in cooperation with the Sword present,
flict. Two separate members of the local group — even if one of rather than getting the relic back to Greece.
them is not a Guardian — are chosen as the point of contact. There is an essential asymmetry in the conflict, though.
Only the chosen two will meet one member of the Sword and In theory, with each relic the hunters win, the Aegis Kai Doru
the Temple each, no matter how many Guardians are on the grows stronger. Many of the relics disappear into Athens and
ground. Every effort is made to close down possible links that are never seen again by field Guardians, but that’s the nature
the mummy can follow to keep track of the relic once it’s on the of their work. On the other hand, every single relic won by the
move out of the city. The local hunters are expressly forbidden mummies makes exactly zero difference to their relative power,
from joining the extraction process. It’s their responsibility to because it disappears from existence. This is, in some measure,

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