The Hunter In The Shadows
(An interlude that happens from someone outside of the Player Characters' awareness during the campaign)
The figure crept through the shadows, his clothing dark and his face shrouded. He stalked his prey, had stalked this prey for many weeks, ever since their investigation outpost had been upended. He stalked… but he could not strike. No. Not yet. That would raise too much suspicion. The investigators had done a good enough job of that by sloppily collecting most of their prey from the same source. And now he had to monitor… to ensure they could clean up this mess.
He watched as the group replaced some of their members, though the ones coming in didn't seem to be much better than the ones that left. Maybe they held some sort of unseen strength that he could not discern from a distance. He could never be too sure. Afterall, it was overconfidence in their abilities that had brought about their downfall. Luckily… the other guilds were inept enough to not even properly finish the job.
He followed the group from a distance as they made their way through the plains to the center of the island, this piqued his interest.
So… they are going to the ruins… He thought as he followed the unsuspecting lambs, silent as night and invisible as the air. Fully there, but fully undetected. He was an expert in his field, a master of stealth and precision. He ached to make a move, to capture the unsuspecting prey, tie them up and strip them of all they know, before making the kill. Coat his hands in blood as he watches the light leave their eyes. Revelling in the power of the kill, as any good hunter should, and he was a master hunter.
He stalked them for two days and two nights, until, in the distance, he could see what now stood as the sad memory of what was once a glorious age for the guilds… until the traitor guilds chose to turn it ALL to ruin. He watched as morning dawned and the group began to stir, after a laughable attempt at hiding their carriage and animals, he followed them as they approached the desecrated meeting hall. He did not follow them inside however, no… too little space, too easy for them to notice him. He did not want to alert the prey that they were being followed… not yet… Instead, he followed them along the outside wall, his right eye glowing faintly red as he monitored them through the stone wall, his ears on them without their knowledge. He was grateful for this wand he had been given, the spell was unique, and under-used, but useful for listening in on a job like this.
From outside the walls the stalker listened, heard them try to befriend a zombie, run in fear of the symbol on the floor, try to befriend a stone creature of some sort, he was unsure about that one, and then have the protective seal over the table blow up in their faces.
Are they really going to be such a threat? He thought to himself as he heard the grinding of the table sliding away to reveal the underground area of the ruins.
Well… I suppose if they come to know anything they will be. He crouched and listened as they descended down the staircase, they searched around and found some writings and items from Zwaarden Va Lijden and Pembunuh Ciptaan. Sloppy work geniuses. He thought as he heard something that piqued his interest again. The halfling wizard was talking to the elf… sounds like they found an old map of the guilds. And she wanted to find Titulares De La Verdad. As they proceeded through the ruins, taking out traps or getting taken out by traps, they discussed going to Guild Master Oloris to have him tell them where the guild used to be.
A slow, sinister smirk rose to the shrouded man's face. So the little lambs were going to seek out the mighty Panther's help… Quildor Oloris… Guild Master of Magiers Verstand… and the header of the tirade lead to destroy the four guilds who he opposed… Master Swiftknife will want to hear about this…
And as the group finished their investigations of the ruins, the nameless hunter slipped from the scene and retreated, vanishing to inform his leader of what he had learned.
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And thus, the ominous interludes came to be. Basic prenise of these mini story snippets are they either pertain to past events related to a campaign, fill in blanks of player character backstories, give a bit of backstory to non-player characters they encounter, or act as a cutscene to show something happening elsewhere in the campaign that the player characters are unaware of. Regardless of the type of interlude, the fun part is thst it's information the players get to know and stew over, while the characters they play are completely oblivious. *evil dm laugh* each interlude also comes with a relevant picture (usually something off google or pinterest) enjoy!
