The Retrievers

In Pursuit of Memories

"There's a story I heard from someone in Breakwater Crossing. Adventurers working for the guild had come back from a mission with a little trinket which didn't look all that valuable. Sold it for beer money and were gone the next morning on a new contract. Then the elf came to town asking questions. By nightfall there were three dead bodies and that weasel Kraneel was very publicly dead. We never really found out why."

— Ledaara Brimstone, Allied Adventurers' Guildmistress

The lands of Erisdaire are not safe, even to those who have lived many decades. Contrary to what many humans believe, elves can die almost as easily as any others in the right professions. When they die, their personal talismans are sometimes lost and not found with the body. Elven culture places a high value on these objects, and returning these to the families of the deceased is a task left to a special group of elves: the Retrievers. These volunteers travel from elven lands to seek the fallen and return their bodies and talismans for funeral rites. They take this task very seriously, considering it one of the noblest of paths.

Retrievers are trained in a number of arts and skills, much of which is meant to help in the discharging of their duties. They are given extensive, perhaps even exhaustive, amounts of combat practice to allow them to win most fights against mortal enemies. After that, they are taught how to track targets through all sorts of terrain and understand what might be ahead of them on their paths. Lastly, and most importantly, they are taught a spell known as "the Retriever's Hunt". This divination magic will allow them to seek a target to any place they may travel on Erisdaire. Only Retrievers are allowed knowledge of these arts because of how the spells function.

The task of a Retriever begins when knowledge of an elf's death is received. Divination magic is performed to understand the means and location of the death, as well as the state of the body and the talisman they created. In some cases, both the body and the talisman are destroyed and a Retriever is not needed. If either are still intact, then a Retriever is dispatched to that location with a simple mission. The body must be recovered, if possible. In cases where the body is not possible to retrieve, then any remnants will do just as well. The talisman is much more of a serious matter, however, and retrieval of it becomes a personal quest.

Sometimes, the talisman is taken by those who hope to sell it and make quick money. The Retriever will do whatever is necessary to recover the talisman from any who handled it, and this can include using unpleasant methods. Those who realize what they are up against, or are lacking in bravery, often will turn over what they know without much effort. Others require persuasion, or potentially intimidation. Due to treaties with the Empire, elven Retrievers are exempt from Imperial law while peforming their duties. Myrisians don't have a central authority in the same manner, but few are willing to interfere with a Retriever set on their task. In the relatively lawless domain of Helenic, a Retriever often winds up needing to put their combat training to the test against those many decades younger.

With the increased amount of adventurers in Helenic, and the rumor mill allowing stories to pass faster than truth, this means the Retrievers have gained a reputation as elves to either "run from quickly" or "tell everything you know as fast as your tongue can work". The reputation is not unfounded, as there have been body counts left in the wake of a Retriever working in the regions of Helenic. There are numerous tales of a Retriever showing up at a shop in one of the cities and leaving with an object, and not being concerned with what damage was done in the process.

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Returning the Lost

Type

Coterie