Hunters of the Aerie

"The night is dark child, as are the monsters who strife in it, but fear not, as the hunt shall protect us. "

The Hunters of the Aerie are a rather secretive Organsiation, that has groups and temples all over the world, but their headquarters and greatest temple is in Azir. Members are told to be the most efficient and deadliest hunters of demons and evil of all kind. Their services can be bought with gold, but more often, the hunters choose their prey themselves. A vast net of informants and sympathizers is spun across the entire world, to collect information about the most dangerous monsters or the most valueable hunts (as good equipment and competent hunters are hard to come by).

Traditions

True Hunters of the Aerie, also called talons, cover their eyes when earning the title and are only allowed to use their eyesight while hunting. This way, they learn to move with ease even in the dark, and it is said to heighten their focus on hearing and eyesight. Hunters are supposed to have their mind and eyes on their prey, and nothing else.
Poisons, tinctures and various magical poitions are very common among hunters. To hunt prey as big as they do, they have to use everything they have.
There are rumors that some hunters are encouraged to learn dark magic and even forge alliances with demons and evil beings to increase their strenght for the hunt. But if that were true, the organization would surely make sure, that not a word about that would reach the public, and even lock away or kill their own members if they cannot control their abilities.

The Crows - Hunters of the hunters

If a hunter breaks the most important rules of the hunters or becomes insane/evil or is in any way overtaken by the dark forces they hunt and ally with, he becomes a target for the crows. This elite team of hunters works in teams of two to five and is always completely dressed in black, with capes made of black feathers. Most of them also wear masks, that resemble the beak of a crow. Crows are allowed to wear regular clothes, but only for the purpose of investigation. The body of a dead crow has to be completely destroyed, preferably by fire or carnivourous animals.

Other employees

Although the hunters form the core of the organisation, many other people are employed by the guild for various reasons to support the hunt, for example cooks, scouts, speakers and more. Every employee has to vow magically to keep the secrets of the guild and not to betray them in any possible way.

History

The first hunter was a man named Tagon. Once an adventurer, he lost his friends and his love to a demon called Kochumak. Driven by vengance, he became a powerful warrior and tracked down the demon. After beeing defeated and laughed at by the demon, but still alive to feel his pain, a beeing presented himself to Tagon and offered him guidance in his fight. The defeated man, almost out of his mind by anger and frustration accepted without hesitation and, with the help of the beeing soon became strong enough to defeat his first prey. However, that did not satiate his hunger for revenge and blood and so he started to hunt down every devil and monster he could get a hold on.
Many years later, when Tagon already made himself known in many countries of the continent, two young boys with the names Feyren and Erneth, who had a similar history as the young Tagon, asked him to train them and help defeating a monster, that destroyed their home village. Tagon, seeing a possibility to increase his efficiency in hunting down evil, taught them what he knew and so became the founding father of the hunters of the aerie. It was at that time, that they settled in an old castle they had purified from evil. Among themselves, they called the castle "the aerie", which later became the official name and inspiration for the bird themed designs and designation.
Years later, Tagon discovered, that Feyren used the power of an evil demon to increase his own strenght. Feeling betrayed by his student, he attempted to kill Feyren. Ethren, who was close by when the fight started, shared the opionion that these kinds of measures were necessary to kill the most dangerous evil and defended Feyren. They tried to talk to Tagon, but the old man was not to be convinced and left them no choice but to kill him. Togan, who thought to have a superhuman beeing on his side as well, was defeated and killed. The being that led his previous revenge betrayed him as soon as it saw Tagons end getting closer and left in the middle of the battle.
Feyren and Ethren recognized the dangers of their alliances with demons, but still needed the power for their battles. They swore an oath to kill each other, would one of them turn evil or insane due to the forces of evil. Soon after, they started passing on the teachings of Togan, the first hunter to the next generation of hunters and created the guild in it's present form. They also brought the crows to life (and were part of them), to eliminate all who would strife from the right path.

Type

Guild, Fighter / Mercenary