The Bounty Hunter...

[RolandLuen]

The Bounty hunter had misses his mark again, that elusive Metal mage dubbed the Warlock in far the far off land of Aresden had eluded him again. He sat on the boat a day out of docking at Alberta Harbor wondering if he would be able to pick up the warlock's trail again.

In a box at his side was the prisoners mask, a tool given to him by the Aresden high council to pacify the warlock when he was captured. The bounty hunter had heard of these masks but had never seen them in person. He was warned not to open the box until he had his prey subdued, but curiosity got the better of him. Opening the box he could clearly see the X shaped eyes and the tooth filled grin carved into the white bone of the mask. With out understanding why he did it he pulled the mask out of the box. The back of the mask was a solid band of dried flesh, that looked worn and dry. Looking further at the back of the mask the bounty hunter found what looked to be small hooks protruding from the area around the eyes and a block that looked to be bitten on where the mouth would be. He started to hear a strange whispering voice begging him to put on the mask, it was at this point he slammed it back into the box. Putting the box under his bunk he tried to get some sleep.

His Dreams were haunted with the last time he faced his quarry, the warlock had gotten himself in control of a crew of Pirates. That crew was a strange one for the Midnight sea, they would go where few crews would dare, the dead Isles. The stories told of pirates that had run afoul of a big black ghost ship on the waters, the ships would be stripped of all crew except one who would limp the ships to shore so they could tale the tale of what had happened. The leads the bounty hunter had found had stated before the warlock was a captain he had survived thirteen encounters with that ghost ship being the only one left alive each time. The warlock had made a crew of the survivors of those attacks to hunt the ghost ship near its native waters. It was witnessed by the bounty hunter the day the crew of that hunter ship had mutinied against their captain and set him adrift on the west bound currents. The bounty hunter had gotten aboard the warlock's crew, and had was about to confront the warlock in his quarters when the mutiny happened.

The bounty hunter until that day did not know his quarry was a metal mage, one who bent armor and steel to his will, until that fight. He watched the warlock's crew turn on him and saw half the crew taken down meaninglessly with out remorse. It was a team of six of his crew that had cornered him with broom handles and old wooden sticks that subdued him. The bounty hunter knowing he was newest on the crew saw fit to just watch and learn what was to happen to his quarry. They loaded him in a raft with out a paddle and three days food and set him on the west current. Less then a quarter day afterward the Black ship fell on the mutinous crew. The bounty hunter was captured and made to watch while the undead crew of the black ship stripped the flesh off of every crew member, then ordered their rotting carcasses on to the black ship. What could be assumed to be the dread captain then unlocked the bounty hunters chains and pointed to the west. Before the bounty hunter could find his balance the black ship was gone. He guessed he was given reprieve to keep hunting his own prey.

Upon hitting the west most island of the Midnight Sea the bounty hunter booked passage to the lands further west. That is where the man in armor with the haunted eyes was heading, which must have been the warlock.

The bounty hunter had awoke to the sound of bones crackling, right above his face was the inside of the mask he had returned to the box, it was balanced on four long connections of bone. Before he could react the mask slammed itself down on his face, he felt the strap constrict to the back of his head, the hooks dig into his eyes forcing them forever open.as the mask shifted shape to fit his head the bounty hunter realized he was now a prisoner in his own body.

The thing that use to be a bounty hunter realized it had the wrong prey, but this body would do for now. It knew who and what it was suppose to hunt but the compelling force that would normally guide it was out of reach. It would find its target soon enough, but now was time for having some fun....


((There you guys go the first of many short background stories to my set of characters, I will name them as I go but then I am still getting my gamer rig together (not going to play on my kiddo's computers where I am typing this from). ))

Roland Luen...