The Hunter’s Lodge was a low-slung cabin built of thick timber and rough stone, looking as though it had grown directly out of the mountain. Bundles of drying herbs hung from the porch rafters beside stretched animal pelts, swaying gently in the mountain breeze.
Inside, the air smelled heavily of woodsmoke, old parchment, and well-oiled leather. Mounted trophy heads of unfamiliar beasts lined the exposed-beam walls, and hand-drawn leather maps were pinned above long wooden tables.
In the corner, a group of scarred hunters sat near the hearth, low voices arguing over animal tracks while sharpening steel blades. Across the room, a ranger pinned a fresh parchment to the crowded board.
Ember walked toward the long wooden counter. Behind it, a woman in her late twenties with an auburn braid carefully updated a leather-bound ledger. She looked up, her sharp gaze taking in his bow before offering a small, professional smile.
"Welcome to the Hunter’s Lodge," she said, resting her quill against the desk. "First time?"
"Yes," Ember replied, stepping closer. "Looking to register."
"Then let’s get you registered." She pulled a heavy ledger toward herself and dipped her quill in dark ink. "Name?"
"Ember."
The quill scratched softly against the paper.
"I’m Clara Whitestone," she said as she wrote. "First time registering with the Hunter’s Lodge?"
"First time."
"Where are you staying while you’re in town?"
"Traveler’s Rest," Ember said.
"Primary weapon?"
"Bow."
She reached into a drawer, pulled out a cold, blank piece of dark metal, and set it inside a small brass engraving plate on the counter. Thin blue runes shimmered briefly across the iron before fading into a dull grey. She slid the finished token across the timber.
"This is your Hunter Token," Clara explained. "It confirms your rank and tracks your reputation across every lodge branch in Asterra. The lodge exists to keep the roads safe and the town alive. You follow our rules, we support you. Ignore them, and the forest will teach you a lesson no hunter survives twice."
Ember picked up the cold iron token, turning its rough edges over in his palm.
[System]
You have registered with the Hunter’s Lodge.
Hunter Rank: Novice
Hunter Token acquired.
[Title Acquired]
Novice Hunter
Effect:
Unlocks Hunter’s Lodge Membership
+2% Hunter Reputation Gained
Hunter NPCs are more receptive to requests and guidance.
[System]
New features unlocked:
Hunter Commissions
Hunter Reputation
[Appraisal]
Equipment
Name: Hunter Token (Novice)
Rank: Common
Type: Organizational Token
Description: A Hunter’s Lodge identification token issued to registered hunters.
Functions:
Confirms Hunter Rank.
Records completed Hunter’s Lodge commissions.
Tracks Hunter Reputation.
Grants access to commissions appropriate for the holder’s rank.
Automatically updates upon commission completion.
Bound to: Ember
Note: Cannot be traded or discarded.
"Your token updates automatically whenever you turn in completed commissions," Clara added, picking up her quill once more.
"Where can I find the instructor?" Ember asked.
"Out back on the veranda," Clara said without looking up. "Garrick Stone. Don’t keep him waiting—not that he’ll rush on your account."
Before heading out, Ember paused beside the large commission board pinned to the wall. Dozens of parchment slips covered the wood. Some requested anti-venom deliveries for outlying scouts; others asked for merchant escorts through goblin territory or detailed alpha wolf sightings near the trade roads.
Higher-level notices caught his eye near the center—requests to eliminate a Mossfang Bear, investigate a missing patrol near Blackstone Pass, or track the elusive Crimson Stag. A blood-stained slip requested the recovery of a missing hunter near the western ridges.
Ember noted the difficulty markers—ranging from basic bronze emblems to gleaming silver ones—and the sharp scaling of the rewards. Most of the silver-marked commissions were greyed out, their details hidden behind his Novice Hunter rank.
"Do yourself a favor," Clara called out from behind the counter, looking up with a faint smirk. "Pretend the silver commissions don’t exist."
Ember gave a quiet nod, leaving the board behind as he pushed through the rear doors onto the veranda.
An older man sat on a low wooden bench, methodically running a whetstone along the edge of a hunting knife, his boots propped up on an overturned crate. He wore faded leather armor reinforced with darkened iron studs, mud dried into the seams. A massive longbow leaned against the wall beside him, close enough to reach without standing.
At the sound of footsteps, the man didn’t look up right away. He tilted his head instead, listening to the cadence of the stride, before finally lifting a pair of weathered dark eyes.
"You the instructor?" Ember asked.
"Depends," the man grunted, setting the whetstone down without hurry. "Looking for a teacher... or someone to blame when you miss?"
He wiped his blade on his sleeve. "Garrick Stone. Ever hunted before, kid?"
"Only basic target practice," Ember replied.
Garrick snorted, unimpressed but not unkind. He sheathed the hunting knife at his hip and stood, moving with the unbothered economy of a man who had gotten up from that same bench ten thousand times before. "Hold your bow out."
Ember unslung his weapon and settled into a balanced shooting stance. Garrick circled him once, slow, arms folded, the way a man might inspect a horse he had no particular interest in buying. Then he stepped forward and lightly nudged Ember’s bow arm higher with two fingers.
"Relax your shoulder," Garrick muttered, stepping back. "Better. At least you won’t shoot your own foot."
He leaned back against the timber wall, in no visible hurry to continue. "Bow, huh? Most newcomers grab a sword. Charge in, swing until something falls over. Why a bow?"
"I like taking my time," Ember said.
Garrick’s eyes flicked up at that, something faintly approving crossing his weathered face. "Good." He nodded once. "Because if you’re in a hurry, you’ll miss. And out there, missing costs more than pride."
He pointed a lazy finger toward the dense green canopy beyond the fence, not bothering to straighten from the wall. "Pay attention to the wind. Watch where you step. If the animal hears you first, you’ve already made a mistake—and I’m not the sort who runs to fix other people’s mistakes. I let the forest handle that lesson."
Garrick reached into a pouch at his belt without looking, pulled out a small parchment slip, and held it out between two fingers.
"Don’t worry about proving yourself," Garrick said. "Finish the easy jobs first. You’ll live longer. Start with ordinary Forest Rabbits in the western meadows. Learn to track before you learn to fight—the tracking is the harder skill, whatever the sword-swingers tell you."
Ember took the slip. As his fingers brushed the rough paper, the parchment dissolved into a soft stream of blue light, settling directly into his UI.
[Quest Accepted]
Forest Rabbit Cull
Objective: Hunt 3 Forest Rabbits
Reward: 12 Bronze Coins
Time Limit: None
[System]
Hunter Reputation has been initialized.
Current Reputation:
Hunter’s Lodge: Neutral (0/100)
"Once you can bag three of those without breaking a sweat, you can try your hand at the Horned Rabbits," Garrick continued, already easing himself back down onto the bench as though the conversation had cost him real effort. "Take your time. Rushing gets hunters killed. I’ve buried enough of them to know."
"Thanks, Garrick," Ember said, turning back toward the rear doors.
"One more thing," Garrick called out, not bothering to open his eyes this time.
Ember stopped, looking back over his shoulder.
"Buy supplies before you leave town," Garrick said bluntly. "Rope, water, a knife. Get yourself a backpack if you don’t have one—you’ll fill your hands long before you fill your coin purse. A bow won’t solve every problem." He picked the whetstone back up, already returning to his knife. "It just solves the ones worth solving."
Ember nodded once, filing that away. He glanced back at the bustling lodge before stepping inside, the scent of woodsmoke lingering behind him as he made his way toward the market district.
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