Zaun: The Hunter's Den

The house had been quiet for a little over two weeks, somewhat unusual even for the Blood Hunter. But the sole manservant - if not only caretaker of the premises did not mind, Jordan Natt was already well accustomed to the lack of activity and his pay provided a monthly antidote to the house's melancholy aura.

A man of few words, and fewer prospects, Natt was content to manage the household while the master was away and have a meal waiting for him upon his return. The former was the more tedious task in his work, but the latter was far more important. So Natt made the precaution of preparing a meal each day in case of a sudden arrival, regardless of whether it would go cold or not. This was what had been described in his job criteria, but Natt had found several 'extra duties' waiting for him upon being selected by Warwick's predatory stare out of a line-up for the position.

He was also responsible for other nondescript duties such as the accounts, activities which Warwick cared little for or could no longer perform in the usual fashion. The accounts in particular had left Natt speechless upon sighting the contents of each for the first time. In the past, the master had used all this money for the requisition of most of his devices and contraptions for in his work, but his transformation left the use of such weapons redundant. Warwick paid surprisingly little notice to this, and so the wealth began to accumulate over time.

But Natt was far from questioning the Master's habits, or rather anything about him at all if he didn't want to lose a limb. He was just contemplating this when a sudden noise downstairs alerted him to a presence - the Master was back. And sure enough, the sound of a heavy latch being lifted at the end of the hall drew his attention. In the back of the house a large round door stood, the entrance to the basement of the estate and doubtless many levels below that. Natt was forbidden from venturing down there, and suppressed urges to peek into its depths each time Warwick entered or left through it. He hurried down just in time to be waiting as the door parted with a rough swing and Warwick's matted blue fur became visible.



Warwick stepped out of the darkness, paying almost no notice to the waiting servant until he had closed the door again, the large metal catch making a satisfying metal 'thunk' as it moved into place. Natt's civil "welcome home, Master" was lost on him as Warwick walked past the skinny man towards the rest of the house, only growling back to him as an afterthought.
"Food."

He found his way to the dining room and seated himself, in no mood for delay. Natt soon hurried after with a meal hastily fetched from the kitchen which he presented before stepping back. Warwick ate with his hands, but civilly to start. At first carefully severing a cutlet of meat from the rest with a claw before bringing to his mouth, not the habits of a gentleman but at least of a well mannered man. In fact he often showed the nuances of a former life in the way he ate, if one were to replace the glinting pincers with a knife and fork. But eventually he would resort to his more aggressive habits, tearing at the food with his mouth and scattering small pieces here and there.

Eventually Warwick was satisfied, and went wordlessly up to his quarters, locking the door for good measure. He mulled over recent events for a while, and slowly tempered his inner beast for the night. He'd not been able to recover Talon's trail at the Institute, but the boy would not evade him for long. No matter how good the boy was at hiding, he was dealing with the most fearsome hunter in all of Valoran, there was no escape. But there were more immediate matters to deal with, at least in Warwick's view. Tomorrow he would have to leave for Bandle, that seething pool of rodents. This hunt in Icathia best not disappoint him, he would not like to report to Swain with two rounds of bad news.