Prologue

"Captain," A voice called out in the distance, "Over here!"

The captain of the Valdheim town guard turned toward the commotion. As he walked alongside the tree line, he watched the snow slowly transition from a pristine white to a darker and deeper crimson. The emerging trail of blood stretching into the distance was alarming; His station was tasked to locate a lone hunter that had triggered their rescue alarm. The amount of blood staining the ground could not have come from his entire search party, let alone a single person.

"What in the tree's name am I looking at..." The captain spoke to himself in a hushed tone.

The deep-red snow, now littered with footprints of various sizes and positions, could barely maintain form from saturation. Two more guards greeted the captain as he continued down the path. The bloody trail relentlessly continued, almost as a declaration to the violence of nature itself. A third, and final, guard stood at what appeared to be the end of the trail.

"Captain Lac..." The young woman called out to the captain, "Looks like a tent was over here!"

Lac approached the guard and took in the site. The blood was much more vibrant in color than the streak leading up to it. Whatever violent acts were committed in the forest culminated here. The tattered cloth and leather straps confirmed a portable tent was present, along with the standard fare of knives, axes, and furs as befitting and accomplished sportsman.

Pulling his baton from a belt loop Lac began to carefully push aside debris in an effort to find any identifying material. The campsite was thoroughly wrecked, not even the burned remains of the fire pit remained unscathed. Lac exhaled deeply, his breath creating a dense white fog around him. He put away his baton and proceeded to head back to the previous guard for a status report before a silver buckle caught the sunlight just in time. Lac kicked away the surrounding snow, revealing a bound notebook.

Field Notes - Gildvald

Lac picked up the notebook to find was otherwise unharmed, a surprise considering the veritable carnage surrounding it. Thumbing through the pages showed daily reports and leaflets for various local bounties filling the first third of the book. Returning to the front, Lac noticed a bold signature confirming its owner on the first page.

J Zolar

"HAH!" Lac's sudden outburst startled his subordinates, "AHH ha ha ha!"

"Uh, captain...?" The guard closest to Lac cautiously reached out to him.

 "Y'mad bastard..." Lac wheezed, his cathartic laughter claiming his breath, "You really did it this time!"