Hunter Brynan

Hunter Brynan was a male human NPC in the Om campaign.

Captain Hunter Brynan was a Gildornian soldier assigned to lead a squad of men to escort a civilian caravan from Waymere to a plot of land south of Dunkirk. He was present at Midway Inn during the mutiny and remained behind to help clean up the mess that resulted. He was later present in Waymere for the Battle of Waymere and died attempting to hold Southgate to buy as much time as possible for the refugees to flee the city.

## Background

Hunter Brynan was a soldier in the Gildornian Army holding the rank of captain. He was a by the book officer who earned a reputation as being willing to “fight like a devil.”

## Caravan Duty with the Royal Explorers

On the 1st of Gatekeeper, 465, Brynan was ordered to command a squad of men and work with the Royal Explorers to escort a caravan of settlers from Waymere to a plot of land south of Dunkirk.

In less than one day on the road, the caravan was attacked by an elf named Korroticus who left a mimic in the road and attacked when it was investigated. The Royal Explorers engaged the mimic and Korroticus, capturing the elf. After a brief conversation however, the elf cast a spell and flew away, suspiciously unchallenged by the Royal Explorers.

Brynan demanded an explanation and the Royal Explorers fairly unconvincingly stated that the elf was especially wily and escaped. Brynan was displeased and stated that he would be reporting the incident to his superiors (which he did proceed to do upon his return to Waymere.)

## Murder at Midway

On the 2nd of Gatekeeper, Brynan recommended a hard march to get the caravan to the protection of Midway Inn for the night, to which the Royal Explorers agreed. The following morning Midway Inn’s resident cleric, Harn Bronzeaxe, was found murdered. Captain Brynan took charge of the scene with First Rider Davin Firth, the head of the Brightblades who served as the local watch. However, as a soldier Brynan had little experience with murder investigations and so asked the Royal Explorers to look into the matter.

Working with Firth, Brynan locked down Midway Inn, disallowing anyone to enter or exit the structure to prevent the murderer from escaping. Meanwhile the Royal Explorers and Firth proceeded with the investigation. The initial culprit appeared to be a bard named Hibblepibb the Hilarious, but clues began to show that Davin Firth was the actual suspect.

The culmination of the matter came when Davin, backed into a corner and about to be unveiled as the killer, managed to capture half of the Royal Explorers and convinced many of the Brightblades to attack the remainder, the caravan, Brynan and his men and the inn’s owner, Varis Dorn. Thankfully the captured Explorers managed to get a message of these plans out from the jail, allowing Fynnhanar to warn Brynan and Dorn who marshaled the Gildornian soldiers and loyal Brightblades.

The resulting battle cost the lives of one of Brynan’s men but was cut short when Fynn detonated a fireball in the midst of the Brightblades, killing all of them and severely wounding Firth. Firth surrendered immediately, and Brynan declared that the law said he should be taken to Waymere for trial. Varis Dorn ignored this command, however, and executed Davin Firth on the spot.

Immediately after this Harn Bronzeaxe’s acolytes, led by Gryff Stonepusher, evidently completed a ritual in the temple of Morin that went awry and turned Gryff into a demonic beast that slew the rest of the acolytes, raising them as undead. The monsters burst forth from the temple, doing battle with Brynan’s men, Varis and remaining Brightblades, Anders Roth, and the Royal Explorers. The demon in Gryff's body leaped upon Captain Brynan, mortally wounding him, but the Explorers were able to slay the creature and Jasper Conroy promptly healed Brynan to full health.

## Aftermath of the Battle at Midway

By the following day the caravan was ready to move on, but Brynan was duty bound to remand Varis Dorn to Waymere for trial for the execution of Davin Firth, and worse the entirety of the Midway Inn was in disarray.

Brynan ordered Private First Class Steno to take command of the caravan and continue on while he and Wu Xen remained in Midway to reorganize the surviving Brightblades and for Captain Brynan to take Varis Dorn back to Waymere.

Brynan and Wu spent two more days at Midway, interviewing the surviving guards and dismissing those who were deemed unfit for duty. Varis remained drunk until the 5th of Gatekeeper, at which point Brynan spoke with him and convinced him to come willingly back to Waymere to speak with the Duke. Ultimately, as Duke Agrippa and Varis were friends, Varis was cleared of all blame in the death of Davin Firth.

## Battle of Waymere

Captain Brynan remained in Waymere, tending to his duties in the city and was there when the city was sneak attacked by a combined force of Orleseans, Minotaurs and pirates of the Brotherhood of the Coast. Brynan claimed command of a company of Waymere’s city watch and set up a defensive line at Southgate along with Captain Wynona Falco who had organized a two companies of Gildornian Regulars. They sought to hold Southgate as long as possible form the enemy, who was sweeping through the city, so that the refugees who had fled could escape.

Brynan and his unit fought bravely, and though the effort to allow the refugees time to escape was ultimately successful, Brynan was slain by a minotaur during the course of the battle, fighting until his very last breath.