Episode 28: The Gentleman Hunter

**Episode 28:The Gentleman Hunter** (1x28) - The Nearlies are powerful, there’s no question about that. They have rare and powerful spells, some strong enchanted weapons, and their Wizard is an expert tactician. Not only that, but their blood courses with ancient, endless Sacred Curses. These things are true, but all these things are also music to the ears of the nightmare they are about to face. This ancient hero has slain many famous heroes, some of them you’ve probably heard of. Let’s hope he doesn’t add our cast to the list.

## Cast

### Nearlies

Josh | Xenator Brisbane
Kathy | Lavaleen Crest
Andy | Martin Sirque
Amanda | Gwendylyn Cloot
 Robbie | The Speaker
 Aaron |  Production & Sound

### NPCs

APPEARING
 Dodderfell
 Von Dark
 Nighgod

## Summary

The group is confronting the polite but terrifying Gentleman Hunter that they met on the path to Serabythia. The Hunter was looking for Sarah to ask her why there aren't anymore Heroes around for him to hunt. The group conceal the fact that she is dead and promise to pass along his questions. He is about to leave when he catches the scent of Von Dark. A fight ensues. It goes very poorly for the Nearlies, with nearly every attack missing. It goes especially poor for Martin; the Gentleman Hunter bites off his head and he dies. The Nearlies, realizing they are outmatched, retreat.

Martin is in the afterlife, and sees Sarah at the White Tree. She tells him that she wants her ashes spread at THE tree. Before he thinks to clarify which tree, the Sacred Curse brings Martin back from the dead. The Nearlies are happy he is still alive, and Martin passes on a slightly incorrect message from Sarah. They decide that her family may be able to tell them which tree Sarah was talking about, and head to the manor.

## Synopsis

### Prologue

The morning sun rises onto Grandma Ninn, who hasn’t slept a wink all night.  She was still trying to process Gwen’s statements that the people she was with were her friends, and not kidnappers.  She mulls over several possibilities to explain this, including mind control potions.  Her daughter’s voice makes a comment about Ninn knowing quite well about the illegal practice of mind control magic.

It turns out that Ninn had been covertly taking blood samples from her granddaughter on a monthly basis since she was a child, drawing the blood while Gwen slept.  Her proclaimed reason to herself was that she needed to monitor Gwen’s nutrients, but this was not really the case, and she has a hard time admitting it to herself. Her daughter’s voice calls her out for the unspoken lie, telling her that they both knew she kept the blood in case she ever had to track Gwen down, or even change her mind.

Although she pushes that voice, and thought down, she does feel some vindication as she goes to a hidden cabinet, filled with the monthly samples of Gwen’s blood.  She selects the most recent one and starts creating a finding serum, calling upon knowledge that she has not had to use in many years.  Because Gwen was now altered by the curse of the apple, the blood sample was not enough to find her.  She needed more blood, and altered blood.  She solved this problem by luring a tall grazer with food and water that was laced with a sedative and bits of the cursed apple she found on the floor from Gwen’s messy eating.  Because the creature was now altered she couldn’t let it free, so she cut of it’s head and burned the carcass.

### Episode

The group is confronting the polite but terrifying Gentleman Hunter that they met on the path to Serabythia. The Gentleman Hunter is a creature, a spirit of revenge, that has been called upon by wildlife to hunt down humans, specifically Heroes.  He has no eyes, nose, ears, or lips.

Despite his terrifying appearance and reputation, he tells the Nearlies that they don’t need to fear him, as he is there to see an old ‘friend’ Sarah Lynn Applejack.  He had lost her scent, but had just then smelled it again, when he came across the Nearlies. The Nearlies express doubt that Sarah would have ever been friends with this creature.  They don’t reveal that she is dead, and he offers to travel to Serabythia with them. He wanted to ask her why there aren’t any more heroes for him to hunt, as he is unaware of the mass death.  He is about to go on his way, when he catches a scent.

He finally is aware of Von Dark’s presence, who had been hiding behind the massive bulk of Dodderfell this entire time.  He asks him where Sarah and the heroes have gone. The group tries to distract him from Von Dark, telling him that they were also looking for the heroes and Von Dark doesn’t know anything more than they do.  Finally distracted away from Von Dark, the Gentleman Hunter asks Martin who is in there (his body) with him.  Martin tells him that it’s just him, but the Hunter does not believe it, saying that he will crack him open to find out.

A fight ensues.  It goes….poorly for the Nearlies.  They have a series of very unsuccessful attacks.  Eventually, Martin’s head is bitten off, and he melts into a puddle on the ground.  The group continues to fight, and it continues to go poorly.  In desperation the group bravely runs away, with Gwen scooping up some of the Martin puddle as she runs.

When they finally stop being chased, they are in a clearing among an apple orchard with a large manor ahead of them.  Both the orchard and the house show signs of disrepair and neglect.  The group settles down to rest after their very terrible loss and fatiguing battle.

We then flash to Martin in the afterlife, coming upon Sarah who is sitting by the white tree whittling.  She tells Martin that her last wishes were for her ashes to be spread on THE  tree. Martin immediately gets it wrong and reassures her that they will rub her ashes on a tree.  Sarah then looks into Martin’s eyes and says, “you leave him alone”, apparently not talking to Martin, but whomever is inside of him.

Meanwhile, the group is busy figuring out how to get Martin back, when an apple emerges from the ground.  There is some movement, and Martin himself bursts from the earth, as if he were a zombie.  The group is appropriately surprised at his reemergence.  Von Dark says that it appears that the sacred curse took care of fixing Martin’s death. Martin declares the Nearlies invincible. This prompts Von Dark to tell Martin to use caution and Lavaleen to have a horrified look on her face.  She doesn’t explain the reason for her concern, however, declaring it to not be the right time.

Martin tells the group that he saw Sarah and that she wanted them to rub her ashes on THE tree.  The group then debates how to know which tree Sarah meant with her instructions, ultimately deciding that maybe the family would know what she was talking about and head to the manor.

### Epilogue

Grandma Ninn’s tracking potion successfully lead the group of villagers to the edge of the Grimwood and to Gwendylyn.  She was prepared to whisk herself and Gwen away from the dangerous wolves, leaving the rest of the villagers and the Nearlies behind but to her shock, Gwen defied her and went after the eaten Valeriana. Ninn is heartbroken at the realization that in just a few weeks, Valeriana became more important to Gwen than her grandmother.

Ninn decided that the only explanation for this was mind changing magic.  She marches to the Sad Swan Inn to talk to Gwen, and is told that Gwen had already left the town for Serabythia.  She is shocked that Gwen has left, another defiance, and shocked that Gwen didn’t come talk to her like she was supposed to.  She returns to her inn, wondering what she’s going to tell the villagers that came to save Gwen from a kidnapping.

As she is trying to figure it out, she overhears the Hurt By Hexers talk inside.  They had followed Gwendylyn and Lavaleen the night before and witnessed Gwen eating the dark magic in Molly’s house and turning a man into a bear.  She realizes that she has been betrayed.

## Notables

Episode 28

 Objects Acquired

 Spells Used

 Metamorph Attempts

Weaponized appendage (spike)

## Quotables

Martin: She’s not very good at giving directions, this isn’t my fault.
 Gwen: Is it possible that you’re not very good at receiving directions?
 Martin: Not at all.

## External Links

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