Bloodhunters

A loose amalgam of bounty hunters the Bloodhunters are directed and supported in their mission by the Pathkeepers to track down and capture those with Sorcery or other inborn magics. Where other magics require study or are dependent on an outside force, Sorcery is unpredictable and wild, at the whims of often emotionally immature children. Because of their association with the Dragon Tyrants those in power see them as a potential threat to their position, and the rest have been raised on tales of ancient tyranny. And for spellcasters, because of Sorcerers' ability to sense, shape, and disrupt magic, they are a threat to their own ability to cast spells. Because of these reasons, within Civilization Sorcerers are hunted.

Hierarchy

The Bloodhunters have a fairly flat organization, with small compacts of bounty hunters working together seeking out Sorcerers who turn in their bounties to the Pathkeepers who equip them. To become a Bloodhunter you have to sign on with a compact led by an existing Bloodhunter, this creates an ad-hoc system that brings in already experienced bounty hunters.

Public Perception

Because most governments agree with the necessity of the Bloodhunters and don't want to be responsible for finding and killing Sorcerers, so they turn a blind eye to Bloodhunter activities and don't ask what the Pathkeepers do to the Sorcerers they capture. The general populous tends to do the same unless they are tied to a Sorcerer.

Resources

The Pathkeepers provide Bloohunters an array of equipment to assist them in their hunts. When sensed through magic, these items have a distinct "noise" or "feeling" to them that is repellent to a spellcaster. However, as most spellcasters don't actively sense magic, they can miss the presence of these items.

• Dragon Yoke - An iron yoke with manacles on the end and a wrought iron dragon's head that clamps over the target's head, it causes massive disruption magical around the target, preventing their ability to focus, draw power, and cast spells.
• Magekiller Arrows - These arrows with their distinct ruby red chip embedded in their arrowhead react to active spells or spell auras. They violently end currently active enchantments and spells on their target, dealing damage depending on how powerful the spells were. Their barbed heads break off in the target and will continue to disrupt any future spellcasting until the arrowhead is removed. They can only be purchased from the Pathkeepers by Bloodhunters, though they end up in black and grey markets.

History

Before the Bloodhunters, when a Sorcerer was discovered they were hunted and killed. Between the difficulty of overcoming their magical power without specialists, and the optics of hunting down and killing teenagers, doing so was so destructive that leaders were willing to turn a blind eye to their existence until they became a problem. This created a patchwork of repression and slaughter.

As a footnote in the Pathkeepers contribution to the Nexus Accords they offered to provide logistical support for capturing sorcerers and taking them away. Many governments leapt at this opportunity as the cost to maintaining their own counter-Sorcery forces was expensive. As well, the Pathkeepers ability to take them away without leaving a body behind was considered more "humane", or at the very least, it wasn't happening in their communities.

Adventures

Bloodhunters make for great antagonists if the party has an in-born caster in it, competitors to hunt down the same target, or as the role characters take on.