Witch hunter of the dawn inquiry

The witch hunter of the dawn inquiry is an official witch hunter of the Sürgün Günlükleri ("Exile Chronicles") campaign, whose name is not clearly known. According to Gordon Geidorf, he came to the region to investigate the disappearance of Gordon, of Gordon's friend Varis and of Gordon's dead elder brother.¹

He waited for the company at dawn in empty fields outside Osterhn, with his horse and a sword that looked magical, dressed in clothes worked with gold and lace. He did not wear a captain's shoulder badge.²

He claimed that uncontrolled magic had long been used in the town and that the three companions could tell of it, and asked that Sarah be put to Gordon's truth-seeking questioning. He said that he was of noble birth and of a rank that allowed him to open an official inquiry. Varis argued that he had picked out Sarah because she was a woman and a mage.^{3 4}

The witch hunter captain is a separate and rare rank, won by merit; the hunter's lack of a captain's badge did not stop him from claiming the authority to open an inquiry.⁵

Spoiler: Ephorus volunteersRevealSpoils: Sürgün Günlükleri #9; Sürgün Günlükleri #10; Sürgün Günlükleri #11 · Say what you have read

He accepted Ephorus as a volunteer in Sarah's place. The moment Ephorus admitted that he knew people who used forbidden magic, Gordon shot the hunter through the head.^{6 7}

Varis wrapped the body in cloth and set aside the hat and sword that bore the order's mark. Because the bullet wound would point to a witch hunter's weapon, he cut off the head, and left a misleading mark on the body; Ephorus burned the head elsewhere and scattered the charred remains in a small stream, and the two buried the rest. Gordon later feared that the dead man would have blamed his own failures on the first witch he could find. When Gordon returned to Osterhn a few days later, he was riding the dead man's black horse.^{8 9 10 11}