A retired hunter, Ereg has tracked many of the strange creatures of Xen’drik—the wilder the better. On one of his forays into the jungle, the hunter uncovered a book describing the foundations of the necromantic tradition that has since evolved into the Blood of Vol. Ereg is fascinated by the book and spends his days studying its tattered pages.
Mostly retired now, Ereg (NE male human expert 5/ranger 3) sponsors younger hunters seeking entrance into the Lords, supposedly in hope of bolstering the organization’s honored membership. His true intentions are more sinister. Bored with hunting mere animals and creatures, he now seeks cunning humanoid foes to hunt at his leisure. He takes up-and-coming hunters out on expeditions, only to stalk and kill them. The hunter became obsessed with necromantic arts after discovering an old tome devoted to blood rites during an excursion in Xen’drik, and now he enjoys animating his dead enemies to serve him. He keeps a grim cave of his undead trophies in a maze-like area of canyons over a hundred miles from the city. He often visits the canyons, claiming the dry air there does wonders for his constitution. Vanson ir'Lain joins Ereg on a few of his special hunts when the prey includes one or more shifters. The two keep their expeditions secret, since exposure would no doubt cause their expulsion from the Lords.
Ereg, a renowned hunter, contacts the PCs in Stormreach, explaining that he collects rare trophies from darkest Xen’drik, such as plants, artifacts, and unusual creatures. Ereg tells the PCs that one such rare creature now prowls the jungles—a two-headed tyrannosaurus spotted a few days out of Stormreach. Ereg desperately wants the creature’s heads for his wall, but prior obligations prevent him from hunting the monster himself. He offers the PCs a reward if they stalk the beast for him.
All is not as it seems, however. Jaded by years of hunting mindless creatures and vicious animals, Ereg has now decided to pursue “the most dangerous game.”
Ereg seeks to lure the party into the jungle with spurious tales of a two-headed dinosaur so that he can hunt the PCs themselves. Decades ago, Ereg uncovered an old book in a Xen’drik ruin detailing the Blood of Vol religion. Ereg had heard vague rumors of this organization but had always thought the Blood of Vol was just a minor cult. The tome taught him otherwise.
The worn and tattered book contained references to the “power of blood” and the eventual triumph of mortals over death. As a man who killed for a living, Ereg found the book’s teachings fascinating. From them he gleaned an imperfect understanding of the religion, coming to believe in blood as a literal source of power. He started killing all manner of creatures in order to dissect them and perform experiments on their blood.
Ereg records all his findings diligently and believes he is on the cusp of a major breakthrough. All he requires to complete his experiments is blood from a sentient creature—preferably an elf or a dragonmarked being, but Ereg will take what he can get. Wishing to avoid the publicity of a murder or disappearance in Stormreach, Ereg lures some likely specimens into the jungle.
Years ago, Ereg’s haphazard experimentation came to the attention of a powerful necromancer serving the Blood of Vol in Karrnath. Recognizing the value of Ereg’s notes, the necromancer left guardians for the hunter’s use and returns periodically to review his research. These guardians, the anima