Feykiller (Hunter Archetype)
(art by Sicarius8 on DeviantArt)
While there are plenty of heroes that gain blessings from the fey, or perhaps even befriend them, there are those that fight against them as well.
Whether it be because the fey in a region are particularly harmful or evil, or are corrupted by a malevolent force, or because the hunter in question just has a personal vendetta, there are those that train to resist the trickery of the fey and strike back against them.
We’ve seen similar archetypes before, such as the Defenders of the True World, but now we are looking at a hunter that does something similar.
This archetype does hearken back to the blighted fey created by the Darkblight, a supernatural fungal infection caused by the depredations of the Demon Lord Cyth-V’sug and his cultists in the Fangwood in Nirmathas, but anywhere where fey exist one might find this archetype, hunting or defending against the fair folk, whether they are evil or not. Indeed, With the Darkblight defeated, the tradition is more likely to arise in other places with hostile fey now.
Regardless of origin, these “feykillers” are specialists against an insidious and tricky foe.
These hunters call upon a different set of animals for their foci compared to other hunters. They can call upon the cunning of the crow to better recognize their foes, the stubbornness of the goat to protect their minds, the serpent-hunting ways of the mongoose to resist poison, the blood scent of the shark to track fleeing prey, and the armored shell of the turtle for more traditional defense.
Through sacred rituals, these fey-slayers infuse the power of cold iron into the form of their companions, starting with one, then affecting them all, turning their beast into a lethal destroyer of fey.
Their companion also bolsters their thoughts and minds with their company, helping them resist the magic of the fey.
This expands further to other enchatments and illusions as well, and their companion later wards them entirely against such effects from the fey.
Most of the changes this archetype makes are actually to animal companion abilities rather than their own, which can make it nearly impossible to combine with an animal companion archetype. That being said, it does mean your specialization against the fey doesn’t prevent you from being a competent hunter in other areas. Indeed, you’re free to build them mostly as you see fit, so if your campaign promises to include a lot of fey foes, this archetype could be very good indeed.
Even if your character doesn’t have any personal vendetta against the fey, they must have a reason for doing what they do. This may vary between having a vendetta against a certain court of fey, trying to clear out the “Unseelie”, or perhaps being some sort of fey-hunting mercenary.
The locahthah are ordinarily a peaceful people that do not seek violence needlessly. Gogoach is no ordinary locathah. For years he has trained himself to slay and resist fey with his octopus companion, all to hunt down and slay the oceanid that rules over the sea he calls home. Exactly why he is pursuing such a bloodthirsty act is anyone’s guess.
The feykillers of Blaxxon are exactly what they sound like, soldiers trained to hunt down and slay the fey that resist the empires continued expansion into the wild places of the world. How they maintain natural magics despite their hand in blighting it is anyone’s guess, but some suspect a dark natural power of wastelands and death empowers them.
When strange chaotic magical events are sighted, the council calls in specialists in the fey to deal with the problem. However, they have not reported back, and the chaos has only gotten worse. In truth, the fey are not responsible at all. Instead, a protean cult has sprung up, seeking to shatter the order with wild magic and conjured ourdivar proteans as shock troops.
