Welcome to Mord Souq, friend. As you can see, it's a bustling trading post frequented by merchants from across the realm. 'Least it
was before Phronesis showed up and started preying on unwitting travelers. Hence the bounty, you see.
The lucrative reward has attracted the attention of one capable bounty hunter after the next, yet the fiend still roams free. You can probably imagine why.
Those few who have seen Phronesis and returned to tell the tale speak of the great horrors they witnessed. Cavernous black holes materializing out of thin air, swallowing everything around them into the abyss...
People have taken to calling them “the hollows.” Rumor has it that one barely has time to lay eyes on Phronesis before he summons forth the hollows, which proceed to consume everything in sight.
And I do mean everything. Just the other day, an entire caravan was devoured by the hollows, leaving only nothingness behind.
Mages have postulated that these holes are literally tears in the fabric of our reality─gateways to other worlds, to put it another way. At any rate, suffice to say that the next man to come back from the void will be the first.
And yet there's something odd about it all. Witnesses say that Phronesis doesn't seem to go out of his way to prey on people or settlements. He simply shambles across the wastes, summoning hollows one after the next, and the destruction follows as a matter of course.
Needless to say, drawing too near to the fiend is tantamount to suicide. Even attacks from afar have been all but futile, as Phronesis simply summons the hollows to consume every incoming arrow.
With every conceivable means of attack foiled, even the most savvy bounty hunters have all but thrown up their hands─even though the bounty now stands at some nine- or tenfold the original amount.
I'm of a different mind, however. The way I see it, if only there were a way to neutralize the hollows, we'd more than stand a chance against Phronesis himself. This is why I require your services.
Your easy triumph over the sin eater spoke clear: you're a mage of no common skill. If anyone has the arcane knowledge and aptitude to help me figure out a way to defend against the hollows, it's you.
Don't worry─I fully intend to shoulder my share of the burden. And so I plan to gather all the information we need before asking you to put yourself in harm's way.
And with that, I'd best get to work. Once I've formulated a proper plan of attack, we'll talk again. Until then, I suggest you continue to hone your casting skills. The battle that awaits us will not be an easy one.