Talonfall

Talonfall is the hunting cell of the Talons of Veylan given to Keyleth on her elevation to Scaled Bane. They watch the roads, walk people safely down them, and kill what they are sent to kill.

The note

Nettle and four others were already camped in the treeline north of Nuts Deep when the company came back from Elturel in the second week of the downtime. They had been there two days and had not announced themselves. The note came separately, tied to a hawk's leg, on a strip of bark-paper folded twice.

Keyleth.

Told to put this in writing. So here it is.

Five of them. Nettle runs them. Nettle does not come indoors, so do not spend a season trying to make her. The other four go where you send them. A fifth hand when your name is bigger. A sixth after that.

Three things you can ask for.

Watch. Put one somewhere and they will tell you what moves through it. A road, a pass, a valley you do not like the look of. You will know a thing is coming before it gets to you. Most of this work is watching. Nobody thanks anybody for it.

Guide. They will walk your people through country that would cost you otherwise. Nothing jumps you on a road a Talon has already walked.

Cull. You will want this one most. Name a thing and they will go and finish it. A young wyrm. A brood. A dragonkin nest that has got above itself. Nothing older or bigger than that. I am putting it in writing so there is no argument about it later.

A cull is weeks, not days. Tracking is the long part. The killing is quick or it has gone wrong. While they are hunting they are not watching anything and not guiding anybody, so do not ask for two things at once.

They bring the carcass back, or what of it will travel. I am told your people have use for that.

Moving them costs you time. Hours across a town. Three to five days across a region. Ten days across the coast and more in winter. On the road they see nothing and do nothing.

Now the part I would rather not put down.

I have buried twenty-one of mine in forty years. Nineteen of those were culls. Watching wears people out. Culling kills them. Both of those are true and only one of them is going to feel urgent to you when you are standing somewhere and want a problem gone.

So think about it before you send them. That is all I have to say about it.

— Corwyth Skarn

The cell

Nettle — the anchor, and not counted among the four. Keeps to the treeline outside Nuts Deep and has never been inside the walls. Offers no other name. Nobody has asked twice.

Four hunters stand under her. The Talons add a fifth as Keyleth's name carries further, and a sixth after that.

Standing postings

Hunter	Bears	Currently posted
Hessa Duncroft	Tracker. Ran caravans for the Cult of the Dragon before she left them, and knows how they move because she used to move that way.	The eastern road, ahead of the march on Boareskr Bridge
Brannoc Yew	Half-orc. Carves the name of every burned grove into his stave. There is not much stave left.	Travelling — the Grove Burnings sites
Immeril Stagwatch	Wood elf, ancient and slow-spoken. Has watched the same twelve miles for ninety years and can tell you what changed on a given Tuesday.	The Misty Forest approaches
Sildreth Yarrow	Falconer. Keeps a bird she refuses to name, on the grounds that naming things is how you lose them.	Nuts Deep — watching the northern sky

See also

• Talons of Veylan — the wing; standings are tracked on the Renown Tracker
• Monster Harvesting — where a cull's carcass ends up
• The Nightingales · The Anvil · The Broken Latch · The Hearthwardens — the other companies' cells
• Keyleth