Lecture 2
Penn Hedley III hunting lectures (Lecture 2)
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Penn-Hedley III Hunt Lectures
Lecture 2
Ahem.
Good Day.
Hrmph
I discern that we have a slightly smaller turnout than for the first lecture. How very strange. I wonder why that would be.
It is gratifying, at least, to see you in attendance today, Alkeline. I trust that Ranger Sgt. Prigg did not too severely disrupt whatever medical treatment you were receiving at the pub.
Hrmph. No, Alkeline, I think we shall keep the manacles on you, for now.
Let’s see, where were we?
That was a rhetorical question, Antimony, and, as such, does not require a response.
No, it will not be on the examination.
No, it will not be on the Rhetoric examination, either.
Once again, I based the selection of the site for beginning the second hunt on a specific mission request. Swind Northwhile and others have been requesting placement of a rune at Fellowship Hall to Vesper Militia Headquarters, so I decided on Vesper as a starting point for Hunt Number Two.
After careful preparation, I gated carefully to my customary spot inside the mint/bank. I had heard that the vampires had been subdued of late, but I was not sure what to expect. The area was clear, not only of vampires, but of any kind of interesting game for our hunt. A shame, that. I crossed over the nearest bridge to the mainland to the West, intentionally plotting a course to the Militia that would take me past the local cemetery.
There were no signs of vampires anywhere, but, sure enough, the cemetery was in business and we were greeted at the gates.
| 21. | Decaying Zombie: |
| Don’t you think the name is a bit redundant? Are there HEALTHY zombies? By any name whatever they are not very exciting as game for the hunt, and I killed it easily. In fact, I killed three of them before the hunt was over. The decaying zombie business is apparently not a very lucrative one, as the only personal effects to be found on their remains are 1-3 fertile dirt reagents and 66-154 gold pieces. While I was counting up my newfound riches, I spotted another creature nearby not yet cataloged. | |
| 22. | Brown Bear: |
| These bear-like creatures are brown in color. They are easy to kill. I found no loot on this one at all, but I am not sure that is right. I will check others before concluding that they yield neither pelt nor provender. Stepping into the cemetery, I quickly found another volunteer for our journal. | |
| 23. | Skeleton: |
| You may be surprised to learn I found only two of these denizens on the entire expedition. Despite the lack of any obvious pockets or purses, they carry 51-77 gold pieces, and two items, often including reagent bone or bone armor. This first one had an unusual magic item of somewhat questionable utility: fine bone leggings of blacksmithy and fire resistance (24 charges). Handy perhaps for a clumsy blacksmith with a habit of burning himself and no sense of fashion. These creatures are very weak in combat, but they provide a modest bit of entertainment with the musical tinkle they make upon death as they disassemble to a small mound of bones. |
Quickly on the heels of the skeleton came an old friend from the first hunt (#14): the harpy. We killed four more of these birdblokes on this trip. For those of you keeping score, they all “carried” 87-112 gps, 20 feathers, and three blackmoors. One of the four carried an item of clothing in addition. We then had the honor of meeting another creature for the first time.
| 24. | Headless: |
| Headless what, you ask? Well, Eldrin, it is kind of hard to identify that without the head, isn’t it? | |
| 25. | Bone knight: |
| Legend has it that these creatures are the cranky failures from Weight Watcher programs, but this has never been proven. It is interesting that the only food they carried was a head of lettuce on one and a loaf of bread (probably whole wheat) on the other. They had other possession: each had an average of 219 gp, a scimitar, a shield (one metal, one wooden), two bones, and a single piece of bone armor. I never even saw the next attacker until Fenwyck (my magic silver crossbow) had already made him re-dead. | |
| 26. | Skeleton archer: |
| He was carrying a bow, 5 arrows, two “regular” bones, one enchanted bone, and 104 gold pieces. By this time, the cemetery game was beginning to get a bit tedious. | |
| 27. | Rat: |
| 28. | Eagle: |
| The rat owned little property, only a rat hide and some stringy rat meat. The eagle yielded up a raw bird (pretty much all you could expect a bird to give) and 20 feathers. The eagle raised an interesting issue. There are a great number of species of bird in WoD. How are we to handle cataloging them? No, Amalthya, spEAGLE’s catalog is NOT an amusing answer. Well perhaps just a bit amusing.:
I have made my decision. The eagle is a special bird, but the others I shall classify together (for hunting purposes) as “bird.” However, I will take on the additional responsibility of birdwatcher while on these hunts, and I will spot and list as many different varieties as possible. I am not inexperienced in this role having been ranked in the top 25 spotters in Cheshire by the Audubon Society in ’07. (I would have been in the top 10 if not for the arbitrary exclusion of my sightings in the poultry shops). Leaving the cemetery behind, I continue to the Militia HQ and mark the rune without spotting any signs of other new creatures. I continue South toward the coast, with the intent of swinging to the West, toward Cove, which is usually interesting territory. |
Suddenly, I am attacked by a totally unfamiliar creature. What on first appearances looks to be a green orc is suddenly upon me. Once the battle is joined, the creature begins to hurl ominous threats at me, but these are rendered silly and unfinished when I kill it quickly. I was not able to identify this creature until later study in the references, since there had been no previous reports of sightings in WoD. It was a…
| 29. | Goblin: |
| An ominous sign? Not if they aren’t any tougher or richer than this one. He was carrying 51 gp, nothing more. The other goblin I killed later was no tougher and carried only a crossbow and 55gp. | |
| 30. | Rabbit: |
| I would prefer it if I didn’t have to explain this to Mayflower. They yield 2 hides and 2 racks of ribs. In spite of hysterical recent reports from some sources, I find them relatively non-aggressive and harmless. | |
| 31. | Bird: |
| They yield a raw bird and 20 feathers and do not generally attack unless provoked. During this trip, I sighted the following species: Cuckoo | |
| 32. | Hildisvini: |
| This strange aggressive species resembling a wild boar is dangerous to the young or inexperienced, but is just breakfast to the rest of us. It yields 2 slabs of bacon, 2 hams and 6 hides. |
I then had a repeat encounter with the most disagreeable of the weeds found in WoD, the reaper (#16 from hunt 1). This one was quite an aggressive spellcaster and hit me with a quick succession of electrical and fire attacks along with a poison wall and a wall of fire. While I was attemping to simultaneously reset my magic reflection, heal myself, and reload my crossbow, a lizardman soldier with the rank of “defender” lurking nearby decided to take advantage of my momentary distraction. This was a bad career move on his part, as I was grateful for the excuse to take a break from my weeding to “hash things out” with him.
| 33. | Lizard Defender: |
| These chaps have tough hides colored a revolting dark goldenish greenish brown. They are better fighters than most lizardmen, due mostly to being so difficult to damage through their thick hides. The 6 hides you get from skinning them, however are quite ordinary (and not even lizard hides). This fellow was also carrying 262 gold pieces, a potion, and a war axe. |
My break time expired, I went back to work on the weed. It was a tough battle as I had to renew my magic reflection several times and still took attacks of blade spirits and poison walls. It was located on uneven ground, and I had some difficulties targeting it with my crossbow at times. Still, in the end, it was dashing adventurer 1, larch 0. This reaper had 185 gp, a warfork, 3 executioner cap mushrooms, 3 deadwood, 20 logs and a reaper heartwood. Then I revisited other familiar prey, the frenzied ostard and the Hildisvani before encountering
| 34. | Feral cat: |
| This pitiful creature is aggressive, but virtually harmless and appears to yield 2 hides and two ribs. This meat is scarcely edible, but I understand you can sell it to any of the restaurants in Trinsic. | |
| 35. | Lizard Shaman:
These magic-using reptiles have dusty pink complexions, perhaps because they are embarrassed that lizardmen so closely resemble Barney the Dinosaur, especially shamen. They aren’t particularly dangerous if you can fight them individually. This one donated 165 gp, three potions, a gem and 6 hides. |
At this point in the hunt, I had advanced some distance to the West, and had begun picking up a number of orc trails. I had to kill one of those pesky giant spiders before catching up to the orc I was tracking.
| 36. | Orc Warrior: |
| Warrior? I hit him once with my fork and he took off running. I bravely put a bolt in the blighter’s back so that he could understand the cultural superiority of human civilization. I killed four of these creatures during the hunt and collected 119-132gp and 2-3 items, including potions, gems, weapons, armor and clothing.: Then, while I was killing a… | |
| 37. | Black Bear: |
| I was attacked by a rabid dog, a feral cat and… | |
| 38. | Lizardman: |
| They all attacked and died so fast, I am quite afraid that I lost track of which ones yielded what in hides and meat. I can only assume that the 85 pieces of gold came from the lizardman. |
I then encountered and dispatched a harpy and his companion, the…
| 39. | Imp: |
| Which appears to be closely related to the mongbat, but has a bright red skin color and bad breath that will corrode your chainmail. He had 85 gp, his 2 batwings, a blackmoor, and a jester hat. From the jester hat, I conclude that he had just come from a party, which may well also explain the breath and the complexion. |
At this point, I found myself amongst a rather unruly group of orcs, not unlike a coach full of Manchester United fans. It was not an ideal environment for proper accounting records, but I did my best to keep track of things.
| 40. | Orc: |
| Wimps. Neither of the two I killed on this trip had anything but 62-70 pieces of gold.
Then I killed the second goblin, the second and third orc warrior, the second common orc and shot up various orcs off my screen trying to shoot or cast spells at me. | |
| 41. | Orc Archer: |
| 42. | Orc Marksman: |
| Between them, they had 199 gp, a bow, a crossbow, 14 bolts, 6 arrows and a hammer pick. | |
| 43. | Orc Mage: |
| They are usually tougher than this one. They are easily recognized by their bright blue skin color. No, Alkeline, they are seldom considered “beautiful”. |
I ran into the second and third orc mage at the same time I ran into an orc captain, and I decided not to fight them all at once. I got the orc captain aside and…
| 44. | Orc Captain: |
| Orc captains are moderately tough. This one had nothing but 264 gp when I checked his effects, but I suspect he was looted by one of the mages, both of whom I went back and killed. | |
| 45. | Orc Dragon Defender: |
| This fellow is a decent warrior and it usually takes a few minutes to kill it. It is generally worth your time, however. This one carried 350gp, 3 potions, a weapon, a gem, and two miscellaneous items. |
Then I caught up with a fellow I had been chasing through the whole orc army.
| 46. | Orcish Cleric: |
| These guys are blue-grey in color. They are not really dangerous, but they make bloody nuisances of themselves, healing other orcs you’re trying to kill. This one owned 258gp, 13 reagents (6 different) a yellow scroll, a potion, and a gem. |
I spotted one last bloke I wanted to add to my trophies, but to get to him I had to kill another Orc archer, this one carrying 62gp along with his bow, 25 arrows and a crystal ball. (He should have looked into that thing before he picked the fight with me). Then…
| 47. | Goblin Warrior: |
| Another green fellow. This guy seemed to me to be much tougher than an orc warrior, maybe about the same as an Orc Captain. He was carrying a magic half-apron, a ringmail tunic, a potion, a shepherd crook, one arrow (?), and an orc helm. The apron turned out to be a fine half-apron of wrestling and poison protection with 22 chgs. I shall save it for hunting severely poisonous prey.
Somewhere along the way, I find I have collected a fine maul of quality and lightning (20 charges). |
Well, in the zeal inspired by the orc hoard, I find I have well exceeded my quota of 20 new monsters added. I hope Ranger Prigg doesn’t fine me.
