Hunts

“A member of the Blood axes stationed at Martha’s Rest reported that he had been set upon in the marshes by an otherworldly horror with a single, staring eye. It flew at him on bony bats’ wings, scratching at him with claws black as night, and sharp as razors. Naturally, he fled in terror—but if a battle-hardened Bloodaxe cannot cope with the mere sigh of such a creature, what hope do the rest of us have?”

“A trader coming by the way of Caer Norvent met with a troop of Cursebreakers traveling in the opposite direction and warned them of a wicked, winged harpy on the road ahead—his eyes wild and flickering. Though the Cursebreakers saw nothing untoward on their own journey through their pass, the sound of cackling laughter from the trees ensured that they kept up a brisk pace.”

“Reports have been received of a wild aevis of striking size making its nest atop the hill adjacent to Eastpool. Though all efforts are being made not to rouse the beast’s ire, it is surely but a matter of time before it needs to feed. I hereby petition any brave volunteers to march to the northern border, that we might cut the fiend down before it makes trenchers of the nearby villages.”

“While passing along the trail from Lostwing to Caer Norvent, one of our order was met with a sudden blast of wind so strong that it bent back the trunks of the old oaks, and heard a cry so terrible that he ran for his life. Questioning the locals revealed that this area was the nesting place of the cider griffin known as ‘Dozmare’—a beast much hated for its appetite both for chocobos and for children.”

“While minotaurs have long dwelled in the mountainous regions of Rosaria, it is only recently that they have come down from the highlands to hunt in the swamps, surrounding Martha’s Rest. Among their number is one whose sheer size suggests it to be a chieftain, who appears to be spearheading the push south. He must be stopped, lest the beastmen develop designs on the Rest proper.”

“A particularly belligerent breed of echo has recently awakened amid the Fallen ruins near Martha’s Rest. It is known to activate on the approach of any human, armed or unarmed, and sets about them with a burning jet that has already reduced much of the surrounding marshland to ash. This is one echo that the Cursebreakers would fain see forever silenced.”

“Rumor is spreading throughout the southern reaches of Rosaria of a pool of opalescent ooze that has been sighted in the moors and meadows of the region. While it resembles naught but a puddle of strange sludge from a distance, any man or beast that draws too close is met with masses of slimy hands that drag their prey into a gaping, grinning maw. Is this what we want for our children?”

“Among republican merchants, reports abound of caravans being crushed by a ‘black boulder’—a creature indeterminate in nature, but quite decided in size, strength, and spite. He or she who took it upon themselves to seek out and slay this black mass would earn the eternal gratitude not only of the desert traders, but of the Cursebreakers who risk life and limb with every trip through the Velkroy.”

“A swarm of vicious vilekin has of late made its nest near an abandoned village in the Fields of Corava, and as the hive has grown, so too has its hunger. Already, the stripped corpses of great beasts have been sighted in its vicinity. Should the vilekin be left to their own devices, the nearby settlements shall surely be reduced to naught but a collection of bleached bones within a twelvemoon.”

“Just off the Sickle—the road that leads from Dalimil to the Jaw—lies a dead-end canyon into which travelers moving at night are wont to stray, providing a constant supply of sustenance for a feline most foul. With the daytime desert heat ever its own threat to life, and merchants ever mindful not to waste their last shards of crystal on the lighting of lamps, only the monster’s demise might save them.”

“Dhalmekian traders are wont to say a prayer for unwary travelers journeying from Dalimil to Drake’s Fang, for there lurks a bloodthirsty brigand—one who appears to be more interested in letting the blood of his quarry than he is in any gil or goods he might plunder from their caravans. If the road is to be made safe again, then at least one traveler passing through the place must not flee, but stand and fight.”

“Urgent notice to all Cursebreakers: due to the discovery of a Fallen giant in the Rosarian ruins we have lately been investigating, all work in the region is to be halted with immediate effect, and all members are to proceed no further than the village gate, lest the echo should be awakened by our presence. No further action may be taken without Cid’s express permission.”

“A Cursebreaker aiming for the Imperial Chase took a wrong turn into a nearby wood, within which she discovered the ruins of a Fallen airship—and within them, a beast akin to a great ball of fire that chased her screaming from the grove. The soldier later identified the creature in an almanac of echoes, but was firm in her insistence that the ‘bomb’ she saw was near ten times the size of the one depicted therein.”

“Merchants who ply their trade across the Fields of Corava tell of an outlaw five-and-twenty hands high and mighty of thew who preys upon unescorted travelers. They claim he lives alone in one of the many abandoned villages that litter the region, but none has been brave nor foolish enough to narrow the search any further. If you who read this have either, or both, of those qualities, the Dhalmekians beg your aid.”

“A lone rowing boat has been sighted making land off the coast of Port Isolde—its occupants wearing the garb and speaking the language of Iron Kingdom Crusaders. One can only assume that they come to take their vengeance upon Cid the Outlaw for destroying that which they hold most dear. We advise against all travel to the areas, lest they think to kill or capture our members in retaliation.”

“Sanbrequois legend tells of a dread dragon who set near half the realm alight with his torrid breath, before being sealed away behind a magical mist—by Greagor Herself, some sources claim. Though it has long been forgotten which parts of the tale are true and which are mere myth, recent reports of a great dragon’s roar reverberating around the woodland passes of the empire are real enough.”

“A team of Cursebreakers traveling through Tabor to the Fields of Corava were met by a group of hunters from the village, who warned them not to stray too far from the main road—for in a gully not far hence rested a pack of wolves that even such practiced hunters as they would not dare to wake, despite the fine luster of the animals’ pelts. Too many of their friends had succumbed to temptation, only to be torn limb from limb.”

“The hunters of Tabor speak of a wild chocobo that haunts not only the nearby badlands, but also their dreams—for it exhibits a ferocity rarely seen in the species, and has ripped more than a dozen of their comrades from gizzard to groin and feasted on their flesh. The bird is far past taming—it must needs be put down.”

“The greater part of those Black Shields who spied on Lostwing were taken by the aetherflood. However, we have received reports that one yet survives—a zealot of their evil cause who persists in delivering any Bearer who strays too close to his hiding place to a gruesome death. Alas, he has heretofore proved more than a match for the Cursebreakers sent to slay him.”

“If you should come across a red carrot protruding from the marshes of Three Reeds, do not attempt to pull it from the swampy soil. It is, in truth, another root vegetable entirely—an exotic species of morbol that uses a modified, carrot-like vine as a lure to draw its prey close, before emerging from the earth and swallowing them whole. A cruel way for Nature to turn these times of privation to her advantage.”

“Those few souls who were able to escape from Ash before the skies changed tell of Pandemonium, the King of the Orcs who led his fellow beastmen in revolt against Waloeder rule. Though his rebellion was swiftly crushed by King Barnabas’s armies, many of the orcs who now roam the Twins, sating their appetite for human flesh, bear his markings—suggesting that he still commands his forces today.”

“A caravan of traders traversing the Velkroy told me of a colossal beast they had encountered on their journey. To hear them tell it, it had the aspect of a dragon, a lion, and a scorpion all at once. I contested that it might be naught but a mirage—a phantasm brought about by the desert heat—but the sweat which ran down their foreheads was cold, and the fear in their eyes, real.”

“A rogue goblin has been sighted several times in the abandoned village of Eistla, presumably drawn by the stores left behind when the villagers departed for Reverie. Though said villagers will not be returning, we shall surely seek to reclaim the village for mankind once this is all over. I suggest that we end the goblin’s misery now, before he tears the houses down in his search for sustenance.”

“Among the diverse beasts that make their home in Waloed, there are many that seem not to be a creation of nature, but of some malign god. Bygul is one such creature—a cat that takes an almost perverse delight in hunting down the few survivors of the human race that yet survive on the fat continent, and toying with them as a child might a doll—complete with the chewing of their extremities.”

“A band of Cursebreakers making a first foray into Waloed encountered this creature near the road through Halfcombe. Though those with memory of Ash before its fall knew Agni as a peaceable beast—one worshipped as the ‘Jarlkona of the north’—the aether has since addled its mind, sending it barreling hither and yon, crushing anything in its path. To end its torment would be a mercy.”

“Travelers of the Gilded Path share stories of the crystal giant—a beast who haunts the paths less trodden, illuminating the shadowy canyons with the unmistakable blue glow of aether, and painting them red with the blood of his victims. If our suspicions are correct and this creature is another construct of Ultimate, then only by laying him low might we truly begin to live on our own terms.”

“After the collapse of the Fallen civilization, their technology slept silently within the ruins of their airships for many a long year. However, of late, these ‘echoes’ of the Fallen age have begun to awaken, attacking any strangers on sight—presumably as they were designed to do. While some are easily escaped, this particular echo persists in pursuing its targets until they lie dead in the dust.”

“The Waloeder army captured such beasts and tried to train them to serve, but this particular specimen’s training has long since ceased. Whether its captors turned Akashic with the rest of their comrades or were eaten by their pet when it broke free from its bonds, we shall never know. All we do know is there is none left alive who knows the words to put an end to its rampage—only a show of force will suffice.”

“A monster born in Balmung Dark, and quite possibly the deadliest beast known to man. Cid, we beg you to slay it, not only that the world might be a safer place, but that the Bearers who lost their lives to that vile creature might at last be avenged. Forgive our presumption, but knowing what we do of it, we doubt that any but you could emerge from its cage alive.”

“Cursebreakers came across this creature while searching for survivors near the abandoned village of Garnick. Misled by the abomination’s appearance into thinking she might be a local woman, they went to offer their help—but soon it was they who were seeking salvation. The survivors say they can still hear the screams—both those of the wight, and those of their fallen comrades.”

“There is a saying among the imperial soldiers of the Northreach garrison—‘steer clear of the drowned tower, lest the specter’s sickle reap your root.’ They speak in typically uncouth terms of the thrall dwells within the aetherflood—one whose frightful aspect and command over lesser minions would appear to mark him as a high-ranking member of his species.”

“Most pilgrims to the Holy Capital of Oriflamme pass through the Penitent’s Gate on the road from the Royal Meadows. Of late, however, a knight in shining armor has elected to station himself beside this entrance, accusing any and all passers-by of being Cid the Outlaw—the one who led Prince Dion down the path to destruction—and challenging them to a duel to the death.”

“A corporeal manifestation of the Dominant Waljas’s fear and anguish, this waterbound elemental—or egi—carved a trail of slaughter through Mysidia’s primeval wood before arriving at the foot of Languor Falls. According to the people of Haven, it was here that the baby’s mother was said to have taken her life upon learning her son’s fate.”

“Tonberry kings are not of noble blood, nor do they rule over their tribe—they are simply those individuals who have survived long enough to accumulate significant amounts of rancor. Their hearts stained black with rage, these elders tend to be not only the most violent and bloodthirsty of their kin, but also the strongest and most nimble, despite their advanced years. Some believe that one may curse his enemy by making an offering to these kings, but science would suggest this is pure fantasy.”