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>> PARANORMAL ANIMALS <<B A R S W L I C EDG ESS
4 3 2 7 3 4 3 1 2 6
Initiative 5 + 1D6
Movement x1/x2/+1 (x1/x2/+10 Swimming) Condition Monitor 9/10
Limits Physical 7, Mental 5, Social 4
Armor 9H
Skills Perception 4, Swimming 5, Unarmed Combat 4 Powers Enhanced Senses (Sonar), Fear, Gestalt
Consciousness, Gills, Hardened Armor (9), Immunity (Toxins), Natural Weapon (Claws: DV 9P, AP –4)
AFANC
(CROCODYLUS CYMRI) Terrain: Swamp
Diet: Carnivore Activity: Nocturnal Aggro Index: 8.8 Length/Height: 4.5 m Mass: 375 kg
My first encounter with an afanc was almost my last.
Very early in my career, I discovered their hunting prow-ess and gift for locating prey—in this case, me. Afanc at-tack large prey by biting them and dragging them down into the water to drown them, much like mundane croc-odiles, but smaller prey are often stunned with a tail slap before being eaten or dragged into the water to be bur-ied in the mud and hidden from scavengers. I’m rather small, so I got the tail slap. The hit knocked me out cold, but the security team I was working with cleared it off before I got dragged off. The trideo footage I had rolling showed the fight—a difficult affair—and it showed some of the unique water controlling abilities afancs possess.
AGROPELTER
(PITHECOCEPHALUS HERMESTES) Terrain: Forest/urban
Diet: Omnivore Activity: Diurnal Aggro Index: 7.0 Length/Height: 0.91 m Mass: 22 kg
I’m not prone to developing personal opinions of na-ture’s creations, but the agropelter is a special exception.
I hate these bastards. Early research found them non-sa-pient, despite their similarity in appearance to heavily furred little metahumans, but time has revealed a social evolution among them, particularly with those specimens that spread into barren urban environments. Classified as omnivores, they greatly prefer a meat diet and gain social ranking among their kin by taking down larger prey. This is based solely on the size or weight of the prey, not on its ability to defend itself, meaning a human twelve-year-old that weighs in at forty kilos is a more worthy prize than a wild dog that only weighs thirty-five kilos. All their limbs end in sharply clawed fingers and toes, making them deadly predators. They are also proportioned and muscled for agile brachiation as well as bi- and quadrupe-dal locomotion, which allows them to come at prey from many directions when hunting in packs.
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS
2 3 4 2 2 4 4 1 4 6
Initiative 8 + 1D6
Movement x2/x4/+1
Condition Monitor 9/9
Limits Physical 4, Mental 5, Social 4
Armor 0
Skills Blades 2, Clubs 3, Navigation 3 (Underground +2), Perception 2, Running 2, Sneaking 5, Throwing Weapons 3, Unarmed Combat 3
Powers Brachiation, Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Smell), Natural Weapon (Claws: DV 3P, AP —)
B A R S W L I C EDG ESS M
10 4 4 8 4 2 4 2 2 6 4
Initiative 8 + 1D6 Movement x1/x2/+2 Condition Monitor 13/10
Limits Physical 10, Mental 4, Social 5
Armor 10H
Skills Intimidation 4, Perception 5, Running 4, Sneaking 4, Unarmed Combat 8
Powers Engulf (Water), Enhanced Senses (Low-Light Vision, Smell), Hardened Armor (10), Natural Weapon (Bite: DV 8P, AP –2), Search
>> PARANORMAL ANIMALS <<
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BANDIT
The most interesting part of studying the bandit as a species is discovering the plethora of items they col-lect. Most of the items have no functional value for the creatures and are simply taken because the bandit is, by its very nature, a kleptomaniac. It collects items from wherever it roams and gathers all of it within its den. The den is usually located in hollowed trees or abandoned burrows for bandits still ranging the wild, but most of the population has shifted to urban areas, and these spec-imens most often locate abandoned buildings or hide within the less-trafficked areas of occupied dwellings.
During my research their habits resulted in several in-cidents. They will take anything, ranging in size from an optical chip to an SMG. Both of which I have seen within the cache of bandits in my study. These types of inter-esting and valuable items often end up in the hands of bandits because they have a knack for grabbing the right item at the wrong time for the original owner.
I observed three specimens that were trained and actually worked to gather valuables for their handlers.
I tracked two of them back to their handlers and found they were both squatters in the barrens of Seattle out near Fall City in Redmond. The third managed to evade my tracking, including an electronic tracker.
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Avoided an electronic tracker?! Bulldrek. They aren’t thatsmart. Could it have fallen off accidentally?
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Sticks>
Not likely. The injector dart pumps in thousands ofnano-RFIDs. They were working for about ten minutes when I started to lose the signal.
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G-NomeLimits Physical 3, Mental 5, Social 5
Armor 1
Skills Locksmith 5, Perception 6, Sneaking 5, Unarmed Combat 3
Powers Armor (1), Enhanced Senses (Hearing, Low-Light Vision, Smell)
I’ll admit I’ve never done any in-person close studies on the behemoth due to its uncanny ability to swallow items of my size whole. Instead I’ve lost a few dozen drones, many of them eaten, in my quest to learn about these kings of the swamp. After the first few drones, I actually started using bait drones to get the behemoth to swallow other drones for some internal investigations.
Remarkable scientific knowledge was gained, but more importantly my research revealed that an Ares Hellion high-explosive grenade detonating inside the abdomen of a behemoth will lead to its eventual death, but while dying it will unleash its pain on anything in its path.
Awakened from the common alligator, the behe-moth actually looks like a giant hippopotamus wearing an alligator costume. Its legs are extremely long com-pared to its progenitor species, leading to overland speeds similar to a horse despite the claims of poor land movement offered by less-thorough research. Its lack of a significant tail limits its swimming speed but still allows for quick lunges from the water while attacking prey that is often impaled on the creature’s massive tusks before being dragged into the water to drown or bleed out.
Tough to figure out which happens first.
The behemoth is both territorial and an aggressive hunter. Anything entering its domain will be attacked, even small watercraft. The attack is not directed at de-stroying the vehicle, but rather overturning it and spilling out its delicious fillings. Food taken while defending its territory will be stored at its nest. During mating sea-son this stock of food is often used by males to entice mates. Mating season also spikes their aggression, and anything that enters their domain will be attacked.
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Behemoth domains in the backwaters of Louisiana andFlorida have become great places to scavenge from the boats that get left behind after a behemoth turns their owner into a mating gift. Just need to keep the sonar active and look for anything big moving against the current.
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KaneLimits Physical 18, Mental 4, Social 5
Armor 15H
Skills Perception 4, Sneaking 4, Swimming 5, Unarmed Combat 7
Powers Hardened Armor (15), Natural Weapon (Claws: DV 21P, AP –2), Toughness (4)
>> HOWLING SHADOWS <<