[Note. This is a creature I had submitted to the Earthdawn Journal. It was printed in the vol 8. I have put it here because the journal is out of print and these never made it to their web site. It it not meant as a chalenge of that copyright.]
Arcana ... a name I will always remember. A small farmer town in the western part of the plains of Throal. They had discovered something weird about new wagons that were coming and going from the north end of town. They were all leaving full of armor and coming back full of some kind of ore. No one knew who they were for or where they were going.
We were hired by the town representative to investigate. They didn't want any trouble coming to their small and peaceful (as peaceful as a town can get after a Scourge, anyway) town. After asking around we learned of a the Camarys mines a little ways north of town.
We found the place and got past the few guards pretty easily. When we reached the bottom, we found people that had been reported missing working as slaves for this mining operation. As we charged in to free them and shut this operation down, that is when we saw them. Two huge beasts! They looked like dogs made of stone but at that size it was more like a bear. They were handled by ogres holding massive chains to keep these fidgity creatures in check.
As they saw us, it took half a second for the surprise to leave their ugly mugs, but it did. Then all we heard was "fetch da chew toy" from an ogre and "ready ... ready go" from the other. Those pooches came at us full of joy and excitement, ready to "play". One ramed into us head down giving us a taste of that mane, and the other ... well look at my calf ... that is the toy he was trained to chew!
Game InformationRemember that these are just puppies that want to play and have fun. They are not aware of their weight and therefore can do harm without actually meaning to. Add +8 to all tests to control them (like dominate beast).
Craj'han Attributes: DEX: 6 STR: 10 TOU: 8 PER: 5 WIL: 6 CHA: 7 Initiative: 4/ D6 Physical: 8 Number of attacks: 1 Mystic: 7 Attack: 9 Social: 9 Damage: Claw (12) Bite (13) Mane (15) Armor: 7 Movement: Combat:30 Myst. Arm: 4 Full: 60 Knockdown: 11 Death Rating: 50 Recovery test: 3 Wound Threshold: 12 Unconscious Rating: 40 Description These Creatures are the youngs of the Craj'rys. They have a canine look with a hard mane down their neck. They are 4 feet high at the shoulder, 2 feet wide and 6 long. They have a large jaw and a skin that is normaly dark gray and resembles the skin of an Obsidiman. These impressive creatures are very into playing games. They are often used by larger more intelligent and very powerfull (these babies are strong and a hand full) creatures as watchdogs. The way this is achieved is by showing them games that protect and kill.
Legend Point: 115 Loot: Mane worth 1D10 x 10sp which count toward legend points.
Copyright 2003. Eric Campeau