Quanil’s questions poured out in a renewed flood, their previous silence merely a pause in the endless machinations of their agile mind. Jigano tilted his head at the young Loreseeker, a wry smile on his lips. ”As for that, we don’t know, and it’s dangerous to test such a hypothesis in case the banshee hunts by some sense other than sight. If she is following one person specifically then the additional people won’t interest her and the first person will get tired eventually.” He wasn’t really sure what the point of such a test would even be, in truth, but Quanil had lit upon a much better idea, one that Maea expanded on and he nodded enthusiastically to them both.
”I was hoping we could try a joint exercise with the Medical College in the near future,” he agreed. ”I don’t know if it’s been done before, but it’s worth trying, and as Maea said, learning more about their ecology and seeing what they’ve picked up may prove interesting.”
All that left only two areas left to explore, and he lifted another picture board up, though this one was far more stylized and clearly an artist’s rendition rather than a first-hand account. ”The Bone Bridge,” he began, expression sobering again, ”crosses a chasm shrouded in mist. The bottom of the gorge is fairly barren and rocky but there is one creature that lives there that is almost never seen. The Kappa is said to have the head of a scaled bird, a turtle’s body and shell, and frog-like legs, and that it somehow flies, but all we have is a written description of it. The account said that it was generally passive as long as it wasn’t startled, but when we were down there,” he nodded at Sam, ”we found a cave of bones that seemed to indicate that it might well be carnivorous – and quite large enough to consider humans as prey. Crossing the Bridge is safe, but be careful if you venture into the mists beneath.”
Given that the Bridge was far less traveled, and that the Kappa stayed in its gorge, it wasn’t really a threat unless people went looking for trouble. The final beast on the agenda, though…
”Many of you have likely heard of the Landshark,” he continued, nodding to the Naturals in the room. ”Perhaps even lost livestock or friends to it. It’s perhaps the most dangerous denizen of the Hollowed Grounds because it’s the hardest to predict or defend against. I’ve seen it surface twice… and I still can’t tell you much about what it looks like, aside from the vast red maw and large, sharp teeth that fill it.” Teeth that swiftly closed on their prey before it vanished beneath the ground again. ”The good news is that it’s only active once every few months; once it feeds it seems to hibernate while digesting its meal. Given its size, it’s no surprise that it hunts larger animals and people, but its coming is so swift and the time between its meals so difficult to measure that defending against it has proven almost impossible. Unfortunately I have little to offer for suggestions to you, aside from being wary when you walk in the fields.” An unfortunate note to end on, though he had a final surprise for those who had stayed with him through the long lecture. He looked around the room, his smile coming back as he noted those who looked drowsy as well as those who had been taking such furious notes.
”Any last questions before I wrap this up?”
”I was hoping we could try a joint exercise with the Medical College in the near future,” he agreed. ”I don’t know if it’s been done before, but it’s worth trying, and as Maea said, learning more about their ecology and seeing what they’ve picked up may prove interesting.”
All that left only two areas left to explore, and he lifted another picture board up, though this one was far more stylized and clearly an artist’s rendition rather than a first-hand account. ”The Bone Bridge,” he began, expression sobering again, ”crosses a chasm shrouded in mist. The bottom of the gorge is fairly barren and rocky but there is one creature that lives there that is almost never seen. The Kappa is said to have the head of a scaled bird, a turtle’s body and shell, and frog-like legs, and that it somehow flies, but all we have is a written description of it. The account said that it was generally passive as long as it wasn’t startled, but when we were down there,” he nodded at Sam, ”we found a cave of bones that seemed to indicate that it might well be carnivorous – and quite large enough to consider humans as prey. Crossing the Bridge is safe, but be careful if you venture into the mists beneath.”
Given that the Bridge was far less traveled, and that the Kappa stayed in its gorge, it wasn’t really a threat unless people went looking for trouble. The final beast on the agenda, though…
”Many of you have likely heard of the Landshark,” he continued, nodding to the Naturals in the room. ”Perhaps even lost livestock or friends to it. It’s perhaps the most dangerous denizen of the Hollowed Grounds because it’s the hardest to predict or defend against. I’ve seen it surface twice… and I still can’t tell you much about what it looks like, aside from the vast red maw and large, sharp teeth that fill it.” Teeth that swiftly closed on their prey before it vanished beneath the ground again. ”The good news is that it’s only active once every few months; once it feeds it seems to hibernate while digesting its meal. Given its size, it’s no surprise that it hunts larger animals and people, but its coming is so swift and the time between its meals so difficult to measure that defending against it has proven almost impossible. Unfortunately I have little to offer for suggestions to you, aside from being wary when you walk in the fields.” An unfortunate note to end on, though he had a final surprise for those who had stayed with him through the long lecture. He looked around the room, his smile coming back as he noted those who looked drowsy as well as those who had been taking such furious notes.
”Any last questions before I wrap this up?”
