The Creatures

Out past the safe ground the four lands are not empty. Each one keeps its own animal, and they do not all want to talk.

One beast per land

• The Hollow has its deer.
• The Shore has its badgers.
• The Ashfell has its wolves.
• The Mire has its boar.

And one place mixes them: past the frontier line on the far east of the Field, badger packs, boar and a wolf den hold the ground together. It is the nearest fight to home.

The Foal Pen and the town stay clear. Nothing hunts you on home ground.

Deeper means stronger

Each land runs 120 tiles on a side, and the danger climbs the further in you push. The creatures near the edge are low level and soft. The ones in the deep are high level, hit harder, and take far more to bring down. Wander in slowly.

Killing pays in levels

Put a creature down and you earn XP, and XP is what levels you. There is a catch: a kill only pays well if the fight was fair. Take down something above your level and it pays a bonus. Farm something far below you and it pays almost nothing. The world does not reward bullying the weak.

Your level is what gates the bigger plots, so the hours you put into the wild are the hours that buy you land. See The Field.

What they leave behind

Creatures drop materials: hide, bone, and now and then an iron fitting, the relic the big stables are built on. All of it trades.

Never trust the deer

One warning. The deer in the Hollow look harmless, and they are, right up until you hit one. Strike a deer and it turns: faster, stronger, and it will chase you down. If you are going to start that fight, be sure you can finish it.