I want to have a scene, maybe even a couple, that turns on a hunt. I could have the group hunt deer or boar or other traditional animals, but I figured why not hunt fantasy animals? This turned out to be rather more limited than I would have guessed.
I have a couple of restrictions. One, the hunted creature cannot be intelligent or humanoid. If they have speech or form a society, then they're not hunted, even if they're "evil" like orcs or whatever. Those are fought, not hunted.
Two, they cannot be unique. Sure, I could take the Hydra and make it into a race of hydras and hunt those, but I have in mind something more like deer or wolves--creatures that are more or less ubiquitous, hunted either for meat or because they're a nuisance (or outright danger).
These are, IOW, creatures that would be the object of an organized hunt by nobles.
I wound up with a much shorter list than I would have imagined. Normal animals would include bear, bison, boar, deer, elk, fox, moose, and wolf. Fantasy animals include auroch, basilisk, bugbear, bunyip, kelpie, roc, wyvern. Possible additions: cockatrice, griffin, kluude (Belgian), tarrasco (Spanish), dire wolf.
It's interesting to me how poor is the popular imagination. Many of the fantasy creatures are merely hybrids, stuck-together inventions. Remove the giant-sized versions and the were-creatures, and the list is even shorter. There just aren't that many fantasy monsters roaming the countryside.
What would you add to my hunting list? Note: I have a master list that includes non-European monsters, but that's just for general reference. Altearth is strictly the European continent and mythology. Unless the author decides to invent something. <g>
I have a couple of restrictions. One, the hunted creature cannot be intelligent or humanoid. If they have speech or form a society, then they're not hunted, even if they're "evil" like orcs or whatever. Those are fought, not hunted.
Two, they cannot be unique. Sure, I could take the Hydra and make it into a race of hydras and hunt those, but I have in mind something more like deer or wolves--creatures that are more or less ubiquitous, hunted either for meat or because they're a nuisance (or outright danger).
These are, IOW, creatures that would be the object of an organized hunt by nobles.
I wound up with a much shorter list than I would have imagined. Normal animals would include bear, bison, boar, deer, elk, fox, moose, and wolf. Fantasy animals include auroch, basilisk, bugbear, bunyip, kelpie, roc, wyvern. Possible additions: cockatrice, griffin, kluude (Belgian), tarrasco (Spanish), dire wolf.
It's interesting to me how poor is the popular imagination. Many of the fantasy creatures are merely hybrids, stuck-together inventions. Remove the giant-sized versions and the were-creatures, and the list is even shorter. There just aren't that many fantasy monsters roaming the countryside.
What would you add to my hunting list? Note: I have a master list that includes non-European monsters, but that's just for general reference. Altearth is strictly the European continent and mythology. Unless the author decides to invent something. <g>