Beasts and Hunters

Corpses of the Transcended were left in the open, and the first to find them were not men but hounds and crows. The Sha-Chi in the rotten meat swelled them and broke their wits; fur fell out in sheets to show raw red flesh, and the instinct to scavenge turned into the instinct to hunt the living.

The hound trainers meant to join taming with Transcension and bring back the dogs that had fed on those corpses, holding down the runaway ferocity. The hunters had already retired to the countryside, sick of the Mandate's hypocrisy. In the end one grew fiercer than the pack, and the other strung his bow again with men in the sights instead of hares and geese.

They follow the smell of blood. A trail of it on the king's road leads a man into the hills better than any signpost, and by the time the barking starts he is already on their ground.

The woods and the snowfield are where these four keep. Step in and you hear them first, then see them, and only then cross blades.

• Frenzied Hound: fur sloughing off in patches to show raw red flesh, roaming in packs and lunging suddenly out of the dark amid savage barking. Once they tore at Maskwalkers for their masters; later they learned to tear at their masters.
• Crow: ragged feathers over rotting skin, grown enormous on the corpses of the Transcended. The Sha-Chi warped the scavenger into a hunter, and it goes for the living beak first and talons after, greedy for fresh meat.
• Hound Trainer: a sinister smiling mask, little skill at arms and no fear of pain, the body scarred mostly by claws. Be fiercer and more fearless than the pack and it answers the hand; in the end the trainers turned madder than the dogs.
• Hunter: elite of Huangxing's following, black iron mask traced in gold, fur layered over armor so that it blends into the brush. Skilled with bow and sword, and ready to close in and trade blows when the arrow fails.

Hounds and crows come in numbers; break the pack apart and take them one by one rather than swinging in the middle of it. A crow diving leaves its neck bared, and that is the moment for the cut.

The hunter's arrow reaches far, so any stir in the brush is worth heeding. The trainer has no real skill at arms — keep clear of the pack and closing on him is simple.