"If he looks like he could stare down a pack of angry
cave bears, he's a Hunter. You can tell, 'cos he'll be wearing a couple of 'em
as proof!..."
—Anonymous Ogre
Ogre Hunters are solitary, wandering Ogres, outsiders from
their own tribe or perhaps even exiles. Those that survive become fiercely
independent warriors and savvy stalkers of beasts. Bereft of a tribe's
protection and beefy companionship, the lone Hunter must learn to track and
kill, while simultaneously not becoming prey to any ferocious beasts — it is
all too common for the Hunter to become the hunted.
To ward off the severe cold of high altitude, Hunters dress
in layers of skins and pelts and can also be recognised for their tendency to
carry an arsenal of weapons, trapping gear, and skinning knives. When one's
days are spent stalking Ogre-eating carnivores, it is best to be prepared.
Hunters are incredibly proficient with their specialised gear, able to kill
beasts on the move even at range.
Overview
Hunters are among the most massive and independent of their
kind, and think nothing of climbing to the top of a mountain whilst tracking a
wounded mammoth or bull rhinox. An Ogre becomes a Hunter either by temporarily
severing his ties to his tribe to sate his wanderlust, or by being exiled to
the harsh white wilderness of the mountain for some slight to his fell Ogres.
Either way these ties are not completely severed and a Hunter that excels at
his solitary lifestyle drag an impressive kill or two back to the caves on
important feast days. A Hunter is generally covered in a network of scars and
tattoos, overlaid by the thick pelts of his prey protection from the arctic
conditions of Mountains of Mourn. He decorates himself with, tusks, claws,
fangs and skulls of the cavebeast that he has single-handedly killed and eaten.
A Hunter will typically have a great beast's skull to his gut to illustrate his
prowess.
Although most no longer belong to a tribe, Hunters
periodically drag in his impressive kills back to an Ogre camp for a special
feast day. Some Hunters return to the tribe of their origins, while others
wander throughout the Ogre Kingdoms. Hunters are popular visitors, for not only
do they drag down some of the largest carcasses, but they liven up any feast with
their rich wealth of stories about life on the mountaintops. The profusion of
horrible scars and displays of beast skulls and impressive tusks also go a long
way towards earning the respect of a local tribe. Before long, a Hunter's
solitary ways will take over and he will amble back up the slopes.
In honour of the first of the Ogre Hunter. Jhared the Red —
it is common for a Hunter to keep a Sabretusk or two to help sniff out his
cave-beast prey. These giant, agile feline predators often have tusks jutting
from their lower jaws, used for ripping out the guts of beast larger than they
are. Those that prove too difficult to domesticate instead provide both a good
fight and good meal for their would-be keeper — it is a rare Hunter indeed that
cannot boast a set of claw-scars somewhere about his person.
Warfare
A Hunter must learn how best to stalk his quarry. Each beast
is formidable in its own right and a Hunter must discover techniques to deal
with monstrous creatures of all sorts. For instance, it takes great patience to
creep into an ambush position near the caves of the great bear-like cragbeasts,
while it takes fast-paced double-tracking trickery to throw off a pack of
Sabretusks once they have caught your scent. Knowing how to escape the first
blast of icy breath from a Frost Drake or where to aim a throwing spear to best
dispatch a Mournfang are lessons that a Hunter must pick up quickly. All
Hunters bear horrific scars suffered from their many battles with the monstrous
denizens of the mountains — those few errors that don't prove fatal still hurt.
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