HC:Pacifist | Ch. 27 - Badgers

Badgers in AstroTerra were as giant as bears. After the Rain of Fire, they mutated and developed telekinetic abilities. Compared to foxes and mice, who only used physical attacks such as biting and scratching, they also used abilities. When attacked, badgers sent psionic blasts that pushed players away and interrupted them if they were channeling a skill.

The upside was that badgers didn't deal much damage with these special attacks. Furthermore, getting them alone or in pairs was easier since badgers weren't as social as foxes in the game. Because of this, players who enjoyed hunting alone instead of in a party preferred hunting badgers from level 4 to level 6.

Roth arrived at a field teeming with badgers. He had tried to find an area devoid of players since he didn't want to ruin anyone's hunt. Luckily for the badger hunters out there, Roth found such a place. This time, Roth would try something different. He would try to skip the first step, in which he went running around like crazy, saving mobs from being hunted, and would try to go straight into step two. He had secured one skill and consumable item to prepare for this attempt.

Taunting Shout (Common)

Skill description: The surrounding creatures react to your threatening grunts and sounds and feel enraged. They will chase after you.

Skill effect: Active. Draw all mobs in a 2(+INT+DEX) radius. The more health a mob has, the more effective this skill is.

Soothing Scroll (Consumable)

Item description: This scroll has a very particular scent. When you open it, the scent dispels any aggressiveness toward you and might help you escape a sticky situation.

Item effect: Active. Dispells aggro. Duration: 30 minutes. The higher the level of a mob, the more effective it is. Doesn't work with elites or bosses.

He had spent all his money, but it would be worth it if things went according to plan. When planning this, Roth remembered that the Rat King and even Brownie knew how to speak the human tongue. He had to learn their language if he wanted to understand an animal. But they seemed to be able to understand him already. He would determine if he could use that to his advantage in a moment. He found a badger and used his new skill.

Taunting Shout!

The badger started snarling menacingly and marched furiously toward Roth. Roth took off running. Fortunately, [Taunting Shout] didn't deal damage, so it didn't count as entering battle. Roth didn't lose the speed bonus from his [Errand Cloak].

Taunting Shout!

With three badgers in tow, Roth went to look for the next one. After ten minutes, he had over thirty badgers chasing after him. As soon as Roth determined that there weren't any others in this field, he unrolled the [Soothing Scroll] out of his inventory.

The [Soothing Scroll], entering contact with the oxygen in the air, started crumpling, and its ashes were scattered in the breeze. The angry badgers chasing after Roth suddenly gained a more relaxed look and stopped chasing after him. Before they started to roam away, Roth hurriedly opened up one of the windows in the forums and began to recite one of the many poems he had prepared. He hoped it would work.

"The badger grunting on his woodland track
With shaggy hide and sharp nose scrowed with black
Roots in the bushes and the woods, and makes
A great high burrow in the ferns and brakes.
With nose on ground he runs an awkward pace,
And anything will beat him in the race.
The shepherd’s dog will run him to his den
Followed and hooted by the dogs and men.
The woodman when the hunting comes about
Goes round at night to stop the foxes out
And hurrying through the bushes to the chin
Breaks the old holes, and tumbles headlong in.
When midnight comes a host of dogs and men
Go out and track the badger to his den,
And put a sack within the hole, and lie
Till the old grunting badger passes bye.
He comes and hears—they let the strongest loose.
The old fox hears the noise and drops the goose.
The poacher shoots and hurries from the cry,
And the old hare half wounded buzzes bye.
They get a forked stick to bear him down
And clap the dogs and take him to the town,
And bait him all the day with many dogs,
And laugh and shout and fright the scampering hogs..."

The powerful poetry evocative of the badgers' tragic past resounds with your audience.

+1 charisma

+33 reputation with all badgers

Roth felt vindicated! His hunch was correct. He continued reciting the many lines of poems he had prepared.

"...He runs along and bites at all he meets:
They shout and hollo down the noisy streets.
He turns about to face the loud uproar
And drives the rebels to their very door.
The frequent stone is hurled where e’er they go;
When badgers fight, then every one’s a foe.
The dogs are clapt and urged to join the fray;
The badger turns and drives them all away.
Though scarcely half as big, demure and small,
He fights with dogs for bones and beats them all.
The heavy mastiff, savage in the fray,
Lies down and licks his feet and turns away.
The bulldog knows his match and waxes cold,
The badger grins and never leaves his hold.
He drives the crowd and follows at their heels
And bites them through—the drunkard swears and reels.
The frighted women take the boys away,
The blackguard laughs and hurries on the fray.
He tries to reach the woods, an awkward race,
But sticks and cudgels quickly stop the chase.
He turns again and drives the noisy crowd
And beats the many dogs in noises loud.
He drives away and beats them every one,
And then they loose them all and set them on.
He falls as dead and kicked by boys and men,
Then starts and grins and drives the crowd again;
Till kicked and torn and beaten out he lies
And leaves his hold and cackles, groans, and dies.
Some keep a baited badger tame as hog
And tame him till he follows like the dog.
They urge him on like dogs and show fair play.
He beats and scarcely wounded goes away.
Lapt up as if asleep, he scorns to fly
And seizes any dog that ventures nigh.
Clapt like a dog, he never bites the men
But worries dogs and hurries to his den.
They let him out and turn a harrow down
And there he fights the host of all the town.
He licks the patting hand, and tries to play
And never tries to bite or run away,
And runs away from the noise in hollow trees
Burnt by the boys to get a swarm of bees."

The badgers feel emotional after hearing your beautiful rhymes.

+35 reputation with all badgers

Roth went along to the next one.

"They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods..."

The poetic description of their home touches the badgers' hearts.

+18 reputation with all badgers

"...Yet, if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate,
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few.)
You will hear the beat of a horse’s feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods.
But there is no road through the woods.

The badgers are impressed by your poem.

+14 reputation with all badgers.

You're now friends with all badgers.

You've gained a new title: [Badger's Friend].

Title: Badger's Friend (common)

Title description: Your intellect and sensitivity toward the arts have earned the friendship and love of the badgers.

Title effects:

- Grants +2 intelligence;

- It's easier to learn Badgerian.

Conditions to unlock [Badger's Friend]:

- Achieve 100 reputation with badgers without ever having hurt a badger {complete}.

- Or achieve 1000 reputation with badgers.

Amazing! He had broken through the first step of his relationship with the badgers in minutes. He must have beaten a world record of some kind! If word got out, the whole game would go into an uproar. After getting the string of notifications, Roth noticed how all the badgers' tags turned green, signaling that he was now friends with the animals.

Like in the case of the foxes, he wasn't given any quests to meet the representatives of the badgers. Fortunately, he still had a language to learn and many poems to go through.

*

Julio enjoyed hunting alone and was going back to the village to sell all his spoils. He had spent his day hunting badgers and had his inventory filled. He had to get rid of some of this loot before continuing to play.

He had already reached level 6 and wondered whether he should continue hunting badgers or move on to bigger prey. He heard someone speaking loudly as he trod the path in the woods. It sounded almost like a Slavic language. He then realized that did not make any sense. The game automatically translated all human languages. That meant that, since he was a native Spanish speaker, whenever anyone talked to him, regardless of the language they spoke, he only heard Spanish.

He decided to investigate. After walking toward the noise, he saw a man screaming disturbing sounds to a crowd of badgers sitting down and listening. Some were even munching on some roots and berries as if eating popcorn at the movie theater. What is this?

"Kekkering, growl, bark, growl

Whicker, chirp, chirp, cloo,

Squeal, wail, kekkering, growl

Kekkering, scream, whicker, cloo."

A chorus of squeals and barks responded to the man as if a crowd of faithful were saying amen to the preacher.

Drawn by the unlikely spectacle, Julio walked closer to the group without the man realizing it. When Julio entered the aggro zone of a nearby badger, he snarled at him.

The player's eyes followed the badger's angry display and landed on Julio. As soon as their eyes met, the strange player tried to signal him with expansive gestures for him to stay away. But it was too late. Julio only saw the crowd of badgers all angrily standing up and sending fifty psionic blasts his way.

You have died.

When Julio respawned, he hurriedly went to the forums and asked around.

Badger summoning skill

#badger #summon #skill #hidden #secret

Poster: ImJulio9566

Post: I have just been hit by a pack of angry badgers. Are there any skills that summon badgers?

Comments

Vetasinveteran109: Hmmm... Summoning skills are super rare. More likely to be some mind control skill.

BlueNile1923: Are you sure it wasn't just a [Shepherd Shout] that sent the badgers your way?

lkasdm1123: Sure! There is! I will sell the secret skill [Badger Stampede] for 6.000 gold. PM me.

Damn it, thought Julio. What in the world was that? He hadn't received any notification that a player had attacked him. That was an unavoidable rule of AstroTerra. If you damaged someone, their names were on your notification log.

Oh well. Fortunately, this was his first death in the game. He hadn't lost a level. He was sure of one thing; he wasn't returning to the badgers. He was going to hunt ravens next. A guy who could summon a horde of badgers was just too scary.

Ch. 26 - Elm Street 73

INDEX

Ch. 28 - Brawny