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Everyone packs up, with no more incident. Dr. Horowitz is confused as to what happened with the Mayor. "Either the Mayor is exceptionally weak minded which he doesn't seem to be or there's still something wrong with the machine. I'll have to take it apart again, there's something I've missed. I apologize to all of you and especially to you Anne."

The plan is to take the steamer up river to the location that Richards wants to go. Richards and Brisbane go back and fourth debating if this Mapingauri is real or just a figment of superstitious imaginations. The hunt seems to be getting more exciting, a Jaguar is one thing but if this thing is real it would be a real trophy. There is an indian village on the way so the mission of cultural enlightenment can move ahead and Richards can get some local help with finding and identifying this creature. You sleep soundly that night and in the morning board the steamer to the site.

The village is inland a mile and a half. An easy trip on foot, but carrying the theater makes things more difficult. After eight hours of struggling through mud you arrive tired and frustrated at the Indian village. These indians are relatively close to civilization and so some wear proper clothing (here and there) and are aware of the outside world. Your guides Pedro and Esteban explain the reason for the visit and the reception is a friendly one.

The Doctor says "I found out what went wrong, a cog had slipped loose in the regulator. I've tightened it down thoroughly, it won't be coming off again. We'll be ready for a play tonight."

Both Pedro and Esteban can translate for the Indians. How does Richards want to go about finding his animal?

Richards lays out his map and has Pedro, Esteban and anyone who will speak with them go over and over the
possible areas to check. From what Pedro had said earlier Richards knows the area is swampy, and though
he is driven to march straight out to find this creature his Military training keeps him focused on being prepared.

"I want to scout the area," Richards tells Pedro and Esteban through drags on his cigarette, "I want to know the lay
of the land, each game trail, every watering hole, and any possible den sites." Richards crushes out his smoke, "if this thing is out there I want no excuses."

Richards tone has moved from interested hunter to almost commanding, as if this has turned into a military
exercise. . . "It ain't getting away . . ."


Richards wants to be prepared (Maybe get a temporary bump to his attributes just for the hunt) so he's going to scout and survey the areas first. It's only after he's sure that he knows the lay of the land, and a good site to start will he actively hunt. When the Hunt goes "live" Richards will be using the Hunting Skill: Stalk & Shoot trick.
Skill Tactics:
Scouting (Perception +1) - Game trails, den sites, watering holes.
Skill Forage:
Observation (Perception +1) - He wants the land and water to show him where he should go.
Examine (Perception +1) - He's going to keep open for the "smell", kill signs, and anything else to locate a site.
Skill Hunting:
Track Spore (Perception +1) - He wants to find this animals' spore.
Know Habits (Intelligence +1) - He's heard the stories and plans on asking the natives many questions as they scout.

So these goals will take some time, probably several days of scouting around and learning the terrain (which is fine). The help of the natives will be needed to really get the knowledge that you're looking for.

The nice thing about this is I can basically make up the creature's methods based on it's qualities.

The creature plays
Obscurity Int +1 Per +1
Because the creature is an unknown or rare it is harder to know what it's habits are.

Slow Metabolism Will +2
The creature rarely needs to hunt and therefore moves around less making finding it more difficult.

Cautious Per +1 Will +1
The creature won't make a move unless it sees the coast is clear.

Knows the Jungle Int +1 Per +1
This is the creatures home turf.

Cleanly Per +2
The creature does not seem to leave scat and probably has one location that it does so in or near it's den.

Final Scores
Perception 9
Intelligence 2
Will 8

You beat the beast's intelligence score so you can deduce things about it but it beat your Perception score you do not find any direct evidence of it. It's will score is important for doing things like waiting for the animal to come out and feed.

Pedro is nervous about this hunt, he's not sure that it can succeed. He will not tell the natives what you're looking for because he's afraid that it will spook the villagers. Unfortunately this limits the specific knowledge that he can collect from them if they are aware of a creature in the jungle nearby.

This also presents the problem that if the creature that you're looking for is some unknown animal you've never seen it's spore and have no specific knowledge of it's habits. This could be a difficult hunt.

The region is dotted with sinkholes, some are large pools of water surrounded by swamp in the southern part of the area but there is a ridge line that stretches ENE to WSW where there is an elevation change of some 150 ft. Past this line there are more sink holes but they're dry until they go down deep. Many of them are populated by bats and birds. Some have entrances that allow entrance on foot. If there's a big biped moving around the jungle, it's probably living in one of these caves. At the bottom of these caves is drinkable water, a nearby cave is where the village gets its drinking water.

All Pedro knows about it's hunting habits is that it can carry off a full grown cow. What it eats normally he doesn't know but it might carry food back to it's den. Find a large pile of bones in a cave and you may have found a Mapingauri.

The jungle is full of the sound of howler monkey and a large population of Marsh Deer which may be the creature's food source.

Looks like I've got some more planning to do then.
I'll hold off on anymore Methods/Tricks until I see if anyone else is going to join in.

The first day does little to quench Richards thirst to find this creature. Though it does a lot
to upset his patience with Pedro and his apparent unwillingness to speak directly about this thing.
Richards can feel there IS something is out there, how he can't explain it, but he just can.

Setting his rifle on the table he again starts to pour over the map before him.
Rolling another smoke he lights it while trying to rework his plan of action.

"I'm going to have to keep looking. Start checking these caves we found."

The theater is set up again. Tonight, the play will be The Merchant of Venice with the hope that if there are any problems there won't be a repeat of what happened at the last play.

Will Paddington repeat his methods for this play as well?

JK, remember that groups add their scores together. By himself Richards might not be able to find the beast but in a group you may be able to. Brisbane should be able to help out a lot. Pedro's reluctance to explain what you're after could be handled with persuasion or command but that's really Paddington's strong point.

Turns out the river was wilder than Brisbane thought, so he had to skip thе day's hunt. But on the next day, he's ready to move. He agrees on Richards' plan being good, so he's going to be Stalking and Shooting, but he knows that he's more patient and should be taking advatantage of it by Waiting for it.

This will hopefully provide us a bigger Perception and Will rating.

I was hoping to get Drakeknight involved for the play but onwards and upwards!

The play goes well for a while. The villagers are mesmerized (literally?) by a visual show the likes of which they have never come close to seeing before. Some of them have forgotten to swallow their saliva and one or two have lost bladder control, you're not sure if that's normal or not.

For a moment you wonder if one of them has lost bowel control but a strange smell of sulfur begins to burn you nostrils at the same time. The smell seems to have an effect on the theater's operation as you beguin to associate sulfur with flames and the courtroom where Shylock is giving his address starts on fire. You only have time to consider this for a moment when there is a rumble and the courtroom collapses into a yawning fiery abyss. Then the shriek of harpies tears at your eardrums.

The men operating the pedals that power the theater stop and apply the breaks. The illusion fades but the sulfur smell does not. In the failing evening light, you see a form like a huge man more than a dozen feet tall and more than half as wide standing behind the villagers. Again it rumbles and shrieks in a way that shakes your bones and pierces your skull at the same time.

This has the effect of stunning everyone that does not pass a Will test. To act you have to beat the creature's will score, for every point its will score is higher than yours you're stunned for one turn. If you pass the will test, You can try to fire on it.
Methods
Horrid Shriek - Will +3
Foul Stench - Will +1
Flee - Agility +2
Pass Through Brush - Agility +2 (the creature can flee through heavy brush that a man cannot)
Knows the Jungle - Int +1 Per +1

Final Scores
Will 9
Agility 7
Intelligence 1
Perception 6

Richards is elated that the creature is real, and then the wail hits him.
The skull splitting and stomach rending sound pushes his resolve to the breaking
point. Watch many of the villagers just stand rooted in shock and horror drives
the urge to act into his heart.

Swallowing down the bitter wave of bile rising in his throat, and forcing the rumble in his gut to
settle (Suffer the Bitter - Will +2); Richards draws on his military background (Discipline - Will +2)
to drive his action, while never letting his eyes (Focus - Will +1) leave the hulking form.

Knowing this maybe his only chance to back this creature, but understanding full well that he
was bound to defend these unarmed people; Richards reaches for the Colt Revolver holstered
on his chest ready to react at the first move (Wait for it - Will +2) of the creature.

With a sense of purpose and a steady hand (Calm Nerves - Add Will to Agility) he draws
and slowly brings the Colt to bear on the creature . . . while secretly hoping that the others will
find the strength to act by his resolute and stoic actions. . .

Instead of breaking all the Methods/Tricks out in a separate list I fill doing them this
way will add to their possible acceptance of use, as it should explain what I was thinking as I chose them.
I Hope