A Beast Handler In Action
Old Henrik uses an unconventional recruitment method.
Level 3, Beast Handler 3, Naturalist 2, Warrior 2.
Beast Handler 3, Guard Training 2, Exotic Handling 2, Battlefield Coordination 1.
Standing at the edge of Thornwick village, Henrik studies the claw marks scoring the baker's door and scattered chicken feathers near the well. The tracks tell a clear story - not a mindless monster, but something intelligent, injured, and desperate. "You want me to kill it," Henrik tells the village elder, "but killing a barghest brings years of bad luck. Let me try the smart solution first."
That evening Henrik tracks the beast and sets camp upwind from the creature's lair, building a small fire and roasting venison until the scent carries. When glowing eyes appear in the treeline, he tosses meat halfway between them and settles back to wait. This doesn't always work, but it's worth a try.
After three nights the barghest - larger than any natural wolf, with too-intelligent eyes - eventually approaches. Trust builds slowly over the following days with increasing curiosity. On the tenth night, it creeps into his camp, and sits across from his fire. On the twelfth it eases near enough to take a bit of roasted meat from his hand. The thirteenth, it allows him to touch it, to stroke its head and coarse black mane. The sometimes old scars along the barghest's flanks - whip marks from harsh treatment. The creature tenses but neither flees nor bites. "You're not a monster. You're just lost and hurt and angry." That night the beast sleeps in his camp, and he wakes with it lying next to him, staring warily.
He spends the day getting a sense of the animal. He is pretty sure it was Betrayed by Previous Sister. He also knows that barghests are Fiercely Protective Accepted Pack, and intelligent enough for complex commands. This is promising - the creature isn't mad or feral, just abandoned and afraid, hurt and bitter, but apparently hopeful enough to risk Henrik's touch. It still misses human companionship.
At Level 3 + Beast Handler 3 + Exotic Handling 2 = EL8, he rolls to evaluate the beast's Hooks. The barghest's supernatural nature makes it complex to read - the GM calls it a 3 and Henrik wins by 5.
A New Life, A New Pack
He names the barghest Shadow - he has named it Shadow - learns his whistles and hand signals, knows that barghests are Fiercely Protective Accepted Pack, and intelligent enough for complex commands. His nature makes him an ideal guardian: loyal once bonded, and both naturally and supernaturally attuned to hostile intent.
Henrik brings old clothes from the villagers for Shadow to scent, and immediately tells him to stand down. Shadow blinks and cocks his head, and Henrik strokes his fur and speaks softly. He knows the beast understands much of what he says.
"These are friends. We're going to see them tomorrow." He leaves the garments in the beast's pallet for the night. Shadow noses them often, and looks at him quizzically. Stand down. Henrik reassures him with a scratch behind the ear, and goes to sleep.
When Henrik returns to camp the next night he has the village elder in tow. The man is trembling, and Shadow makes a deep, resonating rumble that turns the man's bones to jelly, but Henrik just shakes his head. "Down, Shadow." He walks up to the man's shirt and presents it for the barghest to sniff again, then beckons him over to the terrified man.
"I can't!" the man whimpers, but Henrik reassures him. "You can, and will. Look at him." He's suspicious, but not angry. "Give the man the jerky."
"Come on," he encourages the beast. "He's not going to hurt you." Shadow creeps up, sniffing, his gingerly takes it from the man's hand, realizing his hand is still attached. Henrik hands him the old shirt. "Put it back on."
Both begin to relax. Henrik spends the evening teaching the man to speak the commands, to properly make the hand gestures, and to trust Shadow - and for Shadow to trust the old man. Over the following weeks he introduces other villagers, and clothing from virtually all of them.
When Henrik returns to Thornwick with Shadow at his side, some of the villagers still peer around doorways in fascination and fear, but by this time the village elder knows Shadow well and greets him warmly with a gentle scratch. Shadow creeps up on children and adults alike - each time, getting to know the others. He likes the children very much, and shows no prey drive at all - and the kids are - he's curious, but the little goat kids are oblivious, and soon he's licking them to the nanny-goat's dismay.
"A barghest's loyalty runs deeper than any ordinary hound's," Henrik announces. "A barghest's loyalty runs deeper than any ordinary hound's - treat him with respect; as long as you trust him, you'll have protection no bandit or monster in these parts will challenge."
He pets Shadow. "Stay," he says. "Guard." Shadow perks his ears and cocks his head, but he is smart. He seems to understand.
Six months later, Thornwick hasn't lost livestock to any predator, and no bandit dares approach Shadow's territory. Henrik's methods don't work on every dangerous creature - some are too corrupted or alien to reason with - but when they succeed, they create solutions that last for years.