Animal Trainer

I'd stay clear of Blackeye, sir. He don't cower, he fights. You smell of strangeness to him, sir. He'd have your throat, he would.

Granted authority over his lord's kennels because of his exceptional skill with animals, William the Houndsman holds a peculiar place among his master's servants: while the lord's animals respond very well to him, all the folk treat him with deep suspicion and fear. His lord has recognized this sensation as similar to that he feels when meeting with those strange magi of that tower on the edge of his lands. He has sent William to their tower to manage his kennels there, away from the poor regard of his other castle folk. Fortunately for William, the wizards mostly keep themselves to themselves, because they scare him and his dogs. Unfortunately for him however, they also seem to employ even more soldiers than his lord, none of whom seem to like him very much.

Animals and magi rarely mix well; The Gift prevents most contact. As well as forcing them to walk everywhere, this is problematic for any magus who would live among the lords of men; going out hunting is practically impossible if you can approach neither horse nor hound. But some magi employ grogs skilled specifically in training animals to their purpose, and for some such grogs, magi may be the only masters who would have them.

An Animal Trainer will most likely be specialized in dealing with hounds, hawks, or horses. For one who would find employment at a covenant, his skill need not be quite so mundane: perhaps he has a particular talent for handling griffins!

Besides the obvious attraction to a covenant for a young man who trains

griffins, mundane beasts are likely to be of interest as well. Many magi would desire to employ someone able to train horses to accept a Gifted rider, or a pack of war dogs to work with a Flambeau knight. However, this can take many years, by which time most beasts would be too old for any useful purpose.

As covered in Art & Academe, a trainer generates a number of training points in each season that she spends working with an animal (see the Formulae later). Once these training points equal the creature's Might, the animal is trained and will follow its master's commands. All training must be continuous and uninterrupted, for as many seasons as are required. Most mundane animals lack a Confidence Score, so this will typically require a total (Intelligence + Animal Handling + Animal Ken) of 2+ to train an animal within a single season. A more experienced trainer may tame additional animals in a season, potentially as many as her Animal Handling Ability.

TRAINING POINTS ACCUMULATED EACH SEASON: Intelligence + Animal Handling + Animal Ken – Creature's Might – Gift Penalty

REQUIRED NUMBER OF POINTS: Creature's Might

MUNDANE ANIMAL MIGHT = 1 + (2 x Confidence Score)

Because of The Gift, a magus who seeks to train animals mundanely

would need a much higher Animal Handling Ability (at least 3), which represents a significant expense of experience points.

Note that an animal can be trained to accept specific individuals with The Gift, but not The Gift itself; a pegasus trained to accept one Gifted rider must be retrained to accept another.

The advantages to a covenant for employing an Animal Trainer are clear, but it is less obvious why an Animal Trainer would want to work for a covenant. Spending more time with animals than with people might make his departure from common society more tolerable, but there should be more compelling reasons for a grog to isolate himself in this way.

For instance, Animal Ken is a very popular Supernatural Virtue for an Animal Trainer character, but whereas this will likely incur suspicion from commoners, it could be valued highly in a covenant. Such grogs, placing themselves outside of normal society, should take an appropriate Personality Flaw, or something relating to their background or nature, such as Bad Reputation.

The following suggestions cover the most important points to bear in mind when creating an Animal Trainer.

Obviously, every Animal Trainer character should have a good Animal Handling score. Animal Ken is the exception rather than the rule — however, since you will likely want to play an exceptional character, this is not unexpected in an Animal Trainer grog.

Other useful Abilities include Ride, for a horseman; Leadership, for a master of kennels; Bargain, if the Animal Trainer is also involved in the buying and selling of beasts of burden; Survival, if he is spending his days up on the moors with his sheep; and Hunt, if he is a falconer. You should also select a Profession Ability related to his specific trade, such as Profession: Feuterer (master of hounds), and so forth. The obvious exception to this is if your Animal Trainer is entirely self-taught, such as the forest girl who talks with unicorns. Folk Ken should be considered for any grog dealing with other people, but many Animal Trainers lead quite a reclusive lifestyle. Craft Abilities can be useful in some situations: the farrier practices Craft Blacksmith (horseshoes), and the teamster probably has Craft Cartwright (repairing wheels).

Appropriate training packages are: Animal Trainer (obviously!), Farmer, Magician (if she deals with magical animals), Rider, Woodsman.

SAMPLE ANIMAL TRAINER CHARACTERS

These various characters represent Animal Trainers at different ages, of different social strata, and who work with different animals.

Madoc despairs of his lonely existence up in the hills, but has cried wolf once too often and has been shunned by his village as a liar and a thief; the covenant offers comfort, security, and above all, other people. If only the farrier would believe him when he says he never set the best horse in the stables to bolt.

VIRTUES & FLAWS: Puissant Animal Handling, Strong Characteristics; Cursed Guile, Judged Unfairly

ABILITIES: Animal Handling 4+2 (sheep), Area Lore: Bangor 2 (animals), Area Lore: Gwynedd 2 (pastures), Athletics 2 (climbing), Awareness 2 (animals), Bargain 1 (food), Folk Ken 2 (employers), Guile 2 (excuses), Ride 1 (carefully), Stealth 2 (towns), Survival 3 (hills), Welsh 5 (wheedling)

Raised by faeries, Alyse has lived and worked with gryphons since she was very young. She cannot understand why that ignorant wizard is so astonished by the creatures whenever he meets them.

VIRTUES & FLAWS: Animal Ken, Arcane Lore, Master of Animal Creatures; Delusion: everyone can talk to animals, Susceptible to Warping, Faerie Upbringing

ABILITIES: Animal Handling 5 (gryphons), Animal Ken 4 (gryphons), Area Lore: Black Forest 3 (gryphons), Athletics 2 (falling), Awareness 3 (above), Brawl 2 (grapple), Faerie Lore 3 (gryphons), Folk Ken 2 (magi), German 5 (animals), Magic Lore 4 (gryphons), Ride 4 (gryphons), Stealth 1 (forest), Survival 3 (forest), Swim 1 (strong currents)

Why do these wretched custodes expect him to drill alongside them at sword and shield when they clearly dislike and distrust him so? William's bones are starting to stiffen, and he agrees with his old dogs about learning new tricks.

VIRTUES & FLAWS: Inoffensive to Animals, Master of Kennels, Puissant Animal Handling; Magical Air

ABILITIES: Animal Handling 6+2 (hounds), Area Lore: Loire 3

(hunting grounds), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 4 (hounds), Brawl 2 (grappling), Carouse 2 (drinking games), Etiquette 3 (servant), Folk Ken 2 (nobles), French 5 (polite), Hunt 5 (with hounds), Latin 2 (Hermetic usage), Leadership 3 (dogs), Profession: Feuterer 4 (feet), Ride 4 (in woodland), Stealth 3 (woodland), Survival 1 (woodland)

Any of the Animal Trainer characters earlier could be created as an interesting companion simply by adding a Story Flaw. One of Alyse' gryphons could actually be a Magical Animal Companion, if it were considered a close friend rather than a flying mount. Perhaps William's hounds are all actually a single magical animal, as a gestalt manifestation? As a companion character, Madoc might be desperately honest in all dealings — but afflicted by Beelzebub, who seeks to corrupt his pious soul; he may have the Cursed Guile and Plagued by Supernatural Entity Flaws.

Companion characters are generally expected to be significantly more capable than grogs; in most cases, this is very simple to do, by purchasing more of the required Abilities for their role — taking Leadership, Ride, and an extra weapon Ability or two covers the difference between a knight and a soldier. But there are really only one or two pertinent Abilities to choose from for an Animal Trainer, so your companion will likely be much more varied in her capabilities than your grog. If you're after "the best trainer in the region," then you will want Puissant Animal Handling, Affinity with Animal Handling, and very probably the Animal Ken Virtue.

A character may be an Animal Trainer out of necessity rather than in a professional capacity. A lady whose lover transforms into an owl every morning needs to train as a falconer simply to keep him with her through the day. Certain literary necessities demand that she be a shapeshifter as well; the owl and his lady both are companion characters, sharing the True Love and Lycanthrope Flaws.

As well as being a potentially valuable member of a turb, an Animal Trainer can be the catalyst for many interesting stories, especially if magical animals are involved.

A maga is departing the covenant and sees a haggard young man gazing intently at a bird of prey circling overhead, which in turn is gazing intently at her. What does each see in the other that holds their attention so firmly? Jack Faulkner served an important knight in the region — until one of his kites suddenly attacked the knight's daughter and blinded her. Accused of carelessness and assault, Jack was flogged and dismissed from the knight's service. Jack has wandered aimless and penniless since; he has recently strayed near the covenant. The kite he has spotted is a strikingly beautiful specimen of its species; it is a Hawk of Virtue, who recognizes the maga for her Gift. Did it have a reason to attack the girl? Could she be a changeling? Or could the bird have a secret, sinister purpose? Kites are well known as thieves and tricksters. In neither case could the proud knight admit Jack Faulkner back into his service, not after having punished him so publicly.

Lydie is a young girl who talks to horses. She prefers their company to humans, because folk are rude and cruel to her — even her own family, who deem her wicked and corrupt. This drew the attention of a magus who then bought her from her parents (they were only too glad to be rid of the witching child) to train as his apprentice. She has studied with him for three years now, but still resists all attempts to be Opened to the Arts. In his arrogance, he refuses to believe that Lydie may not possess The Gift — all the signs are true. Except, of course, that animals do not shun her as they do him. Unfortunately, she has Animal Ken, but no touch of The Gift at all.

The covenant keeps a flock of sheep, for meat and cheese; its sheep share the hills with other villagers' flocks, and this has served everyone well enough for years. But something is wrong. The other shepherds are losing sheep to some night predator, while the covenant's flock is left untouched – and everyone is blaming young Madoc. Of course, the boy is innocent, but nobody believes him. The true culprit is one of his rams: a magical animal that turns into a wolf at night, and goes hunting. He does not kill and eat the sheep of his own flock, because they are family.