I wrote some journal entries for Ardissa's Journal in Chapter 2, to flesh out her backstory. Took actual hunting tips from online sites, and wrote her journal entries myself. Hope it's helpful for anyone else.
(It took the PCs 22 days to reach the Grandparents, you can adjust the dates for your group)
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This journal is written in Taldane, in a very neat and disciplined hand.
Ardissa Prendergant wrote:
(...)
It’s never too early to start learning the country that you’re going to hunt in.
When the time comes—get there early, stay late, and always keep a weather eye on the horizon.
You can’t control the weather. An early cool snap or rainy spell can turn this into a painfully slow hunt.
Nothing will sharpen your skills quite like small-game hunting. Get after squirrels with your light crossbow, or prairie dogs or jackrabbits or rats at the city dump.
Invest on some high quality spyglass, whether you’re sitting in a ground blind or glassing from a pickup, the extra magnification is nice for deciphering just how big a goat’s curls and cutters are from a thousand yards away.
Also, read terrain like a book, starting at the top, "reading" lines slowly left to right. When you finish one line, move down to the next, reading terrain slowly left to right again. You'll see more game and gain more enjoyment while hunting by using optics effectively.
When set up efficiently, ground blinds can be a massive advantage for your hunt. Ground blinds are practical for bows, and crossbows, giving you a top choice in your weapon style. Therefore, no matter what equipment you use for hunting, following our ground blind hunting tips will increase your chances of yielding the best results.
Remember the 6P’s (Perfect Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance).
Since most animals we hunt are sharp in sight and smell, you should take the time to camouflage yourself. Don’t just set up along the tree line or at the top of a ridge. This can lead to a poor session, as you’ll be easily spotted. There are several ways through which you can cover and hide your blind according to your surroundings. Blending into your environment with branches, cattails, or other natural vegetation is one of the most underrated strategies when hiding your hunting tent.
Keeping your feet in good shape is pivotal to successful big game hunting. Many expensive mountain mule deer or elk hunts are ruined by blisters or otherwise sore feet.
Spot-and-stalk ploys are typically the name of the game while hunting big game. Once game is located with your spyglass, learning to move quietly can be quite important to closing the last yards required for a killing shot -- especially with archery gear. Stalking like a cat requires practice, but a few beginning tips help you remain quiet. Plan your route well ahead while moving, avoiding patches of ground that make it impossible to step quietly. Avoid clothing materials that create noise of their own; fleece, wool and similar materials prove best. Stalking "slippers" or overboots are also a wise choice. Be patient, plan well, and use these tips and you, too, can stalk close to game.
To regularly succeed on big game, make the best of limited opportunities and work to increase your maximum effective range. This doesn't mean recklessly attempting long shots without practice, but investing in practice that makes longer shots second nature. Archers should strive to improve equipment tuning and shooting form. How far you're qualified to shoot at game is then entirely up to you, but stretching your effective range by even 10 or 100 yards opens a world of additional success opportunities.
The wild can be highly unforgiving. Rough terrain can run you down and leave you far from camp after dark. Weather can change radically and unpredictably in a matter of hours. Be prepared for a worst-case scenario by always carrying essential survival gear in your hunting daypack. Think in terms of staying warm and dry should you be forced to spend the night out. And always carry a means of starting a fire under any condition. Prepare for the worst and come home alive.
(...)
The first part of this journal has a bunch of notes, presumably gathered from different sources on big game hunting, including plans for blinds, basic guides for tracking, best places to strike animals for a quick, clean kill.
These notes are enough for you to learn how to become a game hunter (You get access to the game hunter archetype)
Some of the latest notes read:
Ardissa Prendergant wrote:
(...)
Oathday Pharast 31st 4722:
We tracked and hunted a whooly mammoth, a nice specimen, it however was too weak to resist my beloved Furybeak and Stonebill's bite, It did manage to trample my dear Furybeak, who we had to leave under the petrified creature's foot. What a waste!
Starday Gozran 2nd 4722:
We moved east towards the Tusk Mountains, found the area the locals call the Grandparents, to me they just look like any other mountain peaks, but I guess these superstitious people see things were there are none. The area is useful though, there are plains to the north and southwest, hills to the south and it's flanked by mountains to the east and west. There's a cave to the northeast that looks very promising. We have already seen tracks of mammoths and other large animals in the region.
Toilday Gozran 5th 4722:
We found the cave, a limestone rocky entrance that resembles the mouth of a mountain lion. We tried to set up camp there, but these dwarves were spooked and refused to stay there, they said they kept hearing strange sounds from the deep, and movement on the wall paintings.
I must confess I might have heard those sounds, and seen the strange movements, not that I would let them know it. These dwarves are hardy and strong, but I might need to look for more brave employees when I get back south.
Oathday Gozran 7th 4722:
We went back down to the southwest and found a wonderful place, this will make a marvelous hunting blind, it's even camouflaged from below by bushes. From here I can see many miles to the west and north. I'll see any herd of mammoths approaching from quite a distance.
There's also a strange looking stone embedded into the ground. It's about 4 feet tall, looks like a narrow pyramid that fell from the sky and got stuck in the ground.
Fireday Gozran 8th 4722:
I believe the stone we have found is one of the so-called apakus, that are found in these lands. It seems to focus the power of ley lines...
My limited research has determined that this apaku dramatically extends the range of evocation magics. This location has proved even better than I initially thought. With the power of this apaku, I shall be able to drop fireballs far down into the hills, and shoot magic missiles for many feet at a time.
Starday Gozran 9th 4722:
We have spotted a small herd of mammoths and other creatures approaching, what a fortuitous find. We also managed to petrify and capture a female dire wolf, thankfully it's only temporarily turned to stone this time.
Sunday Gozran 10th 4722:
The herd seems to be lead by some of the famous Mammoth Lords, they have camped not far away from our hunting spot. I'm pretty sure they can be caught in the range of a fireball, I'm so close to getting my mammoth, I can feel it. Just gotta be patient.
The second half details Ardissa's current expedition into the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. In her latests entries, she describes the terrain surrounding the Grandparents, she visited Red Cat Cave, but she and her employees found it too unnerving to stay there. She found this hunting spot and the apaku stone recently. According to her, evocation magic is enhanced by this particular apaku.
