Hunter

A Najd hunter-falconer of either banner. On the Sun side, Noor Al-Din’s hunt-masters track oryx at dawn between the sweet wells; on the Moon side, harrat stalkers hunt the lava fields by firelight.

Origin: the Falconers of the Saker

The Hunter’s order is the Falconers of the Saker: hawk-handlers who read the far desert, plant their feet, draw a sidr bow and send a hawk where arrows cannot reach. Sidr wood, the Mother Sidr’s gift, is the trade’s wood. His first weapon is a Worn Sidr Bow from the Falconer at the hunter’s blind: “Worn sidr wood, a tired string. Yours now.”

Stand still with a foe in range and the Hunter shoots on his own every two seconds. Moving restarts the draw, while being rooted still counts as standing still. Everything else feeds that rhythm: Full Draw loads a heavy next shot, Quickened Quiver shortens the draw, and the hawk keeps a runner within reach.

Abilities

• Level 1 · Full Draw: your next shot hits much harder and looses half a second after you stand still. Or Twin Nock: your next shot is two arrows — one for your target, one for the nearest foe beside it.
• Level 5 · Hawk Dive: your hawk dives on the target, rakes it, stuns it for a second and marks it so your shots hit 12% harder for 6 seconds. Or Hawk Harry: the hawk stays on the target for 4 seconds, raking it four times and slowing it 30%.
• Level 10 · Hush Arrow: an interrupt shot that silences for 4 seconds. Or Scorpion’s Needle, the default: a venom-tipped shot paralyses the target for 9 seconds; any damage frees it, and your auto-shots hold fire meanwhile.
• Level 15 · Iron Burrs: scatter iron burrs around you — damage and a 50% slow on every foe nearby. Or Burr Field: throw them ahead as a patch that slows every foe crossing it for 8 seconds, with no damage, so it never breaks a hold.
• Level 22 · Quickened Quiver: for 8 seconds your draw is much shorter. Or Quiverfall: stand still and loose arrows into the sky for 4 seconds, and they rain on an area.
• Level 30 · Dune Vault: leap back away from your target, shaking off roots and slows. Or Oryx Bound: leap the way you are moving — forward to chase or aside — clearing slows.

The hawk

Hawk Dive sends out a real saker falcon. It leaves your arm, flies to the target, folds into a stoop and strikes with its talons, then flies back to you — and every player nearby sees it happen. It works while you walk, but stand and send: if your quarry gets too far from you or out of sight before the strike, the hawk loses it.

An Epic or Legendary bow adds Saker Shaft, a heavy shot that hits very hard against a slowed, held or hawk-struck target.

Gear

An open-faced hunting hood, a vest with a fletched quiver on the back, matching falconer’s gauntlets and the bow slung across the back. From dun camel wool, rawhide and bone toggles up to royal oasis green with gold filigree.

Ten bows