I was thinking of adding an Enfield to the mythical creatures about the land in our saga. I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on stats/powers or if anyone knows of any stories that contain descriptions of them. Here is one description I found on them
"A curious beast with a fox’s head and ears, a wolf’s body, hind legs and tail, and an eagle’s shanks and talons for front legs."
I was considering setting the magic might at 30 with the personalities traits of cunning(fox) +5, noble(eagle) +3, brave(wolf) +3, there needs to be some negative personality so I was thinking adding the wolf trait of gluttonous +2.
The 4th addition Bestiary lists what I believe are more relative traits such as Deceiptful +2 for foxes, Loyal +6 for dogs, Regal +2 and Proud +1 for lions, Glutonnus +2 for wolves, and Merciful +2 for eagles.
Remember to add Large Claws to the beast for attacks as well as a ferocious bite.
Hope this helps.
What a curiously unevocative name for a mythical beast... I can't imagine what my players will think if they ever come across one and I tell them its name.
I too was puzzled, but then again it just meant I had to read this thread.
I though the Enfield was a rifle! The Lee-Enfield in various versions were magazine fed, straight pull bolt action standard British military issue from early in the 20th century, untill after WWII IIRC. I didn't know it was also a town.
Anyway, this was way off topic, sorry about that. But I couldn't resist.
I believe that the enfield only exists in heraldry - it has no provenance outside of that art. Consequently, since the golden day of heraldry is later than the canonical Ars Magica period, it is highly unlikely that knowledge of the enfield is present in the thirteenth century. The creature was probably a product of the heraldic process of dimidiation, where the dexter half of the husband's armorial bearing is joined to the sinister half of the wife's armorial bearing upon their marriage. If both fields have an animal on them, then you end up with a 'cut-and-shunt' hybrid animal - front half of an lion, back half of a horse, and so forth. These animals were often named after the family in whose arms they originated. Later heraldry abandoned dimidiation for impalement as a way of joining the bearings of a husband and wife, but the hybrid creatures persisted as full charges.
Of course, don't let this exclude the enfield from your game! If it works for you, go with it!
Well, my philosophy on such issues is that when history fails to provide an adequately imaginative solution, invent your own.
Since its predominantly comprised of Fox (Vulpes Vulpes), Greyhound (Canidae), Lion (Panthera Leo) and Wolf (Canidae Lupus) why not syncretise the latin nomenclatures into one composite word such as...
Vulpancanilupus!
Maybe others with better linguistic skills could test it out with other languages to see what word combos might sound cool (give us the Norse combo Ferretz).
Sounds a bit more exotic than "Enfield" at any rate.
Well, my philosophy on such issues is that when history fails to provide an adequately imaginative solution, invent your own.
Since its predominantly comprised of Fox (Vulpes Vulpes), Greyhound (Canidae), Lion (Panthera Leo) and Wolf (Canidae Lupus) why not syncretise the latin nomenclatures into one composite word such as...
Vulpancanilupus! (or even Vulcanpanilupus, for a subtle mythic nod to the Roman smith god himself. Perhaps even invent a mythic Europe fable about Vulcan having forged the strange beast or having received from another god/goddess as a gift)
Maybe others with better linguistic skills could test it out with other languages to see what word combos might sound cool (give us the Norse combo Ferretz).
Sounds a bit more exotic than "Enfield" at any rate.
Duh ... the Enfield rifle is so called because it was designed and manufactured at the Royal Small Arms Factory at .... Enfield! (Then a town just North of London, now a London Suburb).
