Rift Plate 001 · Gate of Stone
Grath Hound
A quarry-bred pack hound uses switchback walls as springboards and drives prey toward bad footing.
- Plate group
- Gate of Stone
- Classification
- Bestial
- Field account
- Recovered
Recovered natural history
Field record
Quarry route warning
Pebbles fell uphill. The first hound struck the quarry wall above the road and sprang across without touching the ground. Split dewclaws caught the opposite face. Its bowed spine bent into the turn.
The others came at different heights. They caught the travelers' burdens and pulled toward the edge.
Pack pattern
Watch the group as well as the ridge. The pack tests a line with falling stones and false rushes, then waits for a gap. A burden changing hands can be enough. So can the person who turns to guard the rear.
On familiar switchbacks, the hounds keep coming. Broad open ground makes them hesitate.
Record condition
Notes on the account
- Location
- Quarry switchback
Read the environment
Signs of its presence
Parallel claw arcs score opposing quarry walls at the same height. Pebbles may fall uphill without anything showing on the ridge.
Warm route spikes lie gathered in a careful pile beside the road.
Survival doctrine
Field precautions
01
Deny the walls
Keep to the road's center or draw the pack onto broad soil. Its sharp turns need a sound surface to launch from.
02
Watch the pull
A Grath clamps down and wrenches. Turn with it. Give up the pack, pole, or wrapped guard before it takes your footing.
Recovered Field Plate
01
Primary form
A low, long-bodied hound with a bowed spine, long forelegs, and a horned wedge of a skull.
02
Detail studies
Separate studies preserve the crowded jaw and the oversized, heavy-clawed forefoot.
Continue through the folio
001 of 100 recovered plates