- "Entry 286:
Sir Merovech of Couronne, Questing Knight; Known as 'Merovech the Black' after the bloody Estalian Chevauchee of the year 1538:
-Sable, a Preyton Segreant, argent and flaunches gules.
Use of the Preyton as a heraldic charge allowed despite its debased nature with the example of Sir Corbus's arms bearing a Preyton rampant, matriculated in 876."- —Extracted from An Ordinary of Arms containing a Register of Arms and Bearings of Bretonnia.[1a]
A fearsome Preyton.
Preytons are a savage and hateful breed of creature that haunts the forested lands of Bretonnia. So renowned is their ferocity that sightings of Preytons will draw knights from many miles around, seeking to prove their valour by slaying the beasts.[1a]
Overview
Mighty and winged creatures of Chaos, hybrid in form like the Chimera, Preytons bear upon their savagely equine heads a pair of blackened and serrated antlers, which have caused foolhardy knights to mistake them for majestic Great Stags, much to their error. The beasts, possessed of a dark cunning, will lure such knights into the depths of the forest before revealing their blood red eyes and rows of savage fangs when they leap from ambush to rend and tear their prey. The hides of Preytons are torn and mutilated, their fur hanging lank and in many places sloughed away to be replaced by ragged feathers or scales. Their forelegs and body resemble a dark and twisted stag, while their hindquarters sprout clawed, leonine paws and monstrous wings like those of a terrible black eagle.[1a]
Whilst their appearance is truly evil, it is the legendary malice of the Preytons that makes them truly dangerous. Corpses mauled beyond recognition and stretches of forest befouled and trampled betray their presence. Anything foolish enough to enter such an area will be hunted down and slain, and often the Preytons will simply discard the torn corpse to rot, killing out of pure hatred rather than hunger.[1a]
Dark legend has it that this terrible hatred was born long ago when Beastmen shamans created them in horrific rituals, corrupting Great Stags before sacrifice-strewn Herdstones. Bereft of their once noble nature Preytons now know only an all-encompassing hatred for that which they have lost, driving them to rend and kill with terrible malice. Even their own wounds bring them to a twisted sense of satisfaction, instinctively realising that only in death will their torment end.[1a]
Some Preytons are possessed by an insane bloodlust, and their boundless hate drives them into a fury in combat. Many others have become adept hunters in their forested killing grounds. Yet others are covered in filth-encrusted scales that protect them from harm.[1a]
Trivia
- The Preyton appears to be derived from Jorge Luis Borges Peryton, described in his "Book of Imaginary Beings" as an alleged mythological hybrid animal combining the physical features of a stag and a bird.
Miniature
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