>I reckon there is plenty of Bat Kibble in Dorastor, Brolia, Dragon
Pass,
>Balazar and the Redlands.
I don't know about the rest off the top of my head but the population of the three citadels in Balazar are:
Trilus 1320
Elkoi 1750 (roughly 400 of these are Lunar citizens)
Dykene 830
The average Balazaring Clan has 516 people of which normally no more than 150 or so are together at any one time. It's unclear but I believe there are 11 clans so that's only ~6000 people. And these people are highly mobile so they're hard to find. That makes the total human population of Balazar around 10,000. If the Bat does need 440 people a week to survive, it eats 3, 520 people in a season. That's 1/3 of Balazar's total population in one season!
If the Bat really does need to eat 440 people a week Balazar is pretty slim pickings. There are only three concentrations of people, one of which is 1/4 Lunars, none of which are criminals.
Why would anyone anywhere stay put to be eaten by this monster?
It's the size of a castle, gives off a reddish glow and only moves at
the speed of a horse. Kind of hard to hide. (Though the thought of a
giant Bat tarp they could cover it with is kind of amusing. "Hey, Verl
am I goin' bugeyed or did that hill just move?")) And it can hardly
swoop
down on anyone like a rampaging dragon. I can't imagine anyone in
its path not knowing its coming and clearing off. ("Geez, Pa what's
that
bright red glow on the horizon?" "Wah I don't know son, mebbe the
goddess herself is comin' to pay us a visit?") There's nothing forcing
people to stay put and be eaten by it. Threats of violence wouldn't
work as far as I'm concerned because the Bat destroys your soul and
getting run through with a sword only kills you. If I recall correctly
it also
has the ability to drive people insane by its shrieking so even if it
doesn't eat you it might drive you nuts. The economic impacts of a Bat
visit to a region must be absolutely crushing economically. Frankly
the idea that it stays on the Moon between uses hibernating makes
lots more sense than the idea of it wandering the countryside snacking
on whoever is stupid or slow enough to get caught by it.
Fine, it could be fed criminals but is the criminal population really
that
large? Or do they create new capital crimes every so often in order
to maintain the criminal population? (Waddaya mean not flossing is
a death sentence!?!)
Sorry but other than in times of war I believe the Bat's hibernating,
i.e.
sleeping off its last big feed or recovering from being offed by some
hero.
>Any FWIW the bat preceeded the Goddess, and a big scary monster
>pointing at your enemies is better than a big scary monster doing a
>random walk in your vicinity.
Huh? The Bat may have existed before the goddess did, (and that's debatable considering the nature of the goddess) but if I recall correctly the first appearance of the Bat in historical times was when it showed up bearing the Red Goddess on her back at the First Battle of Chaos.
Oliver D. Bernuetz
www.geocities.com/timessquare/realm/5545
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
PS My role model in behaviour towards the Bat would have to be Coriander, "he whom before even the Crimson Bat trembles" who had the extremely good sense never to subject his moniker to the acid test by ever being anywhere near the Bat.
Powered by hypermail