Nimrod Trackers¶

"We hunt what has teeth. We do not hunt what has words." — Nimrod Trackers creed

"The Wall gets longer every year. That's not failure — that's the cost of standing between civilization and what lives in the dark." — Huntmaster Ghoss Eko

The Nimrod Trackers are a Decentralized Autonomous Community of monster hunters operating from the Communion sector. They hunt exotic fauna only — never sentient species — tracking, capturing, and eliminating dangerous creatures across the MRZ's most biologically diverse regions.

In a galaxy teeming with alien biospheres, terraforming accidents, and mutant ecosystems, the Nimrod Trackers fill a vital niche: protecting settlements, trade routes, and exploration teams from fauna that evolution — or interference — has made deadly. Their ethical absolutism is what separates them from the Gate Garrison (who hunt sentient targets) and the Order of Seasons (who assassinate for hire). The Nimrod Trackers kill monsters — and only monsters.

History¶

Founding (~2525)¶

The Nimrod Trackers were founded during a period when MRZ expansion was outstripping settler defenses. Frontier colonies were being wiped out not by pirates but by native megafauna that treated new arrivals as prey. A group of independent hunters — ex-military, wilderness guides, and frontier scouts from all three factions — began coordinating contracts informally.

Ekkro Nimrod, a Human organizer, proposed a DAC structure: shared contracts, pooled intelligence, collective reputation. The creed was his last contribution — he died on a hunt three years later, and the Trackers kept his name. The first name on the Wall.

The Lodge (~2530)¶

The growing DAC purchased a decommissioned Communion orbital station and converted it into headquarters — part armory, part museum, part home. The Trophy Hall, the Wall of Names, and the Beast Archive were established as permanent institutions.

The Creed Incident (~2571)¶

The creed's absolutism was tested when decorated Tracker Colm Drexer — forty confirmed kills — discovered that creatures threatening a mining outpost were being deliberately released by a rival company. Instead of reporting the sabotage, Drexer killed two of the company's operatives. The kills were arguably justified, but the creed makes no exceptions. The DAC voted unanimously for permanent expulsion. Ghoss Eko, then a young Warden, cast the deciding vote: "If the creed bends once, it breaks forever."

The Bestiary¶

The Lodge maintains the Beast Archive — the most comprehensive catalog of dangerous alien fauna in the Galia Expanse, rivaled only by the Scriptorium of the Lumikir.

Old Grove Mutants¶

Products of the ECOS terraforming catastrophe — organisms mutated by uncontrolled biological acceleration. Notable among them are the Thornwalkers — ambulatory plant-predators that mimic terrain and remain motionless for weeks before striking. The Lodge classifies fourteen distinct variants. Ashroot Grove perimeter defense generates the highest contract volume.

Glowhaven Apex Predators¶

Bio-rich swamp world apex evolution. The Gulch Maw is a subterranean ambush predator that creates false ground over concealed cavities — a single specimen can collapse a fifty-meter radius. The Swamp Lord clans hire Trackers when even their own warriors cannot handle a threat.

Coral Nebula Leviathans¶

Space-adapted megafauna that cluster around valuable mining sites. The Drift Manta — kilometer-wingspan filter-feeders — are normally docile but territorial during spawning. A provoked Manta can shred a light freighter.

Izar Genesium Spawns¶

Ancestor Machine creations — purpose-built predators generated from genesium deposits. The Ironjaw has a genesium-laced exoskeleton nearly impervious to kinetic rounds. The Izarian Keepers consider them sacred warnings from the ancestors — every hunt requires Council permission.

HRZ Cataclysm Creatures¶

Organisms beyond known taxonomy, found in High-Risk Zone border regions. Some appear to phase between physical states. The Trackers designate them by kill number — CC-001 through CC-017, representing seventeen confirmed kills over the DAC's entire history. Of the 342 names on the Wall, 89 died on HRZ border operations — twenty-six percent of total losses from less than two percent of total contracts.

Operations¶

Contract Tiers¶

Rank System¶

Equipment¶

Trackers carry the Scent Array (Mierese-designed multi-spectrum chemical analyzer), Tether Launcher (for live capture), target-specific Kill Kits (the Lodge armory stocks over two hundred ammunition types), Trophy Seals (flash-freeze preservation), and Tracker Beacons that broadcast recovery signals if vitals flatline.

Named Hunts¶

The First Great Hunt (~2527)¶

Ekkro Nimrod led all fourteen founding members against a Void Shrike nest threatening Communion's agricultural station. Nine days, thirty creatures eliminated, three Trackers lost. The operation proved the DAC model.

The Thornwalker Purge (~2588)¶

Ashroot Grove contracted three thousand Trackers — the largest single deployment in DAC history — for a six-week perimeter purge across Old Grove's continental border, working alongside twelve thousand Vigil Guard troops. Over two hundred Trackers died. Established the standing joint protocol between Trackers and Ashroot.

The Gulch Maw Incident (~2609)¶

Warden Vothara led six hunters into a Gulch Maw's tunnel network — twelve days underground. Two killed. Vothara triggered a controlled collapse, burying the creature under two hundred meters of rock. The Swamp Lord clan named her an honorary clan-sister — the only outsider ever given the title.

CC-012: The Border Walk (~2618)¶

A Gate Garrison forward post reported something killing scouts — no tracks, no blood, only silence. Huntmaster Ghoss Eko personally led eight Wardens into the HRZ border zone. CC-012 existed in partial phase with normal space; scanning equipment failed within a hundred meters. Two Wardens died before Eko identified its pattern: it hunted by resonance, drawn to active electronics.

Eko ordered all equipment powered down. The team tracked CC-012 for three days using nothing but sight, sound, and Mierese olfactory senses. The kill was made with a kinetic slug — no electronics. Eko's comment: "We hunted the way the first hunters hunted. It was... correct." The trophy — a fragment of phase-shifted bone that flickers between visible and invisible — is the Lodge's most unsettling exhibit.

The Lodge¶

Trophy Hall¶

Floor-to-ceiling trophies tagged with hunter name, creature designation, hunting ground, and date. The largest — a Gulch Maw mandible wider than a shuttle — dominates the entrance.

The Wall of Names¶

Memorial to every Tracker killed in the field. Currently 342 names. Additions are solemn ceremonies — the only time the Lodge falls silent. Ekkro Nimrod's original rifle and tracker beacon hang beside his name. The Wall is never cleaned — "They carried the dirt of every world they hunted. Let them keep it."

Beast Archive¶

Comprehensive fauna database shared with the Scriptorium of the Lumikir and Iris Academy. Contains behavioral data, anatomy scans, threat assessments, and tactical recommendations.

Notable Members¶

Relations¶

Galactic Indices¶