Kinds of Hollow
Most Hollows fight bare-handed or with a stone axe or a wooden sword, and some carry a bow for when they cannot reach you. As your wealth and gear grow, Veterans in capes start to turn up, with better weapons. Leaders are big and strike with a smashing blow.
Deep in the caves they wear their strength: Scavenged armour is salvaged pieces lashed on, Ironbound is a riveted iron set. Some are simply bigger. The armour falls with the body as scrap.
What they leave
- Every Hollow leaves bone. Often there is also a hollow core and a little copper scrap from its wiring, and rarely a comb of honey.
- A Veteran always leaves a veteran core and copper scrap, sometimes a second core, and now and then a little black powder. A Leader leaves at least as much.
- Armour comes apart into iron scrap, more from an Ironbound set, which also now and then leaves a lump of iron ore.
- The axe or blade it fought with drops where it fell, for you to pick up: a stone or copper axe, a wooden sword, a spine blade or an iron axe. A slung bow does not drop.
How they find you
A Hollow sees you only when it has a clear line to you, like a person would. It also hears footsteps, blows and digging, and it goes to look at where the noise came from. Walls and shut doors hide you, but a Hollow that has found you will hack at what is in the way.
If it loses you it goes to where it last saw you, looks around and searches before giving up. Stay quiet and out of sight and it lets you go.
Fighting one
Watch the wind-up and step aside as the swing ends, then hit back. Go for the head. A Hollow can climb a ledge, but any hit knocks it off again.
TipA cleared lair is retaken after a while, so do not count on it staying empty.