Cantankeri

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Cantankeri
Type	Sky-Beast
Location	The Reach, Albion, Eleutheria, The Blue Kingdom

[I]rritable, half-fossilised isopods capable of battering through an engine’s hull. Sometimes, miners digging into sky-rocks for buried hours find sleeping cantankeri instead. The cantankeri are not pleased to be disturbed.

Description

A Cantankeri is a type of Sky-Beast found in all four regions. They are aggressive and will chase ships which come too close. If they collide, they will deal 4 Hull damage. Having only 25 Health and no ranged attacks, Cantankeri are easily the weakest enemy in the game, a single hit from a Reclaimed Marauder Mangonel will slay it.

A Cantankeri, Placated

A Cantankeri, Placated
Category	Story Event
Type	Story
Data ID	276526

"The Cantankeri are lumbering, half-fossilised isopods that will attack anything they disapprove of. Given that they are very ancient and murderously grumpy, that means almost everything. Looting(Cantankeri)"

Interactions

Actions	Requirements	Effects		Notes
Retrieve the stomach The Phlegmatic Researcher in the Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve believes this will aid his research. He'd better be right.	Field Sample – Stomach of a Cantankeri = 1 [The Phlegmatic Researcher has requested that he be brought the stomach of a Cantankeri] Experiments Sanctioned by the Company = 2 [The Researcher at the Nature Reserve seeks a variety of items]	Short straws Its shell is too tough to crack. But it is large enough to crawl into; and that's what the unlucky winner of an impromptu lottery is obliged to do. They are given a knife and a sou'wester to cover their sky-suit, and crawl inside. They emerge later, dripping, cursing, and clutching the withered knot of a stomach. Field Sample – Stomach of a Cantankeri = 2 [You have collected the stomach of a Cantankeri for the Phlegmatic Researcher]
Retrieve the stomach The Phlegmatic Researcher in the Leadbeater & Stainrod Nature Reserve feels this will aid his research. He'd better be right.	Field Sample – Stomach of a Cantankeri = 1 [The Phlegmatic Researcher has requested that he be brought the stomach of a Cantankeri] Experiments Sanctioned by the Company ≥ 5 [The Researcher has a new goal: investigating what happened to his colleagues. But he'll still accept samples for his research]	Short straws Its shell is too tough to crack. But it is large enough to crawl into; and that's what the unlucky winner of an impromptu lottery is obliged to do. They are given a knife and a sou'wester to cover their sky-suit, and crawl inside. They emerge later, dripping, cursing, and clutching the withered knot of a stomach. Field Sample – Stomach of a Cantankeri = 2 [You have collected the stomach of a Cantankeri for the Phlegmatic Researcher]
Prise the legs off Not a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but it's what the Carpenter has asked for.	Helping the Humiliated Magician = 4 [Kill a Cantankeri and prise off its legs. Bring them back to the Carpenter in Port Avon]	Removal Even dead, the Cantankeri is reluctant to part with its limbs. With careful use of hammer and chisel, you're able to crack its shell to cut at the tendons holding them in place. With those removed, the legs come out easily. Once you've cleaned the ichor off, they're ready to present to the Carpenter in Port Avon. Helping the Humiliated Magician = 5 [Return to the Reclusive Carpenter in Port Avon]
Collect a Cantankeri Trophy The New Somerset Hunting Club will be pleased.	Guest of the New Somerset Hunting Club ≥ 1 New Somerset Hunting Club: Cantankeri Trophy ≤ 1 [You need to bring back a Cantankeri trophy to the hunting club in Port Avon] Cantankeri Trophy ≤ 0	Mounted and ready The crew set about the creature with hacksaws while the Quartermaster prepares a board. The Hunting Club will no doubt wish to replace it with something finer in mahogany or bronzewood, but this will do for the moment. Cantankeri Trophy = 1 [You have collected a trophy.] New Somerset Hunting Club: Cantankeri Trophy = 2 [You have collected a Cantankeri trophy. Take it back to Port Avon]
Listen to its last complaint Its parting grumble is bitter and mournful. Your crew share tales of the Cantankeri to distract them from the noise.	Looting ≤ 33	The swan song Looting(CantankeriTale) +50 x Experience +1 x Sky-Story		Game note: Gain Experience, a Sky-Story, and hear tales of the Cantankeri.
Prise precious stones from its carapace Sometimes, clusters of jasper, tourmaline, or agate can be found embedded in the calcified plates.	Looting ≤ 66 Iron challenge (42 for 100%)	Failed event		Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Game note: Gain sovereigns.
		The price Your efforts yield only modest results before a violent shudder wracks the beast. Two plates of carapace grind together; a crewman's hand was between them. His scream is thin in the hollows of the sky. 5+(1 to 10) x Sovereign -1 x Crew +1 x Another One, Lost
		Successful event
		Treasures, put to better use You lash the beast alongside your engine and set to work with picks and chisels. Soon you have accumulated a bucketful of glittering stones. 10+(1 to 20) x Sovereign
		Partial success event (5%)
		Older, more awful things Hauling the creature alongside your locomotive, you deploy hammers and pry-bars. There! Valuable stones glimmer amidst the whorls of uncanny fossils. The fossils' shapes are sinuous and predatory, preserved for unknown aeons in the Cantankeri's stony skin. 10+(1 to 20) x Sovereign +2 x Terror
Retrieve a stony organ Send one of the crew out with a set of pliers.	Looting ≥ 34 and ≤ 66 Mirrors challenge (58 for 100%)	Failed event		Game note: You will always find an Uncanny Specimen, but may lose Crew.
		The price Still, the Cantankeri resists death. As your crewman tugs at a slick, knobbled gland, the beast spasms. Gritty ichors spray across his sky-suit, chewing at the leather. When you drag him back aboard, it is clear he will not last long. He still clutches the extracted gland. Its colour is halfway between liver and granite. +1 x Uncanny Specimen -1 x Crew
		Successful event
		A trophy They return with the glistening ovoid gland. It’s consistency is somewhere between muscle and marble. +1 x Uncanny Specimen
Deploy your canning equipment Enough remains of the creature to extract several meals of tasteless mush.	Looting ≤ 66 Butchery ≥ 1	Food of the gods Saws buzz. Shell-hammers pound. Vices squeeze. Once the parts are separated, your cook is able to scoop rich jelly from beneath the carapace, and soften a tangle of corded muscles in the tenderiser. It is enough to fill several large cans. +1 x Supplies
Drill for scraps of digestible meat There is eating on a Cantankeri, if you have more patience than taste.	Looting ≤ 66 Butchery ≤ 0 Hunger ≥ 1 [Hungry]	A handful of giblets Your burliest stoker approaches it with a hand-drill. What follows is loud and messy. Eventually, she presents you with an armful of palpitating organs. Your cook does their best. Hunger = 1 [Hungry] 20+(1 to 20) x Hunger Pangs		Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Game note: This will not nourish you, but it will delay starvation. You may only choose this if you are in the process of starving.
Disperse the rubble The fragments could be a menace to passing engines. Clear it out of the way, as a service to other skyfarers.	Looting ≥ 67	One good deed You gently shunt the larger pieces away. The crew are heartened to be doing something for the general good. -5 x Terror		Game note: Lose Terror.
Sift through the pulverised rubble Perhaps you'll find something of scientific interest.	Looting ≥ 67 Mirrors challenge (42 for 100%)	Failed event		Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Advanced alteration value probably needs examination. Game note: Look for an Uncanny Specimen.
		A spiteful gust A sudden wind drives the jagged Cantankeri-fragments against your hull. They crack against your windows, drum on your plating. Gritty particulates clog your pistons. When you dig the shards free, you find some of them gleam with veins of semi-precious stones. -( Hull/10) x Hull (1 to 5) +(1 to 5) x Sovereign
		Successful event
		A prospective exhibit You venture out in your sky-suit, and begin picking through the fragments. Your patience is rewarded: here is a stony organ, still palpitating with stubborn life. +1 x Uncanny Specimen
		Partial success event (5%)
		Too thorough a job None of the remaining pieces are whole enough to be of interest, either academic or ghoulish. However, you do find a few fragments of carapace, veined with what looks like gold. (1 to 10) +(1 to 10) x Sovereign
Leave the beast untouched You have, presumably, less unpleasant concerns to attend to.		Away You give the order to depart, and leave the ruined Cantankeri to the skies.