Bait Beans

While it takes practice, patience, and precision to become a good hunter. The ability to use the right beans at the right times separates a good hunter from a successful one.
~ Excerpt from the Art of Hunting

Also known as O'cseni ("Lure Sprout"), Bait Beans are specially treated plant seeds, which are utilized by Curnias huntresses and Archhuntresses during their hunts on the numerous herbivore plants (Rovi'olp) of their homeland.
Given the Curnias renunciatory, if not downright hostile attitude towards "blood-tainted" outsiders as well as the fact that Non-Curnias usually lack any kind of incentive to undertake these dangerous hunts, the existence of Bait Beans was for a long time only known to the Curnias.
Yet in recent years crafty Yinmoujia traders from the Douzi-company managed to coax the Curnias into producing new types of Bait Beans, which can be utilized as bait for herbivore animals.

Manufacturing process

The reason why we call them Bait Beans, is the fact that very first O'cseni created by the venerable Ai'erutas were based upon the seeds of the Aj'nul bean.
~ Sudiviv Musarem, Archhuntress

Bait Beans are created by treating not yet fully germinated plant seeds with a pinch of Botas-flavored fairy dust. Depending on the exact type of seeds utilize and the specific way of the treatment, the resulting Bait Beans will attract a different set of herbivores.

Types of Bait Beans

Etal ("Broad")

The most common type of Bait Beans, Etals are the Curnias go-to form of bait and can be used for the hunt on most common types of Rovi'olp.

Sitar ("Raft")

Sitar are made from the seeds of free-floating aquatic plants and therefore are able to float on the surface of the water. They are used as lures for either amphibious or full water-dwelling types of Rovi'olp

Ronim Ro'mert ("Little Earthquake")

Ronim Ro'mert possess two horn-like protrusions on their surface that when broken off cause the bean to intensely vibrate.
Once these vibrating beans have been planted into the ground they will attract numerous types of burrowing plants, which mistake the Bean's vibration for the digging noises of a potential prey item.

Mulupe ("Banquet")

Mulupe are the largest type of Bait Beans utilized by the Curnias and are mostly used during the hunts on especially large and voracious types of Rovi'olp, which don't react to regularly sized baits.

Rosruc'xe ("Tracker")

Rosruc'xe are a highly specialized type of Bait Beans that is used during the hunts for so-called Surucs'bo ("Shrouded Ones"), which are a subtype of Rovi'olp infamous for their sophisticated camouflage and deception abilities.
Following the ingestion of a Rosruc'xe by its intended target, it will either facilitate the production and subsequent release of numerous highly odorous substances or induce a striking shift in the targets leaf coloration, which makes it significantly easier to track down these highly elusive targets.
Managing to hunt down a Surucs'bo without the usage of Rosruc'xes is therefore a feat of truly legendary status, which so far was only ever archived by a handful of huntresses, including the Ideal Huntress Al'uben-Xudart herself.

Nellop ("Flowerdust")

Nellop are covered in a multicolored coat of flowers, which secrets a potent cloud of reproduction-related phytohormones, which makes them exceptionally effective forms of bait during the Rovi'olp mating season.

Mucirpa ("Sunlight")

Mucirpa are rod-shaped Beans, which emit a faint bioluminescent light once bent beyond a certain angle. They are commonly utilized during the hunts on nocturnal plants.

Su'tala ("Winged Seed")

Su'tala are very small Bait Beans, which are attached to dandelion-like "parachutes", which enables them to be easily picked up by local air currents.
They are either used for the hunt on flying types of Rovi'olp or to tempt a hidden Rovi'olp into persuing them and thereby revealing their position.

Sussa ("Baked Bait")

Sussa are used as lures for fire-loving and fire-laying types of Rovi'olp and therefore have to be burnt within an incense burner in order to unfold their effect, which makes them the only type of Bait Beans that can be safely stored outside of an Abaf Sucyroc.

Oipised ("Nonsensical Bait")

The term "Oipised" is used by the Curnias to refer to the various types of Bait Beans used for the hunt on herbivore animals, which in their eyes is a complete waste of valuable plant matter given that they regard all types of animal products as inherently inferior herbal ones.
The fact that they nevertheless produce these kinds of bait once again clearly shows the great skills the Yinmoujia possess in the arts of trading.

Item type

Miscellaneous

Rarity

Common within in the Curnias' city-states, rare everywhere else.

Weight

3-1,500 gramms

Dimensions

0,5- 460 mm in diameter

Nature versus Nurture

When it comes to the seeds utilized for the production of Bait Beans, the Curnias strictly differentiate between seeds that have been collected in the wild (Oisi'lai) and seeds, which have been produced in one of the Pyramid-Gardens (Anilpic'sid).
The supposed advantages and disadvantages of these two seed types in regards to their suitability as Bait Beans is a heavily debated topic and outsiders are well-advised to stay clear of it.

Bean Storage

Make sure your bags are properly sealed, because we are about to enter Razorweed territory.
And trust me you do not want to spill your Beans in Razorweed territory.

Given how potent Bait Beans are at attracting a multiplicity of Rovi'olp, they have to be transported in specialized containers, known as Abaf Sucyroc ("Bean Bag") in order to prevent them from making the huntress carrying them the most popular individual in a dozen mile radius.
Depending on the degree of potency as well as the sensory capabilities of the creature one wishes to attract, the Abaf Sucyroc has to be made from a has to be made from different materials in order to successfully conceal the Beans.
Common materials used in the creation of an Abaf Sucyroc include various smell-absorbent substances such as dried stripes of Springthorn bark or Dithersponge leaf-fibers, as well as a great variety of odoriferous resins and plant saps whose own smell masks that of the Beans.
Certain types of Abaf Sucyroc also possess an outer layer of Fairy Dust infused Resin Bronze as a form of active camouflage in order to prevent particular perceptive types of Rovi'olp form utilizing the currents of the Green River to detect the Bait Beans stored inside.

Bait and Scare

You know what is worse than failing to catch your prey?
Having your precious bait eaten by a passing by Leaf Rat.

With the exception of a few highly specialised types, all forms of Bait Beans generally appeal to a great number of different Rovi'olp, which makes the usage of herbal deterrents an important component of proper Bait Bean usage in order to deter less valuable types of prey from eating bait intended for a far more worthwhile target.
These so-called Sudir'roh ("Plant Scare") are made in a similar manner to Bait Beans and also come in various different shapes and sizes in order to be effectively combined with the numerous kinds of Bait Beans and to allow a huntress to select the kinds of i]Rovi'olp she wishes to deter.