Krakonia National Zoo
Located in the Expanse District of Krakonia City , the Krakonia National Zoo is a wondrous facility where many of the various flora and fauna of Requerm are put on display in masterfully kept exhibits for the general public. Managed primarily by Zarola Kynigos of the The Hunters Guild of Krakonia(HGK) , the zoo is the best place for the layman to learn all about Great Beasts , as well as lesser animals, plants, and other life forms one can expect to encounter in the wild. While the zoo's existence is said to be the due to the importance of understanding the dangerous wilds all around the kingdom and beyond, it would be difficult to dismiss the simple fact that the zoo is the biggest money-maker of the HGK, allowing the guild to spend the profit on more research into the unknown frontier.
The exhibits themselves are surprisingly large and well-maintained, in part due to Zarola's druidic magic being used effectively to recreate the biomes of each subject's homeland. Because of this magic, one can easily travel to different, perfectly recreated natural habitats in a matter of seconds simply by walking between locations. Within each biome are many different enclosures, each organized in such a way that the animals inside don't eat each other. Enough plants are grown that they can easily feed the many herbivorous creatures in each habitat, and enough meat from regular, common animals is cultivated to feed the carnivorous ones. The zoo takes pride in how humanely they take care of their subjects, although even the most pampered of creatures are still locked up, so there's always a certain level of aggression from the more rowdy and/or territorial of beasts.
Sometimes the zoo will put on simple shows in which a zookeeper attempts to feed, clean, or otherwise take care of an animal without becoming dinner themselves, but thanks to the reflexes and expertise of the zoo's handlers, led by Orion Kynigos , zookeepers are generally kept safe during these excursions. Tour guides are often seen taking civilians between each biome, explaining the details behind each of these enclosures with rehearsed speeches, although they are trained to answer all sorts of strange questions due to the general confusion surrounding Requerm as a whole. Unfortunately, the answer to a lot of those questions is "We don't know yet," because, well, they don't know yet. It's a pretty standard stock response that is estimated to be used hundreds of times a day by each tour guide to the point that it's essentially their motto. The key, there, is the "yet." The HGK is always looking for new information from those that actually travel the wilds, so whenever they actually get new information, the tour guides are among the first to know. Typically, though, the zoo will have a good amount of information about any specimen that they currently keep in the zoo, since researchers are always studying their nature/behavior up close in an attempt to assist the travelers of the kingdom as best they can.
The zoo also pays good money for the capture of Great Beasts that are not yet kept in an exhibit, with larger payouts for those they estimate to be stronger/more difficult to capture. They pay even more for the live capture of such specimens, since they don't have to go through the motions to resurrect them. They do not, however, offer a means to adventurers to actually transport Great Beasts back to the zoo, so they're on their own for that leg of the journey. It's not unheard of for adventurers to leave the city with empty wagons on the offchance that they bump into a rare Great Beast, only to fill the wagon up with a bunch of random, cheap loot because they did not, in fact, find a random, unique Great Beast on their quests. Sometimes the zoo will put up a behest for the capture of a specific creature, either because they've received word of a new creature's existence, or they need to replace a pre-existing subject that can no longer be put on display for any number of reasons. The reward for capturing these creatures tends to be higher than if one simply brings back a creature without a behest attached to it.
The exhibits themselves are surprisingly large and well-maintained, in part due to Zarola's druidic magic being used effectively to recreate the biomes of each subject's homeland. Because of this magic, one can easily travel to different, perfectly recreated natural habitats in a matter of seconds simply by walking between locations. Within each biome are many different enclosures, each organized in such a way that the animals inside don't eat each other. Enough plants are grown that they can easily feed the many herbivorous creatures in each habitat, and enough meat from regular, common animals is cultivated to feed the carnivorous ones. The zoo takes pride in how humanely they take care of their subjects, although even the most pampered of creatures are still locked up, so there's always a certain level of aggression from the more rowdy and/or territorial of beasts.
Sometimes the zoo will put on simple shows in which a zookeeper attempts to feed, clean, or otherwise take care of an animal without becoming dinner themselves, but thanks to the reflexes and expertise of the zoo's handlers, led by Orion Kynigos , zookeepers are generally kept safe during these excursions. Tour guides are often seen taking civilians between each biome, explaining the details behind each of these enclosures with rehearsed speeches, although they are trained to answer all sorts of strange questions due to the general confusion surrounding Requerm as a whole. Unfortunately, the answer to a lot of those questions is "We don't know yet," because, well, they don't know yet. It's a pretty standard stock response that is estimated to be used hundreds of times a day by each tour guide to the point that it's essentially their motto. The key, there, is the "yet." The HGK is always looking for new information from those that actually travel the wilds, so whenever they actually get new information, the tour guides are among the first to know. Typically, though, the zoo will have a good amount of information about any specimen that they currently keep in the zoo, since researchers are always studying their nature/behavior up close in an attempt to assist the travelers of the kingdom as best they can.
The zoo also pays good money for the capture of Great Beasts that are not yet kept in an exhibit, with larger payouts for those they estimate to be stronger/more difficult to capture. They pay even more for the live capture of such specimens, since they don't have to go through the motions to resurrect them. They do not, however, offer a means to adventurers to actually transport Great Beasts back to the zoo, so they're on their own for that leg of the journey. It's not unheard of for adventurers to leave the city with empty wagons on the offchance that they bump into a rare Great Beast, only to fill the wagon up with a bunch of random, cheap loot because they did not, in fact, find a random, unique Great Beast on their quests. Sometimes the zoo will put up a behest for the capture of a specific creature, either because they've received word of a new creature's existence, or they need to replace a pre-existing subject that can no longer be put on display for any number of reasons. The reward for capturing these creatures tends to be higher than if one simply brings back a creature without a behest attached to it.
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