HUNTING
- or - So many critters, so little time...
The Old City ustrinium - armor set # 3  
From Hospice mark and Coliseum mark to Old City hunting ground.
 
1 - Entrance to ustrinium
2 - Rows of marked graves
3 - Overgrown fields
4 - Burial yard
5 - Burial site
 
 
 
A - South fork of Hutt's Road 
B - North fork of Hutt's Road 
C - To main city 
D - Up Basran Hill 

1 - Hospice mark (north to hospice)
2 - Amerigo's tavern 
3 - tent (locked) 
4 - Under construction 
5 - Coliseum mark 6 - Entrance to ustrinium

  
Old City hunting ground.
The Old City hunting ground is an ancient ustrinium (cemetery) containing burial grounds, mausoleums and crypts. While the Old City ustrinium may seem close to the hospice, it really isn't. There are two areas you must travel through that cause your character to wait before continuing to travel (reflecting the distance traveled). Hence, if your character is gravely wounded in the Old City, I would suggest bugging out and heading for the hospice. At least until you are familiar enough with combat that you can judge for yourself. Better safe than sorry. Old City is not a place you want to fall unconscious on the road, being a rather less-traveled area than most.
As an interesting side note, the crypts on the far western side of the ustrinium hold a magical sarcophagus which, it is said, is a portal the the Midlight version of hell. Still, the process of activating the sarcophagus isn't very well known and you aren't likely to trigger it by accident, so don't be shy about exploring if you like.
Carrion beetle                                                (none)
Carrion beetles are one of three creatures available to hunt in the Old City ustrinium. Of the three they are the least dangerous. Still, don't let this fool you. If two or more beetles engage you, as noted elsewhere on this site, their successes drops making them more capable of delivering critical hits. And, unlike rats and other small vermin, the Old City critters tend to crit-hit rather hard. It is not at all unusual to leave the Old City ustrinium with a bleeding wound or two. And if a leech snakes engages you while a couple of carrion beetles have your defenses down, you could be in for a world of hurt.

Leech snake                                                    scales (4)
Leech snakes are the second-most dangerous of the three Old City ustrinium critters. Like most snakes, their bites are venomous and if they are able to land a solid bite your character could suffer periods of dizziness (penalties to your combat success) and fatigue (subtracting from your fatigue briefly) during combat. Furthermore, they have two attacks unique to them. The jumping attack, in which they coil up and strike at you (possibly even knocking off you feet), and coiling attack, which they wrap about your character's body. The second attack causes no damage, and they often release your character immediately after. However, the coil attack is usually followed up by a blood-sucking attack which causes damage and drains fatigue. This attack also receives a significant bonus and will likely continue until you break free of the snake's grip. Breaking the snake's grip is easy enough, and requires no specific command. Just go ahead and attempt to attack the snake and the game mechanics will automatically check to see if you are successful in freeing yourself (this check is based on your character's strength).

Diabolus ardentis                                               unknown
The diabolus ardentis is the most dangerous beast in the old city, by far. To date, I have only engaged two and I've bugged out both times. When I work up the courage (and the skill) to take one on, I will post what info I gather here. I would recommend avoiding them for now.