The Apiarian Phantom

The Apiarian Phantom

Species	Elementa
Variant of	Hound of the Wild Hunt
DLC	Base game
Oil	Elementa Oil
Signs	Igni Axii
Bombs	Dimeritium Bomb

The Apiarian Phantom is a lone Hound of the Wild Hunt, one of the Elementa. It haunts Honeyfill Meadworks, a beekeeping farm on the outskirts of Novigrad. The locals blamed a phantom for the ruined hives, but the culprit turned out to be a lost hound. It is the target of Contract: The Apiarian Phantom.

Lore

Honeyfill Meadworks belongs to the Meiersdorf family. Holofernes Meiersdorf, a halfling, owns the plantation. For some time, something had been destroying his fields and hives. Holofernes believed the Apiarian Phantom was to blame. "Something's destroyed our fields and hives. We think it's... the apiarian phantom."

The real beast was one of the Hounds of the Wild Hunt. These hounds bay at the heels of the Hunt as it rides across the sky. Some experts believe they are born of magic ice crystal. Hushed legends say a hound sometimes loses its way and comes down from the night sky to earth. Cold and death follow in its wake. The Apiarian Phantom was one such lost hound.

The hound fought fiercely, but it fell in the end. Its death saved the humans, the halflings and the bees of the area from further torment.

Behaviour

A Hound of the Wild Hunt is a feral beast. Like a starving dog, it mindlessly attacks anything that crosses its path. It draws strength from extreme cold. Hounds are most dangerous during blizzards and in glacial regions. Elven legends add that they grow stronger when a red moon hangs in the sky. The red moon is a known herald of the Hunt's arrival.

The Apiarian Phantom wandered alone and destroyed the hives at Honeyfill. It then hid in a basement south of the farm.

Weaknesses

Coat the silver sword with Elementa Oil. Axii can weaken its drive to kill for a moment. A Dimeritium Bomb also works well against it.

Bear three things in mind. First, its thick armor of ice can only be pierced by strong blows. Second, it is weak to fire, Igni included. Third, it shows no mercy.

The hound fights with claws and teeth. It tries to knock its opponent to the ground and then tear it to shreds. It also uses its power over the cold to freeze the ground around it and raise sharp spikes of ice. A badly wounded hound falls into a frenzy that makes it even deadlier.