Elites

elite beasts

Program-controlled monsters more dangerous and numerous than hunters, normally avoided except by status-seeking veterans.

Story so far

Crawler Drakea warns cookbook readers to avoid elites because their programs prevent easy defeats and their strength exceeds that of hunters. Some powerful hunters pursue them anyway for equipment and clout.

Drakea experiments with traps that bring the two groups together, exploiting naga-backed insurance on the dramatic programs that own the elites.

Appearance

Varied exceptional creatures controlled by licensed entertainment programs.

Role

Elites are both battlefield hazards and economic assets that anarchists can turn against hunters and insurers.

Relationships

Hunters — Most avoid them, while a few pursue them for status and equipment.

The Naga — Naga interests insure the programs controlling them.

Crawler Drakea — She designs traps to provoke elite-hunter confrontations.

Sources — 3 recorded facts, by chapter

Chapter 13

Secondary-program champions who show as red-crossed dots on Ping, do not gain levels, and covet ninth-floor access.

Chapter 16

Not puppets, but not free — the showrunners can push an elite until she acts out of character.

Chapter 24

Program-controlled monsters more dangerous and numerous than hunters, normally avoided except by status-seeking veterans.