Zhang Desert
From horizon to horizon, the famed Desert of Zhenshi doesn't
dd|pl seem to end. Dunes are created and are destroyed as they drift
dd*?l from location to location as the years move on. A paved surface
dpp\l of solid granite leads to the north and south. It's clear, hot,
and calm.
Obvious exits: n e s w nw ne sw se
(Charmed) A silver-winged pegasus is flying here mounted by you.
A stout, ugly creature with splotchy blue skin peers maliciously at you.
You dodge a bakemono's attack.
A bakemono misses you.

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You are thirsty.
The wind changes and begins blowing from the southwest.

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You slash a bakemono's chest, causing a gaping wound!
You strike suddenly, pounding at a bakemono's chest! Some GUTS fall!
You strike suddenly, pounding at a bakemono's chest! Some GUTS fall!
You slash a bakemono's chest HARD, cutting through its ribs!
A silver-winged pegasus charges at a bakemono's stomach, barely wounding it.
A bakemono dodges a silver-winged pegasus's attack.
A bakemono stops using a sturdy naginata.
A bakemono misses you.
Overall, a bakemono looks pretty hurt.

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You raise your weapon and slash it deep into a bakemono's chest!
You pound a bakemono's head, splitting open a bleeding gash!
You pound a bakemono's mouth, making its head a bit softer!
You slash a bakemono's chest. A bakemono falls on its knees and collapses.
A bakemono is DEAD!!
You hear a bakemono's death cry.
You get 8 silver coins from a corpse of a bakemono.
You get 3 copper coins from a corpse of a bakemono.
You junk a corpse of a bakemono.
A sturdy naginata falls out.
Just keep it all.

I've seen that happening a lot. I think if a mobile is holding a weapon he isn't proficient at, he'll remove it to use his fists.

Perhaps the builder gave the NPC the weapon but made him useless with it so the newbies wouldn't get minced. Thus new AI thinks his fists are better.

Is this something you had actually worked on as an imm, Tumrall? It's true that it's not a bug for exactly the reason stated. If they aren't proficient with the weapon, they obviously will do more damage with their fists. Crippling NPCs by giving them unusable weapons doesn't seem like a great idea to me in the first place from both an IC and OOC perspective.