d100 – Grassland Events and Encounters
To get a random result, either use the standard d100 to get an even chance of any result or roll 11d10 (getting between 11 and 110) and take 10 from the result. On average this will move the result to the middle of the table where encounters of a general nature or of a lower-rated challenge exist. The second method makes it more likely that a party will meet something it can straightforwardly deal with rather than an event becoming a resource-draining distraction.
And remember, if you use percentage dice, 00 and 0 equal 100, not zero, as per the Player’s Handbook.
1. A wide, damp patch of grass smells pungently of urine. Within it are two great claw prints, each a little over four feet long. Someone knowledgeable can recognize them as coming from a raptor lizard. An expert knows they both belong to a tyrannosaur and were made within the last ten minutes.
2. The right-hand horn of giant bison sits in a pool of relatively fresh blood. A large patch of thick, gray-green skin is impaled on it, clearly torn out by the horn during a fight. Someone knowledgeable can identify the skin as coming from a cyclops. The bloody footprints of a large humanoid leading away to the south are also a clue.
3. The grass here is trampled by large bull-like hooves, and there are gouge marks in several places. Strangely, dozens of stone insects and worms are dotted around the area, along with a single rock expertly carved to look like a fleeing mouse.
4. A lone tree, some 60 feet tall, has a score of brightly colored feathers around its base. Far above, signs of a nest are barely visible. Someone suitably versed in avian lore is sure they are from a large parrot; an expert in matters arcana recognizes them as couatl feathers.
5. The huge hyena sniffing the ground some one hundred yards away is daunting enough, but when it stands on its hind legs and proves to be a powerful-looking gnoll warrior, she is even more fearsome. A fiendish glint in her eyes adds to the overall demonic appearance.
6. Up ahead, an ill-tempered human, shorter than usual but muscular beneath his excess flesh, kicks a goblin that struggles under the weight of an oversized rucksack. The man gives you a vulgar greeting, no doubt meant to be humorous. His mouth, full of misshapen teeth, forms a disturbing leer below porcine eyes and stiff, bristle-like hair.
7. Off to one side, a small herd of feral cattle grazes warily. Suddenly, a monstrously large spider appears out of nowhere, its blue and silver coloring shimmering in the light as it bites one of the cows. Then, before you can do anything, it vanishes and the bitten beast staggers 30 feet before falling. Just as suddenly, the spider reappears next to its target, grabs the carcass, and disappears once again.
8. The path follows the course of a wide rush-clogged stream that sits at the bottom of a 10-foot slope. Ahead, the tall bullrushes are shaking violently, and there is the sound of them splintering. Suddenly, a huge beast starts to lumber up the slope, its thick, scaly armor clearly slowing it down. It senses your approach if the way it raises its club-tipped tail is anything to go by.
9. A squat, heavily muscled, red-hued humanoid is lopping across the prairie despite being clad in half-plate. She eyes you warily for a moment, then draws her greatsword, although she keeps going along her route. If you have a way to see her face more closely, she bears several hobgoblin ritual conflict scars on her left cheek, a sure sign she is someone of rank.
10. A powerful whinny reaches your ears, yet looking around you reveals nothing. Then from the sky, a whooshing sound and blast of air highlights the swooping approach of a magnificent giant eagle-winged horse. It turns in the air to face you, and with a single beat of its wings rears up to its full height before landing as softly as a leaf. The pegasus’ grace cannot be questioned as it watches you.
11. Some 100 yards ahead, on a low mound, you spot an orc watching you. At this distance it appears to only have one eye. It reaches into a bag and crouches down as you move forward, casting something on the ground. As you close, it moves whatever it discarded. Then suddenly it glares at you, snatches up the thrown items, and sprints away. When you reach the mound, you find a single bone inscribed with a rune.
12. A huge elk, with antlers that span almost 20 feet across, raises its head from where it is grazing. It looks truly magnificent, and you stand watching it in awe. It scrapes at the ground with one massive hoof, and for a moment you think it is going to charge, but instead, it leaps away and is soon moving quickly across the grassy steppe. You consider following it.
13. A staff-carrying humanoid dressed in brown has steadily been gaining on you over the last hours as you cross the grassland. Eventually they catch up with you and offer a greeting. From their appearance and attire, they are in tune with the surroundings and may have helpful druidic lore for you.
14. A series of huge molehills, each almost 20 feet in diameter, dot the farmed landscape you are currently crossing. Then you see a lifeless, destroyed dwelling atop one of the hills. As you consider the fate of the owner, the ground starts to shake about 40 yards from you, and a pair of large, powerful-looking, chitinous mandibles rise out of the ground.
15. At this distance, the cloud of dust being thrown up clearly looks like one made by horses, although the riders are hidden. Then one member separates from the group and heads toward you, lance in hand, and quickly crosses the distance between you and them. As they close, you note that the “rider” is in an odd position, before realizing it is a centaur! Perhaps they have news of the region.
16. You see several small meerkats watching you from a mound surrounded by tall grass. As you stare back, you see a movement from beyond the mound, and then a sleek feline moves arrow-like through the grass and the meerkats. Despite their shrill warning calls, the tiger is amongst them before they fully react, and it swats many of them before they can retreat below ground, crushing their skulls.
17. From a distance, the small farm looks ramshackle and in need of work. But there must be someone working it because a scarecrow with a fresh sackcloth head is in one field, facing in your direction. As you move round the farm, you lose sight of the first straw-folk, but quickly see another in a patch of tall, swaying corn. The crafter must follow a strict pattern, as the facial features of this second scarer look identical to the first. It seems to watch you as you leave the area.
18. At first, the sight overhead looks like a colossal bird of prey has a small horse wearing light barding in its claws. But as it gets closer, the “seemingly two” beasts become on, and a large, brown creature with hawk-like wings, a feathered chest, an eagle’s beak, and talons on its front legs turn it into a flying horse–a hippogriff to be exact, sporting shoulder paniers–glides over your heads.
19. The sound of what seems to be a cross between maniacal laughter and cursing reaches you, but all you see are some fleeing herbivores. Suddenly a great hyena appears behind them, its call driving them on. It grabs one of the sika deer and instantly kills it. As it does, it rushes toward another sika and bites down on its haunches.
20. The size and sharpness of the two shadows that skim over you indicate some great avians are close above. They fly past you, one away into the distance, the other to a nearby perch. The creature is clearly an eagle, the largest you have ever seen. It watches carefully, before lowering its head slightly and greeting you in a strange language.
21. Even with the breeze behind you, the sound of two goblins arguing reaches you from a copse ahead. The voices both seem to bark, but one is much lower pitched than the other. Suddenly there is a scream, and the sound of disintegrating bone. As you close the distance to the trees, you see a monstrous, hump-shouldered canine standing over the body of a small humanoid missing its head and half its torso.
22. From the trail ahead, a quartet of stooped humanoids are loping toward you. The group has clearly seen you, as three of them head away to the right, and a single member runs to the left. It has a javelin in its hand and perhaps half-a-dozen more strapped to its broad back. Even as it keeps its distance, you see its sloped forehead and tusks protruding from its lower jaw: an orc, almost certainly!
23. A pitiful campfire hosts a wretched-looking human. He is gaunt and clearly in need of a good meal, which he begins to beg from you. As you listen, his pleading eyes and voice seem to be sending you into a calm sleep.
24. A sonorous rumble sounds more like a cross between a bleat and a roar, and when you see the creature from which it comes, you understand why. Standing almost six feet tall at the shoulder, the gigantic goat ahead of you is larger than many horses. Its horns are particularly threatening.
25. The most striking thing about the humanoid inspecting the track some 200 yards from you is not that its nose is flat, and diamond shaped–which is unusual enough–but that it is a brilliant blue! As it spots you, it stands, proving to be over six feet tall and almost as wide across the shoulders. A great ox beyond it is fitted with a cavalry saddle, longbow holder, and heavy scabbard, from which the hobgoblin draws its longsword and waits for your next move.
26. Not far from you, you see a horse cropping grass. It’s a fine specimen: well-muscled chest, powerful legs, and a thick mane. It wears a utilitarian saddle, and reins are still tied across its neck. Its flanks show signs of heavy sweat, and it has clearly been traveling at speed just recently. There is no sign of a rider.
27. The veldt path skirts a woodland, and you are surprised by a black panther high above. It moves as you approach but does no more than follow the trail, although remaining in the trees overhead. Finally, it disappears in the shadows, but you occasionally hear branches creaking as it seemingly follows you.
28. A ruined farmstead lies ahead, but there is no immediate sight nor sound of life. Even the birds have gone quiet. On your guard, you approach it, before noticing drag marks across the grass toward a cavity beneath the debris. Then, without warning and at great speed, a giant wolf spider rushes toward you!
29. As you have traveled north across the prairie, the temperature has dropped, and fewer creatures are about. But then, perhaps a mile or more away, you spot a great herd. Despite the distance, a massive bull elk with eight-tine antlers moves toward you before long, bugling loudly when 100 yards away.
30. The noise of ripping flesh and bone reaches you from the copse ahead; clearly something has made a kill. An enormous bird, perhaps seven feet tall, appears, its blue-gray plumage contrasting starkly with the read flesh of its face. But the most striking aspect is its beak, which looks exactly like a greataxe.
31. You are surprised to come across a campfire with a lizard of some kind cooking over it. Fresh water is in a couple of clay mugs next to it. Nobody appears to be around, until you hear a gentle cough from behind you. A warrior, bedecked in tribal insignia, stands about 30 feet from you, a spear readied. He looks at you momentarily, smiles, thrusts the spear into the ground, and says, “Please, eat with me!”
32. The telltale side-winding tracks of a snake are evident on the trail you are using. But even your caution after spotting them barely leaves you prepared for the rattle and hiss of the rearing snake that appears in front of you, its fangs clearly designed to deliver a venomous bite.
33. You catch sight of several flashes of russet fur and white underbelly in the tall grass, but your eyes must be playing tricks. Perhaps there is a sneak of weasels alongside you. As you stop and look again, you are surprised instead by a single giant weasel, over five feet long and clearly aware of you!
34. As you approach a stand of trees, you see a crimson-hued bird eating from an old carcass; its dagger-like beak stabs deeply into the body. On getting nearer, the bird proves to be a blood hawk. It flies into the trees, where at least one more is perched.
35. A single slender canine, sandy colored to blend in with the grass, watches you with deep brown eyes. It trots alongside you for a minute or two, perhaps 50 yards to your left, before letting out a yelp and yip. Two more appear next to it and the jackals look your way before rushing off across the savannah.
36. A pony’s corpse lies about 20 yards from your path. Next to it is a pile of quivering dark feathers. As you watch, the sinuous bald neck of a vulture pulls out from a hole in the pony’s stomach, its head caked with gore and curved beak holding a string of intestines. It flaps away from you but does not move to fly far from its meal.
37. As you follow the trail across the veld, a lone traveler comes toward you. But about 150 yards away, it moves off from the trail in a large semi-circle. The worker is dressed in the way common to the area, a farmhand if the hoe being carried is anything to go by. The figure clearly avoids your gaze, only waving a hand if you call out to it.
38. A larger-than-usual feral cat catches your eye as it moves through the grass about 20 yards from you. Its ears flatten slightly as you look towards it, and it halts. From behind it, three kittens spring away, and the mother leaps quickly after them.
39. A small grave marker sits a short distance from the trail. There is a small symbol carved into the wood of the marker, but its meaning is clear only to a druid. The symbol means “true friend,” and if the ground beneath is searched, the skeleton of a larger kestrel is found.
40. A shallow dip holds chilly mist as you pass through it. Occasionally, the swirling vapor takes on a darker hue and clearer form. Then, a stygian spirit watches you pass but sinks into the ground if you approach it.
41. An unappealing, stagnant pool some 25 feet in diameter is the only water you have seen today. Your mounts scrape their hooves at its edge, trying to disturb the thick algae on the surface. Dense clouds of gnats and midges rise and head for their sweat-soaked flanks and your faces.
42. Near a sparse thicket of mixed trees, several dozen deep holes show the path taken by creatures with narrow limbs but the ability to delve deeply into the soil. Those with appropriate knowledge suggest plantlike is on the move.
43. The fingerposts you believe are guiding you have started to not make sense, as they do not match up with the specified landmarks. The details of one or the other are inaccurate, but which ones are wrong is not clear without backtracking.
44. There are three signs of “territorial ownership” in a space of about ten feet. Two of them have been ripped from the ground and broken. The third, bearing the druidic symbols meaning “the world is for its wanderers,” has replaced the divisive markers.
45. A circle of grass about four feet in diameter has been charred black. Within it are three smaller symbols representing a large hut, each with a number in it. The house in the northeast has “3” in it, the southern house a “5” and the western house an “8”.
46. A stone post with a few runes on it stands by the side of the path. The engraving is vertical; from the top there are two symbols and an arrow pointing in the direction you have come from, then three more symbols and an arrow pointing in the direction you are heading. None make any immediate sense.
47. There are signs of a nomad camp, but it is hard to say how many tribes folk were present as visible traces are either faint or simply old. Horse, camel, and bullock prints are dotted around the site and head from east to west.
48. The path you are following has become increasingly surrounded by a sea of blooming wildflowers. The drone of bees is pleasantly soporific, and you decide to stop. By good fortune, you spot a natural hive in the ground, a potential source of reviving honey.
49. There are obvious signs of drought for miles around the path you are following. You have not seen many grazing herbivores, and signs of game have been few and far between. You begin to wonder if you have enough rations to reach your destination, which is days away.
50. A strong breeze brings the smell of smoke to you. As you look in the direction it has come from, you see a grassland fire in the distance. An hour later, you begin to hear the flames as well, as they chase you across the pampas. You are now no more than 30 minutes ahead of the blaze.
51. As you stride into the wind, you see a storm in the distance coming toward you. Twenty minutes later, the first few drops blown in on the wind hit you. In another five minutes it is clear you will be traveling in a torrential downpour unless you can find shelter. You cannot see the far limit of the rainclouds.
52. Your route so far has been kind to you, with chalk downland being the predominant terrain. But you have entered a region where flushed sedge grass and swampy shrubland are everywhere. You find you must slow your pace or risk slipping and losing items in the muck and mire.
53. A skull-shaped rock rests by the side of the path as you reach the cross point of two routes. Within it remain four handfuls of trail rations, each one consisting of enough berries, seeds, and nuts to keep someone going for three-to-four hours. Buried beneath the rock is a small wooden box holding a few copper coins.
54. There are indications that a caravan has stopped at this point, judging by the circles of wagon tracks and remains of fodder bales. Other than that, only a single small fire pit can be uncovered.
55. A three-foot-tall teak post has a square slate plaque attached to its top. The slate has symbols for 12 different languages etched deeply into the surface. The grass around the post in a 15-ft radius is flatter than elsewhere, with 12 small stones placed unequally around the circumference.
56. A four-foot menhir is partially buried next to a small spring. The stone has two symbols for water chiseled into it, and both have a sun and a number next to them. The northwest indicator has a “6” beside it, the eastward-pointing symbol a “2”.
57. At a path crossing point there are signs of a score of horses having stamped around excitedly for a short while before galloping off to the southwest. A single metal insignia can be found. It comes from a local regional light cavalry war party.
58. You are becoming suspicious of the waymarks you are following as they are taking you steadily away from the expected path. This fourth one shows signs of having been tampered with deliberately.
59. This grassland is some distance from the nearest desert, but there are obvious signs a dust storm has blown over in the last week or so. Enough reddish-brown sand has been deposited for animal prints to be easily spotted and identified.
60. Within a circle of large boulders, including one that has clearly been moved in the last few days judging by the disturbed and flattened grass, lie piles of ash-colored flakes shaped like weapons. Whatever material they were made of seems to have decayed rapidly in the open air. A purple glass bottle holding a small amount of fungoid-smelling violet liquid sits deep in the boulder’s shadows.
61. A circle of grass six feet across has been cleared to reveal the earth beneath. Across the diameter, shale has been used to form symbols from an old runic language. If read from left to right, the message loses meaning about two-thirds the way through. If read from right to left, the same happens, but the message is different.
62. The remains of a circular corral lay about the grass, with dozens of small boot prints and hundreds of hoof marks in the ground in and around the debris. It looks like the creatures held within the fence line–perhaps llamas, if the fur and wool attached to some posts tell a true tale–decided to break out or were scared into a stampede.
63. A sudden rustling in the tall grass to your right has you gripping your hilt, but the sound moves away from you. Then, suddenly, a deer leaps clear over your head, glancing at you as it does so. Before you can react, it vanishes into the shoulder-high grass again.
64. There are signs of rabbits along the path, but none of the actual creatures themselves. But you are not the only one after them. High overhead, the clear shape of an eagle soars along the same path you are following. It dips its ring wing and heads away from you, before diving to earth to make a kill.
65. As you head east, the dipping sun behind you lights up a strangely shaped tree. As you approach, it turns out a trio of goats are high in its branches, grazing on leaves. They watch you pass beneath them, before one gives a sonorous bleat when you are five yards beyond the tree.
66. Something–things–are moving parallel to you through the grass. You hear snatches of a strained cackle mixed with chatter, but the words are unclear. Suddenly, a great dog stands ten yards from you, its shaggy tan fur splashed with black and brown stripes. The hyena raises its head and laughs at you before trotting quickly away.
67. A strangely formed creature is flying on a path diagonal to the one you are on and will cross it about 50 yards ahead of you. As it nears, its bright, multi-colored plumage and serpentine sheen reveal it to be a flying snake, one that is carrying a scroll in its coils.
68. You spot a horse cropping some rich grass before you see its rider, sitting on a log by a small fire. She greets you, the official insignia of the destination you are heading for displayed on her left shoulder. It seems your arrival is known about, and that this guard is here to escort you.
69. The whine of a thousand mosquitoes assails you as you reach a pool, but the insects have been an annoyance for hours. But as you approach the water, you feel slightly buffeted from behind, and then a short sharp pain in your neck. After a moment, you realize a stirge is attacking you!
70. Your hunt for food has taken you along a series of animal trails, but you have seen nothing. Then from around a bend, you hear snorting and something slashing at the tall grass. Without warning a great pig appears about 30 feet in front of you, its anger clearly visible in its eyes. It arches its shoulders and begins to charge toward you!
71. Initially, it looked like you had disturbed a slither of snakes, but as you move around it, a single giant viperine some eight feet long unballs itself and threatens you with its sharp-pointed venomous fangs.
72. Your destination is on the far side of a range of low hills, and the grassland surrounding them is beginning to become much sparser. You spot a small humanoid running in parallel to you about a hundred yards away. Even at that distance you hear its curse when it realizes it has been seen, and the angry “Bree-Yark!” imprints itself on your brain. An arrow from a shortbow rapidly follows the words.
73. The savannah path skirts a series of copses, and you become aware of a spotted leopard on a high branch of one of them. It has a kill with it and flattens its ears as you approach but does no more than that. Moving closer provokes a deep-chested rumble that turns into a threatening screech-like roar.
74. Your route has taken you far from civilization, and the grassland is now an ancient type. As you skirt a small lake, the shadow of a creature above you, its streamlined wingspan perhaps 20 feet across, draws your attention. Before you know it, the pteranodon is aiming its shark beak straight at you!
75. It is unusual to see a single wolf, so the prime specimen on the trail ahead is a surprise. It snarls as you approach but moves away. When you reach the spot where you first saw the wolf, you find a dead goblin. It has assorted snares on it, plus a bridle and small leather saddle. Is the wolf its mount, or was the beast being hunted. The wolf now stands watching you.
76. Within a confusion of claw prints that look like they were made by a very large chicken, or a turkey, are several mouse heads. More surprisingly, there are two stone mice near a hole in the ground. As you watch, one suddenly becomes a real mouse and scurries below ground. Then the sounds of leathery wings being beaten wildly, along with a hoarse squawking, reaches your ears.
77. What initially looks like a mangy, oversized canine sniffing the ground some two-hundred yards away suddenly becomes a hide armor-clad humanoid standing almost seven feet tall. It snaps toward you, its teeth bared, and snatches up a longbow. The arrow races in your direction, the tip a vicious barb, just as a demonic laugh reaches your ears. The gnoll turns away and lopes off steadily.
78. If the ordinary insects that have plagued you have not been annoying enough, a deeper drone warns you that some giant variant is close by. When the wasp appears, some six feet long and with a wicked-looking sting, it hovers about 100 feet from you, clearly waiting for the perfect moment to dart in
79. The recent indistinct trail has left you unsure if you have been heading in the right direction, and your pace has slowed significantly. So, meeting the half-elf resting near the track was fortunate, not least as she proves to know the region well. She quickly sets you on the right path, before heading off to continue tracking a trouble-making group of goblins.
80. You have kept away from the assorted insect hives and mounds you have seen on your route, but as daylight fades, you miss the logs hidden by the tall grass. On disturbing them, centipedes rush from the fragile wood to defend their home. The swarm quickly surrounds you, angrily biting anything with which it comes into contact.
81. Until about 15 minutes ago, you had seen the rising dust of a humanoid approaching you across the plain, but it stopped by a pile of boulders and dense thorn bushes. As you approach, movement to your left catches your eye, but on turning that way, a boulder wrapped in thick, spiny branches rolls from the top of the pile toward you. A bugbear appears atop the heap, judges your strength, and leaves rapidly.
82. You have spotted ordinary vultures throughout the day, but they have kept their distance. But now an enormous creature flies lazily overhead, a giant of its kind that momentarily blocks the sun. It lands ahead of you, a malevolent glint in its eyes, and calls to the rest of the kettle from the air, and the smaller vultures gather before their leader like a murderous committee.
83. As the sun begins to set, and you consider making camp, you are surprised by the appearance of a relatively small humanoid from a disguised bolt hole. It is clearly a goblinoid, but its physique and array of tribal tattoos suggest it is something more than a common goblin! It sneers at you as it rushes away.
84. You spotted the pride of lions about five minutes ago, aware that the breeze blowing toward it probably alerted the group to your presence a while back. You adjust your path to circle them, but two of the largest females begin to bound in your direction, covering the ground quickly. Their deep-chested rumbles are clearly a warning.
85. Whatever has been following you for the last three hours has been getting closer by the minute. You stop, the weight of your recent successful hunt slowing you down. A bizarre, four-legged humanoid creature also slows, looking like an insectoid centaur. It stands on its hind legs and grasps unusual weapons in its now-four hands! It clacks its mandibles, waves its antennae, points at your food, and tips its head to one side in a clearly question-like manner.
86. Your path takes you across a dried floodplain that has huge ferns growing on it. As you look behind, you see a large bipedal lizard, some 30 feet long, about 400 yards away. Anyone who knows their beasts recognizes the dinosaur as an allosaurus, a predator known to track prey for many miles. You decide to increase your pace.
87. Even at this distance, the size and gait of the humanoid loping along parallel to you is clearly a gnoll. But something about its bearing and vivid fur, plus the glaive it is carrying, stops you from approaching too closely. Indeed, you suddenly catch the glint of totems and other tokens attached to its armor and piercing its body, suggesting it is probably a pack alpha and a troublesome foe.
88. The frantic sound of flies reaches your ears just before the stench of rotting meat hits your nose. Then the bristle-haired back of a horse-sized creature slopes up before you as it slashes with wickedly sharp lower tusks at the stomach of a fallen herbivore. Its ears twitch, and red eyes that seem too small for such a large boar turn toward you. Then you see they are crusted with gore.
89. Far ahead on the track you are following, a large humanoid is lazily wandering along. It is clad in hides and has what looks like a tree strapped to its back. As the wind changes direction, it sniffs the air, as if it has caught a scent, but it keeps going. Then its tree roots get tangled with a bush, and in an instant, it grabs the trunk and violently thrashes at the offending plant until it is flattened.
90. You glance skywards and catch sight of a great eagle, if the head and wings are a clear indication. But then, as it passes overhead, you are surprised to see the beast has four legs and a body covered in sand brown fur. A griffon! It circles about and flies lower to take a look at you.
91. Some 100 yards ahead of you, a humanoid crouches at ground level, checking imprints in the path: an orc! But this individual looks better equipped and sharper than the usual orc. It is more muscled too, and blue tinged. As it turns toward you, its tusks and eyes are clean and clear. “This is no ordinary orc,” you think to yourself as the orog strides off, following the animal tracks.
92. Several great beasts graze at a distance to your right. One in particular catches your eye, its huge nose horn at least five feet long. This enormous male rhino is watching over three females and their young. While it continues to eat, one ear is clearly focused on you. The hide looks almost impenetrable.
93. Far above, the outline shadow of a draconic-winged beast passes overhead in the direction you are moving. It glides to earth about 400 yards away, and you hear a leonine roar. As you move closer, a humanoid voice drifts toward you, asking for help. Then, unexpectedly, a long, yellow-brown spiked mace appears above the tall grass.
94. A humanoid bristling with weapons passes by the party within hailing distance. Although the person is concealed by a hooded cloak, two rows of campaign medals are visible on their chest. If spoken with, the person proves to have fought in many wars of the last decade and has a veteran’s useful knowledge about the relationships between local tribes and settlements.
95. Until quite recently, you were sure that a large cat was stalking you, almost certainly a tiger if the glimpses you caught through the dense, tall grass were anything to go by. However, your spirits are raised when sounds of the creature being chased off reach your ears and a tall human with large eyes, a long nose and sharp cheekbones approaches you casually, her thick red hair glossy in the sunlight.
96. From within the thick scrub some 30 yards away from the track comes a sound like a leathery sail tightening in the wind. This is followed by a deep rumble, then the appearance of a huge cow elephant and her eight-strong family.
97. Dozens of footprints are evidence that four or five huge beasts have angrily trampled this area. Nearby, the body of a now-mostly eaten large humanoid has the 6-inch tip of a great horn lodged in its skull. An expert can identify the horn as that of a triceratops.
98. A patch of grass some dozen feet across has been torn violently from the ground. About 15 feet from it are four footprints from a monstrous creature. One has evidence of a crushed halfling in it, the pulp still bloody. Signs of a collapsed tunnel lead from the hole, and a curved band of what looks and even feels like armor is caught on the hole’s rim.
99. The head and right shoulder of a scorched hog smolder a short way off the path. In what is left of its flank is the tip of a goat’s horn. There is hair from a lion’s mane and some tough red scales between its teeth. The smoke around the body suggests the kill happened within the last 10 minutes.
100. A pile of dung about three feet tall and composed of two dozen spheres roughly eight inches in diameter steams gently before you. An expert can tell you, depending on their knowledge, that it comes from: a dragon and is less than 40 minutes old; a young dragon and is less than 20 minutes old; a young gold dragon and is less than five minutes old.