Just Another Road Thread

[Theo R Cwithin]

Criminals-- alive or dead-- are on display (hanging by the neck, crucified or impaled, in cages, etc).

There is a coffin in a tree.

A bridge is washed out by a swollen river; the road is fallen into a sinkhole, or blocked by a landsline of some sort; a newly built wall has been erected across the road; etc.

Travellers, beggars, wandering fortune tellers, soldiers, etc, who seem suspiciously familiar (perhaps look like a tarot card, a poem, a painting, a fairy tale, etc).

Many animals (crows, gophers, cattle, etc) watch the party intently. They make no noise or do anything at all; they simply watch. If attacked, they quietly flee, but return a few minutes later to take up their watching again.

A dead but out of place animal, such a dinosaur, elephant, magical beast, or the like.

A burned out farm. Investigation suggests the fire started in the barn, at the site of a knocked over lantern next to a charred cow.

Something washes by in a nearby river (a corpse, a wagon, a piece of furniture, a drowning person, a funeral pyre, a locked chest, a church steeple,etc)

 

[Whisper72]

In the middle of a forest, far away from significant water, you see a shipwreck along the side of the road...

Peering into the forest on the side, you see a light. It is an obelisk made of crystal. Trying to harm it does not have any effect...

 

[Gilladian]

A bridge over a river - a major obstacle with no nearby ford or other bridge. In the center of the bridge is a holy man, holding forth on his religion, insisting that each person who passes by pay homage to the (good) god/saint/spirit that he venerates.

All those unwilling to do so are refused the right to cross. Standing beside him, enforcing his requirements, is a huge ugly (whatever evil monster is appropriate - troll, dragon, giant, etc...) which seems to obey his every command. It bears a holy symbol on its chest/forehead/shield.

 

[The Shaman]

The adventurers come upon a large wagon on the side of the road; in the back of the wagon is a large iron cage, strongly built. The cage door is open, and hangs on one bent hinge. Nearby lie two men, their bodies horribly rent by claws and teeth. At the front of the wagon lie the traces of the horse or mule which once pulled it, but there is no sign of any livestock; there is, however, a blood trail leading away from the wagon into the nearby woods, along with large clawed footprints . . .

Marching down the road is a regiment of hobgoblins, easily two hundred or more, accompanied by goblin skirmishers. The skimishers spot the adventurers and commands are relayed; the goblins, with a couple of hobgoblin commanders, deploy in a skirmish line as the rest of the formation executes a wheel-right and moves off the road. As the last of the formation disappears over a rise, the goblins, yelling imprecations in their guttural tongue, form a rear guard and withdraw as well . . .

In the middle of a forest, far away from significant water, you see a shipwreck along the side of the road...

I used something like this in Boot Hill, the wreckage of a Spanish caravel in the middle of the desert.

 

[Stormonu]

At a crossroad, there is a hanging tree. There is a mouldering corpse hanging from the tree, with a crudely made sign reading "murderer" draped on the body. As the characters pass by, the corpse calls out to them, asking for help. It claims to be innocent of the murder it was hung for, and asks the characters to bring the "true" murderer to justice. It claims it can't seek vengenance itself because it can't remember down which trail the village it came from.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

At a crossroad...

You meet a gentleman who would like to make a deal...

 

[Stormonu]

You meet a gentleman who would like to make a deal...

...for a fiddle made of gold

 

[jonesy]

There's a girl up ahead. Her mouth has been heavily gagged with cloth, and there is a fearful look in her eyes. She is standing, but her feet are bound together. Likewise, her hands are bound over her head by strong rope. The rope goes up, and up, and up, into the clouds. There is a small sign in front of her stuck in the grass. Someone has written on it 'this is a trap'.

 

[Stormonu]

From a bit ahead, a raggedly-dressed maiden races towards the party. She falls into their arms, and between tear-soaked sobs, gasps "bandits!" and points to a spot down the road obscured by trees and brush.

Upon investigating, the party find the bandits alright - stewn across the road and with their throats already torn out...

 

[Stormonu]

To one side of the road, you spy the stump of an old tree. Amazing, atop it is what appears to be a young jackalope, for it only has the starting nubs of a pair of antlers. Apparently, it has spotted you, for it freezes in place instead of leaping away....