10 Highways & Byways
The road calls to adventurers, but not all roads are created equal. Some are major routes, full of mercantile and other traffic, while others are barely trails meandering through remote wilderness. Below are descriptions of some paths that may lead to adventure.
This fine road sees heavy traffic, and its value is reflected in its construction. Stone pavers keep travel smooth and mud to a minimum. Along the sides of the road, wooden posts mark the miles to the nearest major city or, for those who know the area, to the nearest inn or hostel. Wide grassy strips along the roadside give clear sight lines to help deter bandits, offer a place for cattle and steeds to graze or enable slower travellers to give way to those moving at speed.
If the pungent smell of cow dung weren’t enough to give it away, twin ruts on this grassy road reveal its most frequent users: farmers and herders driving their wares to market. Cutting through the countryside, the road meanders through wide open fields, high grasses waving in the wind. Only the occasional farmhouse and barn, or telltale sign of chimney smoke, breaks the monotonous view.
Dust hangs over this well-trod road, which runs parallel to a wide, sparkling river, and a smaller dirt track through the grass at the water’s edge. Traffic on the road is steady, but largely on foot—weary looking people who can only watch as those with means take to boats. The richest sail or are rowed down the river, miles passing beneath them as they take their ease. Those of more modest means ride ferries, pulled by mules and oxen plodding along the bank.
Trees’ branches loom overhead, casting dark shadows over much of the dirt road that meanders through this thick forest. Wide enough for two horses to ride abreast, the hard-packed soil offers solid footing, but no smooth passage for anyone who may have the misfortune of riding in a wagon or carriage. Heavy undergrowth grows just off the path, providing cover for predatory animals—or other things—lurking nearby.
This dwarven-made stone path hugs the side of the mountain; a jagged cliff wall rising high above on one side, and nothing but open air and a long fall on the other. The occasional fallen boulder makes the path all the more treacherous, forcing passers-by who prefer to hug the rock face to move away from safety toward the open side of the path to pass.
Barely worthy of being called a road and certainly not wide enough for travellers to move in more than single file, this animal track meanders through the wilderness. Sharp shrubs and bushes stab the legs of those on this overgrown path, leaving ample evidence of travellers’ passage for those trained to spot it. Riders must duck low-hanging branches and veer completely around the occasional fallen tree.
Pieces of worked stones poke through the earth and grass on this ancient thoroughfare. Sometimes the ancient road is whole enough to smooth passage, other times it is broken and jagged, little more than a tripping hazard to be avoided. Signs of the road's ancient history are evident in the crumbling wall that still serpentines alongside even if it no longer provides any true delineation between the road and the encroaching wilderness.
This moss path through the forest leads straight ahead, almost as if the trees themselves were moving out of its way. Where a moment before it looked like a traveller might have to duck to avoid a low-hanging branch, it seems to crook at the last moment, angling itself around a head or high-rising gear. A glance back reveals the woods closing in behind the travellers, only a few dozen feet of road visible before nature obliterates any sign of passage. Glimpses of small mushroom circles in the underbrush offer tantalising hint of what forces may keep the way open, but always seem just out of reach.
Water drips steadily down the cave walls, feeding the bioluminescent moss that lights this subterranean realm in ominous shades of purple. This underground road rises and falls with the cavern’s natural flow, at times giving expansive views of the surrounds, while other times forcing travellers to duck their head or squeeze through a tight passage that offers only a way forward and no chance to turn back.
A dark miasma hangs over this grim road, paved with sun-bleached bones. Largely comprised of longer bones—arms and legs—tightly fit together, it provides a sure path for those on foot or in a wagon or carriage. More dreadful are the sections comprised of skulls. Most are buried in the ground, serving as ominous, rounded cobblestones, but some few are set face up, vacant eye sockets staring eternally in judgment at those treading upon them.
This article is an extract from 20 Things #64: On the Road. Add the book to your GM’s toolkit today! Alternatively, check out the 20 Things Archive for more handy, flavoursome and time-saving 20 Things articles ready for immediate use in your campaign.
Design Jacob W. Michaels Art William McAusland
