Below are some basic environmental descriptions and planned encounters which may or may not be used. For full details on the Desolation, it is recommend you read up on the Desolation page.
The Desolation
The first thing the players see when climbing out of the tunnel is a dry sandy area with some vegetation. There are odd rocky formations around and a pond. Three strange looking herbivore herd animals are drinking at the edge of the pond. They look up in your direction, sniffing the air and bellow mournfully at you. They vaguely resemble lean, powerful elk.
The party begins its journey. The terrain is mostly open, rolling grassland broken up with the occasional hill, copse of trees or rock formation. The following encounters are suggestions for the first day.
Encounter 1A small clusters of trees. Kaelig stops short. He motions for everyone to stop. “I don’t think it’s seen us yet.” The party may question Kaelig. He points to one of the trees and says it's a "deathmauler". Kaelg motions for them to be quiet and move quietly. They party TRIES to slowly sneak by the tree that he pointed to, but the tree turns. It's a deathmauler tree. It attacks. It pulls its roots up and begins striding toward the party. It takes large strides, moves like a spider and is pretty fast.
Encounter 2
Party crests a hill and sees a whole valley filled with Cloaking Bushes. These giant plants have rigid, armored carapaces that, when open, lay on the ground like huge petals. If disturbed, the petals snap shut violently, enclosing the plant in a protective sheath. The armored petal are huge and close so quickly that they can easily chop off a limb if you are too close. The party can either step carefully through this "mine field" or go around. Going around will take about 15 hours out of their way. Going through will require several dozen Dex checks.
Encounter 3
While traveling, the players see a strange looking thing in the ground. It appears to be an oddly shaped pointy dome composed of a black, shiny, scaled carapace. [This is, in fact, the tip of a horde egg sack]. Horde egg sacks are huge black, shell covered things buried in loose soil. They are oblong, about 20 feet long and 10 feet in diameter. Each eggsack is a cluster with between 40 and 100 eggs, all of the same type. Each eggsack has eight legs and is a semi-sentient creature.
If the players investigate it or disturb it in any way, the egg sack will pull itself out of the ground, shake off the dirt and begin to lumber away. If the players choose not to disturb it, you could have some other creature such as an acid jaw, come along and disturb it, just so that the players get to see this massive thing pull itself out of the ground. If they decide to attack it, it will fight to defend the eggs inside it. It has no treasure, although killing it would allow the players to dissect it and learn a great deal about the Horde.
Encounter 4
The party come across the ruins of a small castle and small town around the castle. Mostly rubble and a few standing walls. A few holes and stairs leading down into darkness. A large group of desolation zombies dwells here and they are in hiding all around the ruins, waiting to ambush the party. They have only incidental treasure.
You can make the group of desolation zombies as large as you want. Vary the size to give the players a challenge as you see fit. If the party successfully kills all the desolation zombies, no more come and the party can camp among the ruins if they like. The ruins do provide some shelter. Feel free to have wind and rain arrive, making the ruins look more inviting.
If they camp there, in the middle of the night, they hear a sound. When they investigate, the find four small monkey-like creatures stealing weapons and tools. Perhaps the monkeys manage to make off with a few precious things - coins, daggers, potions, jewelry. Or if you REALLY want to make things interesting, perhaps the monkeys make off with the antidote!
If the party explores the ruins, they come across something they did not expect to see... the body of a human. At least it looks human... a young man with blonde hair wearing clothing of coarse weave and natural dyes. He is dead, but looks to have died only a few days ago. Judging by the claw wounds, he likely fell victim to the desolation zombies. The party should note that he is DEAD... NOT a walking corpse. They have been told that people who die in the Desolation arise a day or two later as a desolation zombie, but this man did not. He also does not look like a Chaddamarian or an Aukarian or any other type of human that the party has encountered so far.
This website was last updated March 31, 2026. Copyright 1990-2026 David M. Roomes.