Hex Crawl 23 #246: Dogs of the Targatan March

Five hexes southwest, six northwest of Alakran.

 

Unlike the cohesive populations found elsewhere, this is a recently split group of mixed-breed strays that now form a pack of 20 under a grizzled black pointy-eared hound and a pack of 10 under a more robust but less canine-charismatic competitor, a low slinking yellow mutt with a tufted tail.

They slink around the villages nearby and the Sun's Greeting Castle, picking up food where they can, and fading into the mazy rocklands to the west if seriously pursued. As they are pests, the neighboring populations might pay for their extermination, but each one will insist that the others also pay their share before they contribute. Getting paid for a campaign against the dogs might be as much a matter of diplomacy as of tracking and combat.

Hex Crawl 23 #243: Wild Pigs of the Dryland

Two hexes southwest, nine northwest of Alakran.

Here we have a population of wild pigs that roams the adjoining regions. Technically, taxonomically, they're not pigs but peccaries or javelinas, half-sized compared to the normal wild boars in your fantasy game. They travel in groups of 10-40, mark their territory with musk, and live off desert plants and nibbling at the edges of cultivated fields. They are the target of an annual autumn hog hunt held among the Wahatti special forces, in which axe-beak riders flush out the game and move them toward the infantry, which has at them with sling, bow, and spear.

For ordinary travelers, to be realistic, they pose no threat unless these are hungry times for the herd, or unless the travelers want to emulate the warriors of Wahattu and feast on the gamy, strong-scented meat of these near-swine.

Hex Crawl 23 #236: Red Dogs

Six hexes northwest, four north of Alakran.

 

A marker for several clans of wild dogs, 12-36 strong, who roam a roughly 12-mile radius in this zone. We can model these desert canines on the diurnal South Asian dhole. Reddish-coated and almost fox-like, they are found in hunting packs of 3-5 half the time, and the rest of the time in their full clan. These dogs utter cooing sounds while maneuvering and loud yelps when attacking. If their lair is found, it is an underearth den with one or more chambers, and yes, 25% chance of some incidental treasure, you looting ghouls.

Despite being a traditional part of wilderness encounters, dogs like these really are more part of local color than a serious encounter, if played with an eye to their actual behavior. Maybe they are a threat to battered survivors of a larger battle, or to near-dead individuals left alone while their companions foolishly seek help. Otherwise, a group of these dholes is more likely to watch from a distance, and flee wisely if adventurers make a sudden move on them looking for experience points.

The local villagers hate and fear these dogs, but refrain from exterminating them out of rumors of a "special one" who lurks among them -- a crossbreed with a werecreature, demon, or even dragon, depending on who you ask.