WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0115 0115
Bạn đang xem bản rút gọn của tài liệu. Xem và tải ngay bản đầy đủ của tài liệu tại đây (1.55 MB, 1 trang )
Chapter 5: TRAVERSING THE WASTELANDS
Common Caravan
Statistics
Thakal Train
Vehicles & Pack Animals: 8-24 thakal-drawn carts;
Personnel: 1 merchant, 4-12 guards, 4-12 teamsters,
0-20 followers;
Common Cargo: grain, water, coal, stones, or bricks
Small Caravan
Vehicles & Pack Animals: 3-5 trisaur-drawn mahuuth wagons, 10-15 thakal-drawn carts, 0-3 howdahbearing elephants, 0-1 howdah-bearing colossadants,
40-90 burden-carrying slaves;
Personnel: 4-8 merchants, 20-30 guards, 10-20
teamsters, 50-100 followers;
Common Cargo: grain, water, coal, wood, wine and
mead, pottery, slaves
Modest Caravan
Vehicles & Pack Animals: 6-12 trisaur-drawn mahuuth wagons, 20-40 thakal-drawn carts, 2-8 howdahbearing elephants, 0-4 howdah-bearing colossadants,
80-160 burden-carrying slaves;
Personnel: 8-14 merchants, 40-70 guards, 30-50
teamsters, 90-180 followers;
Common Cargo: grain, water, coal, wood, wine,
mead, pottery, raw chitin, slaves, exotic vegetables,
dried & salted meats, hides, leather, textiles, and
clothing
Vast Caravan
Vehicles & Pack Animals: 12-36 trisaur-drawn
mahuuth wagons, 40-120 thakal-drawn carts, 6-24
howdah-bearing elephants, 1-12 howdah-bearing colossadants, 160-320 burden-carrying slaves;
Personnel: 12-24 merchants, 80-200 guards, 50-90
teamsters, 180-360 followers;
Common Cargo: grain, water, coal, wood, wine and
mead, pottery, slaves, raw chitin, exotic vegetables,
dried & salted meats, hides, leather, textiles, clothing,
metal, gemstones & jewels, weapons, armor, documents, and magical scrolls
In addition to human followers, the rich leavings behind
a caravan make them the new “rivers of life,” especially
in the most desolate regions. Offal, dung, and carrion attract scavengers, squawking birds, sand worms, and all
the filth and disease that go along with them. Shambling,
desperate refugees live along these caravan routes as
well, foraging among the scraps cast off along the roadside, then preying upon each other when those meager
resources are picked clean. Bandits, in turn, prey upon
the refugees in a perpetual circle of anguish.
Travel’s Enemies
Caravans must guard against a broad variety of enemies, some monstrous, some human, some indefinable,
but all dangerous to either personnel or profits.
Bandits: Bandits are a constant threat, and posting
guards upon and among the wagons protects against
their ever-present encroachment. They come from a
variety of backgrounds—failed military units or deserters, refugees with enough weapons to be a threat, or
even guards trying to reclaim things stolen from their
benefactors. Most bandits are human, but they sometimes attract krikis or pachyaur allies. Bandits commonly attack at dawn or at dusk, when vulnerable caravans shift between encampment and mobility. Caravan
scouts hold dangerous jobs, as bandits visit vengeance
on those they capture and often use them as warnings,
leaving their remains where their employers can find
them the next morning. Some outside sources subsidize
bandit gangs to harm specific caravans or targets: rival
caravans or merchants, dying cities hoping to stave off
their own destruction, or even Bev al-Khim who have
no compunction buying goods from thieves.
Monsters: Monstrous threats always stalk the countryside. While less organized and more often desperate,
half-staved beasts can smell a caravan from a long way
off and wait slavering for an opportunity to pounce upon
someone or something straying from the pack. A wagon
train’s animals are particularly vulnerable, so they must
be protected; the loss of even one thakal or trisaur could
mean leaving behind a fortune in valuable cargo.
Progress & Speed
Caravan trains move slowly across the wastelands.
Fully laden wagons move no more quickly than a walking man, and delays are common: wheels break, beasts
complain and rebel, and slaves need discipline. Wind
builds heavy dunes across the roads. Heat exhausts the
animals. It is no wonder that caravan masters regularly
promise clients to make 20 miles per day but often accomplish barely half of that.
Nocturnal creatures make travel by night far too dangerous, even in the deadly heat of summer. To guard
against night attacks, careful caravans circle wagons
tightly and erect hasty defenses every night. Watchful eyes scan past the edge of torchlight and raise the
alarm against monsters or bandits who approach too
closely from the darkness. Woe to the caravan master
113
