Highway Encounters
Highway encounters are challenging to create. The highway shouldn't be excessively dangerous, because it's the one part of the country that the authorities are actively trying to keep safe. If people are regularly encountering dragons on the main road between Iskandar and Tulsk, how does trade function? No, most of the creatures you encounter on the highway are going to be other people, and that means you need to find some good cues that will cause the PCs to engage. Ideally you provide enough detail to make the NPC interesting and sow the seeds of a potential conflict.
Two acolytes (Aurora and Valeska) in the service of Shayla, god of the night, are vadalising a roadside altar dedicated to Gahrian, god of the sun. The stone altar is engraved with circles and rays and painted gold.
A berserker named Alfrik is on the side of the road with his pet dire wolf, feeding it live rabbits. His greataxe is badly notched, and he offers to buy a weapon from the characters.
Three boars are hard at work devouring a blueberry bush on the side of the road. If the characters get too close, they become aggressive.
Five blood hawks are eating a dead sheep on the road. They squawk angily if approached. If the characters try to bypass them, one of them takes to the air and follows them for a time.
Four personable young women (Ashling, Mayv, etc) and their mastiff are camping beside the road. They invite the characters to join them for wine, but they are bandits, and draw swords when everyone relaxes.
Two veterans of the Fiend War, Kamaria and Viliam, are by the side of the road. Viliam was thrown from his horse and broke his leg, and Kamaria is assisting him. They are grateful for any assistance.
An amber merchant named Kyra is taking her fancy cart for a drive and is taking up the whole road. Business has been good recently, and so she rewarded herself with this new vehicle. She is well-travelled and can share rumors from far-off lands.
A fashionably-dressed noble named Jiona Callain is whipping a young man named Usheen by the side of the road. Usheen is a scullion in Jiona’s town house, and recently stole a valuable silver statue before fleeing.
A pauper named Cenek sits on the side of the road, begging for alms. He wears tight, sparkling clothing and has magnificent teeth. He was previously part of a circus troupe, but was fired for various indescretions. He pleads for a generous gift.
A silky-haired herb trader called Radosa is on the road. She is smoking a mildly intoxicating plant called nightweed, and she offers to sell some to the characters for a few silvers.