Lonely Places You Can Roll-up

These are lonely places, hidden or forgotten; places where people don’t generally go or pass by without stopping.

Sanctuaries

These are quiet, sanctified places, where the outside world rarely encroaches, but often decrepit or entirely abandoned.

1d12	Sanctuary
1	A great statue of a god or saint dominating the landscape, perhaps fallen.
2	Shrine to a nearly forgotten deity.
3	An ancient temple at a hot springs with still-working baths.
4	A summoning circle in a secluded spot.
5	A cave high in the mountains with frozen (inanimate) mummies.
6	Burial ground of a battle of the Middle Kingdom.
7	Barrow mounds of the ancient clans.
8	Statuary garden at a ruined Imperial villa, some marking the graves of family members.
9	Small ruined church or temple, all that’s left of some village lost in the plague times.
10	An ancient tree that ensures the health of the land, watched over by druids and elves.
11	A plateau shrouded in an enchanted fog that causes confusion, guarding the entrance to the otherwise simple cave tomb of a great hero.
12	Minor pilgrimage site with few visitors.

Monuments

Monuments can be current or from the distant past. They are a good way to slip some lore into an adventure.

1d12	Monument
1	A line of standing stones with carved tops and holes that, on a particular day, cast a unified shadow that reveals a mysterious symbol; its meaning is unknown.
2	A great statue dominating the landscape (a hero or monarch).
3	A line of standing stones with carved tops and holes that, on a particular day, cast a unified shadow that reveals a mysterious symbol; its meaning is unknown.
4	An ancient standing stone with mysterious runes that, if deciphered, tell of the early days of the folk of this land.
5	A stone arch of triumph, commemorating a great victory in war for the Old Empire.
6	The figure of a triple spiral carved into the turf of a hill, exposing bright white chalk. Arcane magic performed in the triskelion under moonlight is more powerful than usual.
7	The figure of a horse carved into the turf of a hill, exposing bright white chalk. Horses foaled in the vicinity grow strong and shrewd.
8	Trio of stone swords embedded in platform, a monument to three great heroes.
9	A ring of standing stones of a design that, on particular days, hails the equinoxes (equal day and night) and solstices (longest and shorted days).
10	A monopteros of the Old Empire (or gazebo of the Middle Kingdom), overgrown but intact and shading a well, commemorating a conquest.
11	A tholos of the Old Empire, partly ruined but containing a heavy bronze map of the realm.
12	A bronze statue so large that it’s hollow and can be climbed up inside to look out its eyes or come out its ear on its shoulder.

Markers

Markers tend to be current, altho old, outdated markers often survive when they are large and interesting, allowing for some history in your adventure.

Markers are often in seemingly random locations in the middle of nowhere. But they are also often right where people will see them when they pass by on a road or trail.

1d12	Marker
1	Old mile marker indicating the distance to a nearby city (if on a road).
2	Warning sign for a monster lair or hunting territory.
3	Pikes for displaying the heads of outlaws, typically at a crossroads.
4	A gibbet or gallows for hanging or displaying the bodies of outlaws, typically at a crossroads.
5	Place name sign labeling the area or indicating the lord who possesses it.
6	Warning sign for a wild magic zone.
7	Warning sign for an anti-magic zone.
8	Warning sign for a monster lair or hunting territory.
9	Boundary stone marking a current or outdated border or land boundary.
10	Ancient stone with the same message in three languages, announcing the conquest of the land and the formation of the Middle Kingdom.
11	Statues or other sculptures meant to demonstrate ownership of a territory (borderland).
12	Tribal/clan totems warning of a humanoid clan’s territory.

Caves

Caves sometimes lead to large cavern complexes, but they may just be a rock shelter used as a bear (or owlbear) den. Any cave could have prehistoric cave paintings of… (1d12: 1=people (humans, dwarves); 2=humanoids (goblins, orcs); 3=game animals (deer, boar, aurochs); 4=dragons; 5=unidentifiable monsters; 6=mysterious symbols (hands, spirals, circles); 7-9=roll 1d6 twice; 10-12=roll 1d6 three times).

Larger ones are likely occupied, but if the heroes haven’t heard about it, the monsters probably don’t bother people much (oozes, slimes, piercers, trappers, otyughs, or humanoids that haven’t stolen a cart of trade goods recently), so they won’t have much treasure.

1d12	Feature
1	Cave in a wet hollow, partially flooded.
2-3	Cave in the side of a rocky hill.
4	Cave where rocks lean on each other.
5-6	Cave at the bottom of a hole in the ground (pit cave).
7	Cave entrance among the roots of a huge tree.
8	Cave behind a waterfall.
9-10	Cave where a rock formation splits.
11-12	Sinkhole leading to a natural cavern complex, where a river runs underground.

Waters

Fresh water sources tend to give rise to settlements and also to be used for transportation. Real lakes (more than one 1-mile hex) should be mapped.

1d12	Feature
1	Small waterfall and pool.
2	Cascade (water tumbling down a rocky slopes).
3	Swamp/carr (watery woodland).
4	Peat bog (mossy water in a depression atop a hill).
5	Fen (mossy water at the bottom of a hill; often seems solid).
6	Marsh (grassy/reedy pond or river with some shrubbery).
7	Pond (usually having marshy edges).
8	Very small lake (an ox-bow lake, if a river is nearby).
9	Small lake (most of the hex) with an island in the middle.
10	Stream you can easily cross (if on a road or trail, it even has stepping stones)
11	Small river that can be crossed with care (mossy rocks; very slippery).
12	Sizeable river that’s dangerous to cross.

Secret Places

Many of these are enchanted by the presence of a nature spirit or by fae creatures or by some long-gone arcane spellcaster.

1d12	Secret Place
1	Nature spirit’s watery grotto, accessible at low tide with only two feet of water, but don’t get caught going after the wondrous enchanted plants when high tide fills it.
2	A secluded mountain grove enchanted by the presence of a nature spirit, where rare and exotic plants grow and bloom year-round, untouched by winter.
3	A magical hedge maze that rearranges its paths each full moon. At the center is a fountain, statue, or door to a mystery chamber.
4	A rocky hill site where the stones, when struck, emit melodic tones. It is home to a nature spirit and attracts animals, including birds that drop pebbles on the singing stones, filling the air with eerie music.
5	Cave with a passage concealed by mud-plastered rocks leading to… (1d6: 1=a prehistoric tomb; 2=an ancient tomb with interesting grave goods; 3=an old tomb with valuable grave goods; 4=an old vault with a minor treasure in a ceramic urn; 5=a secret escape exit from a dungeon; 6=a cell created by a druid to imprison a wicked but now-weak nature spirit).
6	A secluded valley meadow includes a huge labyrinth made of honeycomb built by giant bees influenced by a long-dead sorceress, whose cottage is at the center. The honey here is the finest and has mystical properties.
7	A deep pool that, under the light of the full moon, allows a person to sacrifice a possession of great value to obtain a boon of the gods (like paying a high-level cleric for a spell).
8	A small, gnarled tree growing out of a crevice in a rock outcropping. This is a “hermit tree”, and if disturbed blossoms quite suddenly with enchanted flowers that, if eaten, provide a random insight–one effect per day per creature; once plucked, the blossoms last one day.
9	An enchanted orchard where the fruits grant pleasant personal effects. They can be taken away but spoil like any normal fruit; effects last until you eat something else.
10	A secluded clear spring, the domain of a nature spirit. Drinking from it give you… (1d6: 1=a snout; 2=tall, furry ears; 3=horns; 4=stub wings; 5=fur all over; 6=a tail). If you seek a cure, a vision reveals that slaying the threat to the spring will remove it.
11	A fairy ring of mushrooms (edible) and toadstools (toxic) around a tree. Eating a mushroom will give the eater a random vision–one effect per day per creature; once plucked, the blossoms last one day. However, plucking a toadstool destroys the ring, which protects the area from the evil that is in the tree….
12	A picturesque pool fed by a tumbling brook, where unicorn hoof prints suggest they bathe. Indeed, bathing here is restorative as a potion of healing, but not if taken away.