Dangerous Cargo

The wreckage of a small wagon can be seen to the side of the road, overturned, with splintered wood and bone shards strewn about. A cage-like structure, composed of large bones lashed together with thick strips of leather, is attached at the back of the wagon. The top of the cage is smashed open. Close inspection might reveal that the bone bars have been broken from inside the cage.

Several corpses, presumably those of the caravan guards, lie lifeless on the ground, as do three kanks still attached to the wagon they died pulling. A fourth kank, somehow freed from its harness, is ripped to shreds, lying dismembered some thirty feet from the wreckage. The stench of dead kank permeates the area.

As the characters examine the site, a plank of wood suddenly shifts, and a man crawls towards them from beneath the wreckage. If conversed with, the man introduces himself as Hesteg, a reaver currently under the employ of the High Templar of the Games in Urik. He succeeded, he felt, in his duty to acquire a rare and exotic beast for the arena. Unfortunately, the creature managed to escape, and Hesteg now fears reprisal from his employer.

The creature may have escaped on its own – having done so when the wagon overturned – or may have even somehow caused the wreck in the first place. It may have, instead, been set free – whether by intention, or as a result of an unrelated attack on the caravan. Either way, Hesteg vehemently requests the characters’ aid in recapturing the beast.

If the characters do not feel inclined to help track the creature, there’s no telling who might fall prey to its attacks.