a clearing in which stands an empty cottage. It looks as though the owner has just stepped out. Needless to say, said owner will not return . . .
Hunting encounters...
An encounter with an animal who looks at the party members with a notably intelligent look, waits for and lets the party (or an individual to) follow for a One-line while, and then disappears.
Will o' the Wisps whom the party never manages to encounter
"The forest here is dark. A silence so heavy that you can feel it seems to drape over you. Nothing is moving, singing, chirping . . . nothing." You can almost HEAR the spooky music, huh?
Stereotypical encounters that turn out other than the ordinary.
A woodsman walking through the woods with a bag of heads.
A lost dwarf, down to his last wineskin
A philosopher, out pondering the wilderness.
A madman, who tries to convince the party that he is the King/Duke/whatever.
A large gathering of small children, with no adults in the vicinity.
A virgin tied to a tree for a dragon sacrifice.
A dragon, muzzled and chained to the ground.
The vanguard of an army
A group of bandits.
101 Dalmatians
An animal who "adopts" a party member.
A sound of crashing through the trees, going away from the party.
A dinosaur.
A very old blind woman with a raven on her shoulder. She walks without bumping into anything.
A rainstorm of frogs.
A hailstorm.
An earthquake
A young goblin girl, eating a raw squirrel haunch. She's good-intentioned.
An incredibly peaceful nature scene... a waterfall, the pool of which is surrounded by trees. The only thing marring the area's beauty are the various bones scattered around the pool. Cause? An old hill giant, living in a cave behind the waterfall. He's peaceful and somewhat articulate.