Trailgaunt

Legends warn of trailgaunts-the twitching, rotting corpses of seasoned travelers who became lost on their journeys and died of starvation, thirst, or exposure to the elements. These troubled souls, the tales say, rise at the next sunset as tormented undead, doomed to forever search for the road they lost in life. Always wandering, the trailgaunt treads the ground over and over until its legs wear down to bloodied stumps. Even then, it staggers on, groaning in constant pain. Consumed with agony and a hatred for travelers of all kinds, they prey on those who-like they once did-stray from their path.

Lacking feet, a trailgaunt is slow but largely impervious to obstacles in its path, shambling at an equal pace through boggy mires, thick brambles, and desert sands. Yet, these horrors come to a halt at the edge of any well-maintained road, which are the only barriers to their endless wanderings, since they can't willingly tread upon the roads that betrayed them.

Because so much of Varisian culture centers around travel, trailgaunts often turn up in their legends. Most depictions of trailgaunts include Varisian clothing, tattoos, or jewelry, but these undead arise around the world, each bearing the trappings of the cultures they lost. Further north, along the Crown of the World, trailgaunts wail amid howling winds, shivering as they shamble through the snow.

Along Garund's Golden Road, trailgaunts are common sights in the trackless desert wastes, where even an experienced traveler can easily lose their way. To the south, travelers lost in the Mwangi Expanse who starve before being eaten themselves become damp, mossy trailgaunts.

While most travelers who hear a trailgaunt's wail know to run fast and far, some adventurers intentionally seek out these undead. Few trailgaunts perish with no belongings at all, and many poor souls doomed to this fate were once merchants or adventurers who carried substantial wealth and magical treasure-some of which still might be on their person. It never occurs to these treasure seekers that in their pursuit of such riches they might become trailgaunts themselves.