Roadbacks are heavy, low-bodied animals found in upland forest, dry valleys, and regions crossed by ancient buried routes.
Their broad backs are covered in layered plates of rough skin where moss, lichen, and seeds often take root. At rest, a Roadback resembles a weathered boulder.
They possess poor eyesight but extraordinary sensitivity to vibration. By resting their jaws and forelimbs against the ground, they can detect changes in stone pressure far below the surface.
The migration
Groups may remain nearly motionless for months. Then, without visible cause, every Roadback in the region begins moving in the same direction.
Tarlaxian communities interpret such migrations as warnings. They may indicate:
- an underground collapse
- a disturbed source zone
- an old sealed route becoming active
- pressure moving beneath a mountain
- water changing course
- machinery operating where none should exist
Roadbacks rarely attack. They simply refuse to stop. A migrating herd can crush fences, roads, walls, plantations, and military formations. Attempts to turn them usually fail because the animals are following a disturbance deeper than any obstacle above them.
Some communities walk beside the herds, using their movement to rediscover routes lost after landslides, war, or forced displacement.
Do not ask where they are going. Ask what is coming from behind them.
At the table
Roadbacks serve as living warnings. Their migration can reveal a deeper threat before characters understand its nature.