Signs & Omens

– Pawprints that appear and vanish mid-stride, like the mount isn’t always fully “in” the world.
– Lantern flames bending sideways without wind, then briefly dimming as if smothered.
– A soft clattering of tack or bone charms that stops the moment you listen for it.
– Small valuables missing first (knives, coin purses, tokens), then a sudden escalation to blood.
– Horses refusing a road they’ve taken a hundred times; dogs tucking tail and staring at empty space.
– Strips of cloth tied in trees—raid markers—always on the “wrong” side of the trunk.
– Victims found with precise, efficient wounds: hamstrung, throat-cut, dragged.
– A smear of soot-dark saliva or wet ash smell lingering after a passing shadow.

Where You Might Encounter It

Gloomling raiders are common scout type enemies for gloomling war camps; you'll often encounter these menancing beast in groups of 2, they're entire job is to disrupt and distract so the horde can get behind you.

– Fog-choked roads, forest switchbacks, and narrow ravines where speed matters more than numbers.
– The edges of towns: outer farms, lamp posts, cemeteries, and abandoned trade stations.
– Ruins with lots of cover—collapsed walls, alley networks, broken courtyards.
– Anywhere travel is predictable: bridges, causeways, mountain passes, toll paths.
– After a battle or disaster, when patrol routes thin and people move in groups.
– Near “dark lanes” locals avoid—paths that feel shorter than they should be.

Field Note

You don’t hear the wolf first. You hear the saddle—just once—like a single bead clicking against bone. Then the fog moves wrong, folding around something that isn’t shaped like wind.

The rider was small, too small for the speed it carried. It leaned low, almost hugging the mount’s neck, and the “wolf” ran up a broken stone wall like it was level ground. When it landed, it didn’t thud. It whispered.

They don’t raid like starving scavengers. They raid like professionals. First the lights. Then the legs. Then the choice items—letters, relics, anything sealed. The last thing you smell is wet ash, like a hearth you can’t see, and then you’re alone on a road that suddenly feels longer than it should.

Note to readers
Full stats for the Gloomling appear in the Adversary Compendium. This Raider entry is a preview kit for story use and chase/ambush play; use the standard Gloomling as the baseline and add a mounted twist.