Hex Crawl 23 #59: A Stream in Trouble

Three hexes northeast, one hex north of Alakran.

Normally in healthy flow, this stream has dried to a trickle, dammed up in the hex to the northwest to further some sinister machinations underground. Dying grass and shrubs at its side in the valley are one consequence of this hydrological change. 

A little dull, still? For each of the hex encounters that can reach here, I offer you a "clue" and an encounter tableau.

Rhinos, NE:

Clue - A huge dung midden, fully 30 feet across, built up over years as a territorial marker, and crawling with dung beetles, including d12 giant specimens (as fire beetles).

Encounter - A playful baby rhino is running over a ridge right toward you. A minute later, its mother appears to fetch it, and a minute after that, the rest of the herd. 

Winged camels, SE:

Clue - Up in the sky! It's one winged camel, pursuing another. Oh, looks like a ... mating flight?

Encounter -Three winged camels, taking a break from flying, lapping up the fresher water in the stream whch tastes better than their increasingly brackish lake.

Brass dragons, SW: 

Clue - A blackened vaguely human outline on the ground, surrounded by charred grass and half-melted sand, aftermath of dragon breath applied to a lone marauder from the dam cave.

Encounter - One of them is rolling around in the riverbed, between the grit and water trying to get a good polish on their scales.

Mystery caverns, NW (if using the Pod Caverns module):

Clue - An area of uprooted plants and oddly featureless footprints. Perhaps the pod people have been seeking biomass for the Shroom's experiments?

Encounter - What looked like rocks or clumps of pallid cactus are actually pod-men -- eight of them, rising up in a slow and terrifying ambush, completely surrounding you.