strange places to rest your head d6
1 - shasta's place. small farmhouse with a sturdy 2-level basement, containing rooms for rent. damp, earthy, and safe. run by an old man (escaped war criminal) and his middle-aged wife (former apprentice). complex originally constructed as a black site for torture and intelligence-gathering. may or may not be haunted
2 - gamdar's house of fortune. a long, multi-segmented wagon, like a crude train, pulled by giant beetles. casino, brothel, with rentable compartments towards the rear. spans almost 300ft and makes regular circuits around civilized areas with accommodating roads.
3 - willow cemetery crypt. gravedigger has converted local crypt into an up-and-coming roadside residence for rogues and transients. burial chambers have been unceremoniously emptied, furnished with crude beds and oil-lamps. connected to ancient (still active) smuggling tunnels. currently being staked out by inquisitors, and it's only a matter of time before someone from town catches on to all that commotion and brings a mob
4 - the gilded garrote. noble manor converted into noble amusement. all guests are expected to stay all week. the staff and some guests stage elaborate murder mysteries, with a prize for the ones able to uncover the criminal in time. but the deaths seem so real, and the employees so strange, there are more than a few rumors that some of the mysteries are genuine-- but it's unclear where the performance ends and the horror begins.
5 - wise hill. two-room hovel on a hillock, inhabited by an old bedraggled man, known locally as a powerful magic-user. rents straw mats in the common room for cheap, promising complete protection from anything supernatural or metaphysical so long as they stay on the hill. entry into his bedroom is forbidden. he never demonstrates any proof of powers, but has yet to be proven a fake. current guests include a very wealthy merchant who insists the ghost of his betrayed business partners torment him, and only here does he find peace
6 - the pool of good friends - small lake with tunnels connecting to the sea. formerly run by locathah who had a charming business of selling seafood and waterborne entertainment. recently replaced by sauhagin and human bandits, con artists turning new guests into shark bait once they've been milked for entertainment.

strange buildings to find in dwarven settlements:
1 toxin-sauna, burners vaporizing poultices and bundles of dangerous herbs and fungi, clogging the air with lung-burning, skin-crawling discomfort. extremely dangerous to non-dwarves, pleasurably intense for the intended audience. considered a cleansing exercise and relaxing, meditative experience. non-dwarves who can survive are met with grunts of approval.
2 stasis cells. oblique rooms where dwarves imbibe an elixir of dreamless sleep: one drop is enough to make the victim comatose for a week. the body's metabolism slows to a glacial pace. used to pass long periods of time in safety. it is believed that it stops aging, and habitual users may stay sleeping for years, or even decades in rare cases. the vain, the elderly, the impatient pay premium in gold for this service.
3 archive of trials. an intellectual suicide booth. an extremely complicated mechanism, a 20x20x20 room with every surface covered in levers, buttons, script and numbers. once the first is activated, the room is shut, only to open again on completion of the puzzle. complete mastery of history, quadrivium, and physical/mental endurance is required to survive. it is understood that most participants die of dehydration/starvation. an archive may stand unsolved for generations, and a winner is undoubtedly one of the great minds of their time

steppe-imports: exotic animals d6
1 - giant centipede, missing 1/4 legs from battle scars; seats 2 riders in an exotic saddle (sold separately)
2 - dog-sized butcher-bird, trained to place people on pikes
3 - freakishly huge clam. unopened (18/56 str w/ prybar or better) but vendor swears up and down an equally proportional pearl is inside. 50% chance of truth
4 - three-headed tiger. one head is blind, the other is comatose, but all 3 awaken in the presence of children (or similarly sized humanoids) with a great hunger
5 - shark that breaths on land. about as dangerous as you think it is. hasn't learned to walk. yet.
6 - bull with six legs. very fast, very aggressive, will sire six-legged calves

soldiers of fortune (female) d6
1 Shrike - tall, thin, predatory features, short hair in a military cut. renown spear-fighter; prowess actually (secretly) granted by a magical braclet that imbues any spear in the wearer's hand as a +2 weapon for as long as it's being held. may or may not have a servant carrying additional nondescript spears. guards this secret closely.
2Mildred - burly dwarf, plain-faced with wild hair. dangerous with a two-handed morningstar, to which she applies a mushroom poison (save vs poison or immediate 1d4 damage, veins on fire, and againfor to 2d4 in 1d6 rounds). considers poisoning immoral.
3 Kirina - sun-washed, permanently dirty look, self-conscious about both. competent archer (with a shortbow) and fencer (with knives and swords). firm believer in auspicy and refuses to kill anything remotely bird-like for fear of disturbing omens.
4 Lady Sara Delwyre - paper tiger knight, shining plate and grandiose prose. protected by a powerful guardian daemon residing in her belt-buckle, and refuses to acknowledge it's existence- prefers to believe her persona is valid. may genuinely hallucinate heroic deeds, will actually be ineffectual in a fight
5 Maaskra - half-ogre, all muscle. indistinguishable from a very large and heavyset man. could cut two men in half with her axe. longs for romance with beautiful, civilized men who innately find her repulsive.
6 Stain - faux-mercenary looking for new 'comrades' (marks). gentle face, attractively athletic. has betrayed 3 successive parties to her lover's gang of bandits.

secrets d10: the inquisitor...
1 -  is a serial killer who has seamlessly replaced the original, real inquisitor; the reluctance to expose the face combined with his social mastery lets him further his insane goals with church money and church muscle
2 - is a member of a radical putschist faction inside the organization, which is really a trick to smoke out disloyal agents. 20% chance that the ruse has gone off the rails and it presents a real, genuine threat to internal structure
3 -  has come into possession of a cursed knife: the more skin it peels, the stronger he becomes. jealous peers are already conspiring to steal it
4 - is unknowingly infected by a fungal parasite that degrades the mind. he lives in a fever-dream, but escaped prisoners have spread it among actual traitors and heretics, bringing accidental great success in unravelling plots as the participants become sloppy
5 - is not even real. his subordinates have carefully crafted a persona of a recluse, and will go so far as to sit a costumed dummy in poor lighting. he exists on paper and is accredited with many successful interrogations
6 - is a reject, suicidal, carrying no useful information and slowly drinking himself to death. he does not have a cruel spirit but is utterly hopeless. will waste time pretending to do the bare minimum of work. will cry under pressure.
7 - has delved too deeply into the upper echelons of the organization. in his sabertache, chances are: 20% information proving the arch-inquisitor is a secret heretic. 40% proof that there are inhouse plans to assassinate him. 30% shorthand notes unreadable to anyone else, prices, dates, times. 10% damning knowledge exposing key players in the highest level of society as evil
8 - is incredibly old. he is carried on a palanquin, completely blind, likely deaf, communicating mostly through subtle hand gestures. however, he has not lost a duel in over 70 years.
9 - appears to be a child. puts on a stage persona of a whimsically vicious adolescent; is really a midget manipulating everyone around him.
10 - has been turned inside-out by a curse. he is wheeled around in an iron coffin exposing only his eyes from which he may delegate commands. accutely (supernaturally?) aware of his surroundings, including a sixth sense for the unnatural. will die of exposure if the case is open too long.