As the colonizers of the americas decided to continue to take the natives lands and cut down tribesmen on their path, they decided they wanted a grand trans Continental railroad ....and decided that in order to do so, they must decimate the bison herds that were so central to life in the plains. Many natives prayed for the white man to disappear and for the bison to return in their place.

....in a way, they may have been heard. Mysterious things happen under the new moon since the slaughters. If you listen closely in the tall grass of the great plains, you can hear the bellowing of thousands of mighty beasts that once roamed the land but see none. You can hear them stampede through the grass and see the aftermath....and if you are a train conductor, you best avoid running that train that night. For these invisible fellows don't take kindly to the mechanical monsters they were slaughtered to make way for, and will level any in their path with a force little else but a tornado could bring. Train cars and wreckage from those who don't heed the warning after a new moon can be found to littler prairie, as the white men littered the bones of the bison as they built that railroad.

It's become too dangerous with cars to meet people at literal crossroads. The old demon loses most of his potential clientele from miraculous semi trucks and speedsters before they can shake hands. So the devil had to get clever.

At a four way intersection somewhere out west, where the farm houses have long disappeared, where the neglected potholes have made the highway half gravel again, where the cell towers don't reach, where the radio only can only pick up static if you are lucky, and where even nowhere seems a long way off, you can find a lone Bucky's, open for business.

It's stocked with anything one might need, open 24 hours a day, with a cashier at the counter always cheerful to see you. But be warned to those truly desperate for help, especially those who find themselves there as the last few rays of light fade away, for this is not your saving grace.

In the spirit of true American capitalism, the devil is a man who knows to pounce on an opportunity to profit, and you will find your much needed services you came for are.... far, far more expensive than earlier that day.

In situations like these, it pays to keep two dollars in quarters on you at all times out west. It doesn't matter how long it takes the dispatch to get there, or how expensive the fix by others, or even if you end up having to hand yourself over to the law to get out of this, at least the payphone outside sticks to coins and will never charge in mortal souls.

Kentucky grasshoppers playing blue grass on Kentucky blue grass.

....with a few crickets on fiddle of course.

Farmers fear many things: drought, storms, weevils....

But nothing scares farmers more than Old Ironhock, the giant wild hog that roams the prairie at night, sharpening his tusks on barn doors.

He's the biggest, meanest mad hog that ever managed to escape being put down and sent back to his master below the earth. He's covered head to hoof in muscles, scars, and red fur, with one ghostly white eye and one that glows orange like fire.

Barely anything can pierce his hide and what has managed to skewer it remains stuck in place, bothering him as little as a pierced ear: trophies to show off his victims hes slaughtered, every thing from pitch forks to bear claws.

And you best stay in at night lest you want to be the next one, for his favorite meal is lost wayward souls. So if you hear his blood curdling scream, run home as fast as you can before he finds you in the dark.

When you visit the old pioneer grave yard down by the remains of the burnt out church, you can still hear faint whispers of the past despite the names on the sand stone graves being nearly rubbed out. When midnight comes, the voices grow stronger, and the old spirits can tell you tales of hopes and dreams that were dashed by their untimely death. Stay and listen to these weary old bones. It may do them good, even if you can't speak polish or Lithuanian. Having someone to listen can still bring a weary heart to peace.

While hunting you interrupt a group of turkeys lekking, showing off for the girls. You take your shot and strike down the biggest one, but instead of running away, they all turn to you. One crows in your direction loudly and all at once they are upon you. Gobbling and scratching with vitriol, they are tying you up with your own emergency twine and bandages. Next thing you know you awake with your hands tied behind your back in a jail cell, with an angry tom with a gold badge glaring at you. He gobbles at you with clear disgust, but you cannot understand exactly what he says. Still you understand your recompense is coming soon for your crime.

saw some orbs at the old jail in St. Augustine

Some folks say if you see a door in the woods, never go through it. Y'all never know wherr you may end up.

A hippie wizard turned druid that found an abandoned book mobile in the 70s and has been living out of it ever since, enchanting the inside to be much larger than it appears to be and filling his mobile grand library with ancient magical tomes. He still uses it as a book mobile and visits disenfranchised rural communities once a week.

You were sick of all the mosquitoes surrounding your house so you got yourself a bug zapper. The local fairy population has seen this as a threat made against them. You have angered your local fae militia and will soon face their full wrath. After your house is consumed by carpenter ants you have no choice but to run, but your nearest neighbor is 3 miles away.

Deer, except they’re predators

An old rusted out, condemned mechanic shop filled with rats and crows. If you leave your broken car there, no matter how totaled, they will fix it for you at no charge by the coming morn. However, anything bright and shiny will be replaced by something appearing rusted and worn. And yet the machine will run like new for decades. If one of the rusted parts is ever replaced for a newer one by another shop, the machine will stop working entirely.

Deer that you just barely miss hitting on the road that follow you home. Appearing out of the corner of your eye and disappearing when you notice them. Until you find them staring through your living room window, unblinking, unmoving, and only disappear when morning comes.

A talking hog nose snake that is trying really hard to convince you he is a more dangerous kind of snake, but forgets a lot of obvious attributes of dangerous snakes, like that cotton mouths don't have rattles, cobras don't live in the US, pythons aren't venomous.

A mischievous spirit that targets weary travelers on the highway, sneaks into vehicles in truck stops and hides in glove compartments...

When the time is right it comes out and slowly makes the driver drift off a little, before trying to pull at the wheel from the passenger's seat....

Thank goodness the feywild has rumble strips.

Driving to an intersection with an old busted stop light, you pause and see a gaggle of strange indescribable beings dressed in ragged cloathing with worn faces and with their thumb stuck out for hitch hiking.

Each one holding a cardboard sign.

"soulless, anything helps"

"will work for first born."

"6000 year old veteran in need"

"please give name, gods bless"

"will give food for eternal work"

"Las Vegas Grotto or bust"

Animals that when the sun goes down have search lights for eyes. If they catch you in their sight, you find yourself frozen still...and them rushing towards you.