Trail

The Trail is the way an expedition run is shown to you: instead of a single result, each run plays out as a four-stage gauntlet across the biome, fronting the wild creatures that live there and, on a Guardian run, ending at the boss itself. The Trail is how expeditions are presented and narrated — the outcome of a run is still one combat resolution.

The four stages

Every expedition run advances through four stages as its timer fills, with one of your companions taking point at each stage:

Patrol runs:

Approach
Skirmish
Clash
Showdown

Guardian runs swap the finale for the boss's own stand:

Territory's Edge
The Roar
The Rampage
[the Guardian's name]

At each stage a wild creature from the biome steps up. Early stages tend to front the biome's weaker species; the Showdown leans toward its strongest. On a Guardian run, the final stage shows the boss instead of a wild creature.

Wins, losses, and flees

Win — you clear all four stages and take the run's loot.
Loss — the run is turned back at one stage, weighted toward the later stages, so most defeats come at the Clash or the Showdown for extra drama. A loss may leave your survivor injured.
Flee — breaking off a run (helped by swiftness, and by a Scout in your party) exits at the current stage with the run's flee result.

Guardian bosses

Each biome's Showdown is ruled by one Guardian. Defeating a Guardian unlocks the next biome; they remain repeatable afterward.

Biome	Guardian
Grasslands	Thunderfoot Matriarch
Redwood Wilds	Old Growth Tyrant
Murkwater Swamp	Murk Sovereign
Cavern Depths	Hollow King
Scorched Badlands	Scorched King
Coral Shallows	Tide Leviathan
Frozen Wastes	Frostmaw
Ashen Peaks	Ash Tyrant
Skyreach Plateau	Sky Sovereign
the Sundered Vale	The Sundered One

Wild creatures on the Trail

The creatures you meet along the Trail are the feral cousins of that biome's tamable species.

Biome	Wild creatures (weaker → stronger)
Grasslands	Terror Bird, Raptor, Gastornis, Triceratops
Redwood Wilds	Megaloceros, Dire Wolf, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus
Murkwater Swamp	Dimetrodon, Baryonyx, Kaprosuchus, Sarcosuchus
Cavern Depths	Giant Bat, Forge Salamander, Doedicurus, Cave Bear
Scorched Badlands	Moros, Ankylosaurus, Carnotaurus
Coral Shallows	Archelon, Plesiosaurus, Dunkleosteus
Frozen Wastes	Elasmotherium, Woolly Rhino, Smilodon, Woolly Mammoth
Ashen Peaks	Ceratosaurus, Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus
Skyreach Plateau	Pteranodon, Argentavis, Hatzegopteryx
the Sundered Vale	Titanoboa, Therizinosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, Giganotosaurus

Party roles

You can assign each companion in your party a role that shapes how the Trail resolves:

Vanguard — takes point on more stages and counts for extra party strength.
Guard — reduces the damage your survivor takes each fight.
Scout — improves flee chance and raises the Trail Cache drop rate.

Feeding and the battle report

Auto-eat. During a run your survivor automatically eats your best food to stay in the fight. You can toggle auto-eat off, and you can "Eat now" to heal manually whenever your health is below full. These controls appear on the encounter panel for both hunts and expeditions.
Battle report. After a run, an expandable report recaps each stage: who took point, the wild creature (or boss) faced, damage taken, any flee or injury, and the loot found.

Trail Caches

Roughly one expedition win in a handful turns up a Trail Cache (a Scout in your party raises the odds). A cache pays out one of:

Craftable companion gear tiered to the biome — saddles and bardings (most common outcome).
A pile of Amber, scaling up with the biome.
A relic gear piece (rare) — Wayfarer's Saddle, Sunfeather Saddle, Stormfang Barding, or Bulwark Barding, which appear only from caches and shift from saddles in the early biomes to bardings later.

Biome	Amber pile	Relic pool
Grasslands	150	Wayfarer's Saddle
Redwood Wilds	250	Wayfarer's Saddle
Murkwater Swamp	350	Wayfarer's Saddle
Cavern Depths	450	Wayfarer's Saddle, Sunfeather Saddle
Scorched Badlands	600	Wayfarer's Saddle, Sunfeather Saddle
Coral Shallows	750	Sunfeather Saddle, Stormfang Barding
Frozen Wastes	900	Sunfeather Saddle, Stormfang Barding
Ashen Peaks	1100	Stormfang Barding, Bulwark Barding
Skyreach Plateau	1300	Stormfang Barding, Bulwark Barding
the Sundered Vale	1600	Bulwark Barding, Stormfang Barding