“ The Orcish Mustang - a semi-wild horse tamed and domesticated by orcs to serve as their mounts. Large, strong bodied, and fearless as they live among orcs. On the other hand, bad tempered, with teeth problems, sometimes have hoof problems, and agressive. In lean times, or when an animal dies, the orcs suddenly have a dearth of meat, and hide to work with.”
“ A shape-shifter of some sort has taken up a post at the War College of an enemy realm, where he secretly picks off only the most promising officer cadets, arranging bizarre accidents that gradually debase the leadership of the hostile army. In the long run, this will improve his nation's chances when the inevitable conflict comes.
As a shape-shifter he can impersonate superiors and peers alike and send the target candidate to the cleverly-prepared site of his (or her?) execution. As long as he is successful, no-one will ever know about the deception--even necromancy will only implicate the one impersonated...”
“ The Chinese, when attacking a castle or fort, flew kites over the city wall and used the length of string it took to get it there as a measurement to know how far they had to dig a tunnel to get under the wall.”