Oatcrass: The Way of the Oaty Pie

Oatcrass is a small farming town set between Cove and Bersh, forming the central link of the circular route known locally as the “Oaty Pie” due to it’s shape being similar to that of a regional delicacy. Surrounded by golden fields and bright sunflowers, Oatcrass is known for its warm hospitality, fertile soil, and its role as the gathering point for the farming and fishing communities of the north shore.
 

Setting & First Impressions

Oatcrass nestles in a shallow valley at the foot of the green rolling hills of Lantear Ridge, its towers and tiled roofs rising above fields of wheat, oats, and sunflowers. Travelers approaching from the plains are greeted by a view of patchwork fields glowing in gold and yellow, with the town’s sturdy watchtower keeping a quiet eye over the route. It is a peaceful, sunny place where the landscape itself feels generous.
 

Life & Trade

The people of Oatcrass live by the land, producing honey and mead, farming grain such as oats, and oilseed crops that are traded along the Oaty Pie loop. Carts from Cove bring fish and salt inland, while drovers from Bersh carry dairy and cattle. In return, Oatcrass is renowned for its strong mead and pressed oils, which are loaded onto caravans heading south to Lantear. Markets here are lively but informal, more neighborly than mercantile, with goods bartered as often as they are sold.
 

Notable Places

The Sunflower Fields: broad fields surrounding the town, their blooms harvested for oil and seed.
The Grain Hall: a long timbered storehouse where harvests are tallied and caravans provisioned.
The Oaty Stone: a weathered milestone at the town’s center, marking distances to Cove, Bersh, and Lantear.
 

For the Storyteller

Oatcrass is humble but well placed, a worthwhile stop on the road where adventurers may find rest, good food, and honest company. Yet even here, rumors travel: smugglers moving through the shallow bay at Cove, guild agents from Lantear pressing for tighter grain contracts, or strange lights coming from the watchtower. The Oaty Pie may seem simple – but its circle of trade does hide deeper stories.
 

Encounters

When traveling through or around Oatcrass, roll d10 for possible encounters…

  1. A wagon of 1d4 farmers returning from Cove with baskets of salted fish, eager to share news from the coast.
    Farmers: AC 10, HP 7, pitchfork (1d6), no armor.
  2. A beekeeper guiding 1d4 hives to market, nervous about being stung and needing help if the bees are disturbed.
    Beekeeper: AC 11, HP 8, staff (1d4), no armor.
  3. A pair of traveling bards performing a new ballad about the “Oaty Pie,” trading song for food or coin.
    Bards: AC 12, HP 9, dagger (1d4), leather armor.
  4. 1d4 guild agents from Lantear pressing for tighter grain contracts, making veiled threats about “future shortages.”
    Agents: AC 12, HP 12, dagger (1d4), leather armor.
  5. A drover leading 2d4 cattle from Bersh, blocking the road and needing help keeping the herd in line.
    Drover: AC 11, HP 10, club (1d4), no armor. Cattle: AC 10, HP 8, trampling hooves (1d6).
  6. A group of 1d4 smugglers hauling small barrels inland from Cove, disguised as fishermen.
    Smugglers: AC 13, HP 14, short sword (1d6), leather armor.
  7. A child playing near the Oaty Stone claims to have seen “lights” in the watchtower last night. If pressed, they describe chanting.
    Child: AC 10, HP 3, no weapons.
  8. A mead seller proudly offers free samples of Oatcrass honey-wine, then insists the adventurers help load a delivery cart.
    Mead seller: AC 11, HP 9, dagger (1d4), no armor.
  9. A sudden summer storm lashes the sunflower fields; travelers must seek cover or risk being drenched and losing supplies.
    During the storm, visibility is halved and Perception checks suffer disadvantage.
  10. An elderly farmer at the Grain Hall offers to trade fresh bread for help tallying harvest accounts. Among the tallies is a suspicious shipment marked with Cove’s seal but “no owner.”
On   /   Island Locations