OSTMARK GEOGRAPHY AND OUTDOOR ENCOUNTERS

May the Players See the Map?
If one of the players is a Hyperborean, with either Survival, Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (Geography) then give the players a copy of the map; otherwise do not.

The Barren Hills:
	There are a series of low hills on the Eastern edge of Hyperborean territory in this region.  These low, barren hills are what make the area so prized, in that while they don’t seriously impede foot-travel, they do slow down horse travel considerably.  Consider each hex in the brown hill area to be double cost for mounted travel.  It is also quite easy to get lost in these hills, since they are all barren, and it is hard to tell one from another.  Each time you try to leave a hill hex, make a Survival Check  DC15.  If you fail the check make you will be lost, entering a hex you did not intend to enter (GM keeps all movement secret from then on).   Only allow the character with the highest Survival to make the check.
	Encounters:  once per day and once per night spent in the hills, there is a 1 in 6 chance of an encounter.  Choose from 1d10 reindeer, 1 Bear, or 3d6 wolves.  

The Hill Passes
There are two passes through these hills, each of which has a rough road cut through it.  The northern pass is overlooked by a castle that has been long deserted.  The whole pass is considered haunted, and no one is known to have entered it in 20 years.  The southern pass is most popular to the Turanian slave-raiders, and so a group of soldiers from either Red Axe or Death Sword are very commonly found here.
	Encounters: The northern pass will have no encounters during the day, anyone camping in it in the night, will be attacked by the Creatures (as per the main adventure listing).  The southern pass has a 1 in 6 chance of encounter per day and night.  Night time encounters are the same as the Barren Hills, daytime will either be a party of 10-20 Hyperborean soldiers led by a knight or a group of 10 herdsmen with 100 cattle making their way through the pass.

The Roads
	There is a system of rough-cut roads, some of which are covered in a gravel mixture, snaking throughout the area.  These allow for quick travel and consider each hex traveled by road to count as ½ indicated distance.

Pine Forests
	There are several forests thick with pine trees.  Moving by horse through these woods halves movement.  There is a 1 in 4 chance per day and per night of encountering either a Bear or 2d6 wolves.

The Green Hills
	The Green hills in the West are the principal focus of the pastoral economies of the hill villages.  The villagers venture out of their fortified villages to herd sheep, cattle and reindeer in the hill country.  There is a 1 in 4 chance per day or night of encountering either 3 herdsmen and 20 cattle or reindeer, or 6 herdsmen on a hunting trip, or 1d8 wolves.

The Clear 
	The areas around the Castles and Marchburg are clear grazing land.  Players should encounter parties of herdsmen with cattle or reindeer every few hours.  There is a 1 in 4 chance of blundering into a patrol from one of the castles per day.

Marchburg
	Marchburg is a center for the skilled craftsmen who supply the inhabitants of the castles, and the hill villages with clothing, tools and weapons.  Additionally, most of the free-ranging cattle and reindeer herders use Marchburg as their primary base.