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Old Harwick

A small village on rolling plains where the road, the wells, and the grain account are more important than the reeve’s seal. Everyone knows who stores seed, who owes for winter fodder, and whose cattle cross the eastern boundary at dawn. The place survives because it sits between the market towns, beside reliable water, and near an old burial mound that no one openly trusts but everyone quietly uses as a landmark.

Settlements
Village · A low rise on the western plains

Old Harwick

A grain village where the tally matters more than the prayer, and the prayer hides what the tally cannot admit.
Population
240
Rule
Reeve Aldren Vale
Wealth
Modest
Defence
Low

Overview

A small village on rolling plains where the road, the wells, and the grain account are more important than the reeve’s seal. Everyone knows who stores seed, who owes for winter fodder, and whose cattle cross the eastern boundary at dawn. The place survives because it sits between the market towns, beside reliable water, and near an old burial mound that no one openly trusts but everyone quietly uses as a landmark.

Atmosphere

The village runs on a hard bargain with the road. Every autumn, grain wagons from the uplands pause here, and every spring, drovers steer cattle across the plains by the same wells and the same rutted track. Folk are plainspoken, watchful, and quick to tally a stranger’s debts. The place feels quiet until dusk, when shutters close early and almost every conversation turns to who has the right to speak for the village now.

Culture

EthosThe village believes land should feed those who work it, but the people disagree bitterly on who counts as a worker and who gets to define fair use. Honor is measured less by courage than by keeping one’s word when grain is short. Outsiders are judged by whether they pay promptly and speak respectfully to those who haul water, mend fences, and keep the herds from wandering.
Faiths
  • A hearth-and-harvest cult centered on the chapel
  • Old field rites kept by hedgers and midwives
  • A small roadside shrine to traveling saints
Peoples

Humans, Halflings, Dwarves

PastimesPeople favor practical music, story rounds, dice games, and knife throwing at cider staves. The only real pageantry is at the seasonal moots, where men and women dress better than they usually can and speak in formal turns of phrase. Children learn clan songs, but what they really know best are boundary markers, weather signs, and which houses will take a guest without asking questions.

Economy

WealthModest, with a few households far better off than they admit
Work

Mixed grain farming, Sheep grazing, Carting and road hire, Milling

Exports

Barley, Cheese, Wool, Fodder

Imports

Iron tools, Salt, Lamp oil, Good cloth

ScarceFresh timber and clean iron are always short, and the village’s best grain is spoken for before harvest is finished.

Geography

RegionA low rise on the western plains, where a reliable spring breaks through chalk soil and a packed road runs between two market towns.
ClimateDry continental plains with hard winters, bright summers, and sudden storms that can be seen an hour away if the sky is clear.
TerrainRolling grassland, shallow gullies, sheep pasture, and a line of old burial mounds on the south edge of the village fields.

Ways in and out

A cart road east to the market town
A drover trail west to cattle pastures
A rutted south track that skirts the burial mounds
A fordable creek north in spring and early summer

Places to see

  • The Old MoundA ring of older stones half swallowed by grass. Farmers use it as a landmark and children are warned not to step inside after sunset.
  • The GreenA broad common green where disputes are settled, grain is measured, and the watch musters when the horn is sounded.
  • The Spring EyeA shallow spring pool that never fully freezes and feeds the millstream year round.
  • The West PostsA row of boundary posts cut with old notches, some of them older than the current village families.

Power

3 factions

Government

FormReeve and moot, with real power contested by the largest grain holders and the chapel.
LeaderReeve Aldren Vale, a careful man who means well but freezes when confronted by angry crowds.

Laws

No grain may be sold out of the village before the winter tally is sworn.
All disputes over pasture must be heard at the moot.
Weapons are to be peace-bound in the market green unless the watch is called.
Anyone disturbing the burial mounds owes a fine to the chapel and the reeve both.

Trouble

  • The reeve suspects theft but lacks the nerve to accuse the right people publicly.The winter grain tally does not match the sacks in the communal store, and the missing grain is enough to starve poor households before spring if nothing changes.
    Involves

    Aldren Vale, Mara Venn, Tilda Ash

  • A boundary dispute has become a holy matter, and one wrong ruling could split the village watch.The chapel and the landholders are both using the burial mound as leverage, each claiming the other started the latest disturbance there.
    Involves

    Brother Olan, Mara Venn, Hollis Reed

  • If trouble comes from the plains before the first frost, the village may not be able to gather in time.The Green Watch is too small to handle raiders, but the reeve keeps delaying a levy because he fears provoking the wrong family.
    Involves

    Aldren Vale, Serra, called Pike

Factions

  • The Tall House KinLanded family alliance
    Landholding families who control most of the seed grain, the best pasture, and the village tally book. They present themselves as guardians of order, but they are really guarding old claims that no one dares challenge openly.
    GoalsKeep the grain tallies in their own hands and force the reeve to recognize their right to settle disputes without a moot.
    Allies

    The Green Watch, Mara Venn

    Rivals

    The Millers' Circle, Brother Olan

  • The Millers' CircleLabor and tenant bloc
    A loose alliance of mill workers, carters, and tenant farmers who depend on the waterwheel and fear being squeezed by the landholders. They are not revolutionaries, just people who want the numbers to match the sacks.
    GoalsExpose the false grain count and force a public audit of the village stores before winter rationing begins.
    Allies

    Tilda Ash, Brother Olan

    Rivals

    The Tall House Kin, Mara Venn

  • The Chapel CircleReligious authority
    A pious household and chapel retinue that claim to keep the village blessed and its dead properly remembered. They know more than they say about the old mound outside town, and that knowledge gives them leverage they pretend not to enjoy.
    GoalsClose access to the burial mound and keep outsiders from learning what is buried beneath the chapel stones.
    Allies

    The Tall House Kin

    Rivals

    The Millers' Circle, Hollis Reed

Defences

ReadinessPoor but immediate. The village can raise a stubborn defense for one night, maybe two, if the alarm is sounded before dark. Most households own spears, hooks, or hunting bows, but they are scattered and resent being called out for someone else’s quarrel. The real defense is the terrain itself, which offers long sightlines and little cover for raiders.
Walls and works
  • A low earth berm around the common
  • A chain of thorn hedges on the north approach
  • Lockable grain sheds that double as rally points
ForceThe Green Watch
Size11
About the forceA part-time village watch that drills on market days and rides with the drovers when trouble is expected.

Law and order

CrimeLow public violence, high quiet theft, and a great deal of selective forgetting.
Who keeps the lawThe Green Watch handles disputes, but the reeve relies on gossip, fines, and the chapel’s disapproval more than force.
PunishmentPublic apology, labor on the common, grain fines, or a night in the lock room beneath the mill

People and places

10 entries
  • ReeveAldren Vale

    Human Man

    A thin reeve with ink-stained fingers and a habit of rubbing his thumb along his signet ring when cornered.

  • Watch captainSerra, called Pike

    Human Woman

    A broad-shouldered woman in a patched cloak who keeps a short spear in easy reach.

  • PriestBrother Olan

    Human Man

    A young priest with clean cuffs and tired eyes, forever carrying a bundle of prayer cords.

  • DroverNessa Quickfoot

    Halfling Woman

    A quick-handed halfling drover with weather-brown hair and a habit of tapping every gate latch she passes.

  • Hedge farmerGarrick Thorn

    Human Man

    An elderly hedge farmer with soot on his sleeves and a blackthorn staff that never leaves his side.

  • SmithyThe Bent Nail

    Kept by Bren Cask

    A narrow shop with iron hooks on every wall and a counter scarred by years of tools and blade repairs. The smith keeps the place open late because the watch and the drovers both need him, but he would rather spend his nights copying old road maps than fixing plowshares.

  • TavernThe Cooper's Rest

    Kept by Hollis Reed

    A long low inn with smoky beams, a strong door, and a common room that goes quiet when the wrong person walks in. The food is plain but honest, and the ale is better than the bedrolls. The owner keeps spare cloaks for travelers who arrive wet, not out of kindness alone but because dry guests ask fewer questions.

  • MillHarwick Mill

    Run by Tilda Ash

    A low stone mill beside the spring-fed stream. The wheel is old but well kept, and the mill floor is the one place in the village where everyone must do business with a witness nearby.

  • ChapelChapel of Saint Brin

    Run by Mara Venn

    A stone chapel with a rebuilt west wall and a sealed door in the floor behind the altar. Parishioners light candles there, but nobody likes standing on that section for long.

  • InnThe Cooper's Rest

    Run by Hollis Reed

    A crowded inn off the road where drovers, traders, and the occasional bailiff sleep in the same smoky room. The stables are better cared for than the beds, which tells you where the owner’s priorities lie.

Events

Lately

  • Three sheep were found dead with their throats cut, but no tracks led in or out of the pen.The watch blames wolves, though the cuts were made with a blade too fine for a beast.
  • A cart of seed grain arrived two days late and did not match the seal on the tally barrel.The delay gave someone time to alter the records and start a quiet blame game.
  • Two children were caught playing in the chapel crypt after dark and swore they heard singing from below.The chapel tightened access, which only made the rumors spread faster.

Calendar

  • Early FrostLedger NightThe grain ledgers are read aloud in the green, and three families always leave that meeting angrier than they arrived.
    The twist · GM only
  • MidwinterLantern RoundA lantern walk circles the wells to bless them against bad water and fever.
    The twist · GM only
  • First ThawThe Green MootDrovers, millers, and hedge farmers gather to bargain over grazing rights on the open plain.
    The twist · GM only
  • High SummerSummer FairA market day brings in salt, iron, and cloth from the east road, and half the village tries to look busier than it is.
    The twist · GM only

History

Old Harwick began as a watering stop and never stopped being one. The official tale says the village was founded by honest farmers around a spring and later blessed by the chapel, but local memory is harsher. It was built where the road needs water and where the dead lie close to the fields. The buried things under the chapel and the missing grain now tie the village’s present to its oldest lie.

  • FoundingThe Well FindingThe spring was found after a hard summer, and the first mill was built where the water ran cleanest.
  • Forty years agoThe Quiet WinterA wagon train of grain vanished on the east road, and the village prospered for a year after the loss because everyone else in the district went hungry.
  • Twenty years agoThe Chapel RaisingThe chapel was rebuilt over stones taken from the old mound, though the official story says the stones came from a ruined farmhouse.
  • Last harvestThe False MarkLast autumn, the reeve signed a tally he had not personally checked. Since then, the missing grain has become a whisper everyone repeats differently.

Secrets

3 secrets · 4 rumours
  • Secret 1 · GM only
  • Secret 2 · GM only
  • Secret 3 · GM only

Rumours

1The reeve’s seal ring was copied by someone in the village.
2There is more than one hidden room under the chapel.
3The old mound can be opened only when the first frost bites the ground.
4Someone in the Green Watch is paid by both the chapel and the landholders.

Plot hooks

3
  • 1
    The Wrong SacksA family on the edge of the village claims their stored grain has been swapped with chaff and mouse droppings. They want the players to find who did it before the winter tally. The hidden complication is that the grain was moved, not stolen, and the family is hiding a debt to the chapel.

    Investigation · Starts with Tilda Ash · Reward: 10 gp and free room at the Cooper's Rest

  • 2
    Fence at NightThe watch hires the players to escort a night repair crew to the north hedge, where raiders may be probing the road. The complication is that the repair crew plans to use the cover of darkness to slip into the burial mound and retrieve something they believe belongs to the village.

    Escort and defense · Starts with Serra, called Pike · Reward: 15 gp and watch favors on the road

  • 3
    The Door BelowBrother Olan asks the players to attend a sealed prayer in the chapel and describe what they hear beneath the altar. The complication is that Mara Venn will be listening too, and she may try to pin any disturbance on the party if the old chamber is opened.

    Mystery · Starts with Brother Olan · Reward: A blessing, 20 gp, and access to chapel records

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