As the party ventures out North from the Hunter's Hamlet, they eventually run into the knobby foothills of Mount Oscar, where the Knotted Wood from the west collides with the humid mountain basin, and the drier climate bearing in from the East.

Features, South to North

• The homestead of a hunter loosely affiliated with the Hamlet, who's made a life working this area for its rare and unique beasts. Occasionally heads back to town to trade for goods. S/he's likely to have some advice to folks new to the area... or perhaps has a secret of their own?
• The scene of a long-past titanic battle. The sword that cut this beast's neck is buried deep into the dry earth, and stands a hundred feet tall. The cracked bones, worn and dirtied by the dusty wind, make this site perfect for a Kobold ambush, if the party adventures too near. Or maybe a charming and meek creature hides in the skull?
• A hole in the valley between hills from some creature long ago. The giant python skeleton nearby may serve a warning of what lies ahead... or as an indication that it's safe to explore. What lies inside?
• A watchtower for the nearby village of tribal Orcs. At any time there are at least a few tribesfolk near here, scouting the immediate surroundings, watching for fires or other danger, or otherwise burning idle time.
• The ruins of some old building, now occupied by some aberration or fiendish monsters. Have Rust Monsters taken it over? Gricks or Otyughs? Maybe this is now a Mimic's territory
• To the West: A mystical pond, hidden in un-navigably thick foliage. It's very likely that something in the pond leads to the Feywild, and that the surrounding area itself has some surprising characteristics...
• In the valley between the foothills: An orcish tribal village. They also hunt the nearby wildlife, and occasionally make war with the other tribe across the river. They are not as barbaric as your typical adventuring party may think at first, though their ritualistic culture inundates their life. Nearby, their shaman lives on a hill. In my lore they are the Gashfist clan; one tent in town, and the two nearby caves, serve as the rites of passage into adulthood, for tribe members: The Trial of Scars, The Trial of Spears, and The Trial of Bones.
• On the East side of the hills, near the river: The entrance to a large cave. This could be a beast's den (maybe the slain titanic beast?), the mouth of a dungeon, a thieve's hideout, or something else altogether.
• Another watchtower for the village, much like the first.
• Along the stream at Mount Oscar's base: An old stone building, with dilapidated bridge leading to it. This was likely built by some old race of elves, and used for sacrificial purposes. Maybe some elemental or magical being still lurks here...
• Where the stream meets the large river: More ruins, long since sunk into the soft shoreline. Was it destroyed by an angry magician, overcome by a natural disaster?
• On the East side of the river: Another orcish tribal village. In my lore they are the Snapjaw clan, and unlike the Gashfists have taken to agriculture to settle and grow their land. The Gashfists, who firmly believe that the land molds the man, not the other way around, see them as heretics. If the humans settling to the south looked at the Orcs with more discerning eyes, they would likely see the Snapjaws as more civilized, and possibly even non-hostile. But of course, humans always see Orcs as barbaric enemies... except perhaps for this region's resident hunter? To the north, on a small island in the river, lives their Shaman.
• Back West, the entrance to a large underground temple lies at the foot of Mount Oscar. This temple complex climbs through the base of the mountain, and up to a stone tower that was built on the mountain ridge. This temple is surely filled with traps of all sorts, wet and rotting zombies, corpses of other less-capable adventurers, and perhaps serves as an encounter with an opportunistic necromancer
• Finally, in the river lies an exotic and rare creature of great power. It sometimes attacks those who try to cross the river, or venture too far North.