Great Barrow

This hill (or mound) has a diameter of over 500 feet and rises some 100 feet. As far as you can tell, there's only one entrance, on the west side: a dark tunnel bracketed by two standing stones, a lintel stone between them linking the three into an inset trilithon. A short inscription is carved deeply into the lintel stone.

The hill is artificial, built centuries ago to honor the fallen war leader. The inscription is in the same runic language (Druidic) as the spells carved on the stone circles but lacks the magical protection of the inscriptions on the standing stones ringing Ossington; it was meant to be read. A druid, or anyone under the effects of a comprehend languages spell, can make out the inscription as simply "Saithnar the Warlord."

Just inside the entrance is a small chamber dominated by a great altarlike stone tomb. Spiral carvings decorate the walls, floor, and roof. The wall opposite the entrance bears another inscription in the same ancient script. As before, anyone who can read Druidic can make out the ancient inscription:

"Heart shall be bolder

Courage the greater

Will the sterner

As our strength lessens."

This is a once-famous excerpt from the Saithnasmal, the contemporary epic poem describing Saithnar the Warlord's successful efforts to repel the invaders threatening his people. This particular stanza represents his speech in the midst of the final battle admonishing his soldiers to follow his example and fight on, even though mortally wounded by enemy treachery. A bardic knowledge check (DC 25) or a Knowledge (history or local) check (DC 30) can identify the source of the text, as well as its significance.

There is nothing else of interest within the chamber itself except for the battered remains of a skeleton in mangled chainmail. (Tully, if with the party, identifies this as the door warden she slew and whose sword she now carries.) The altar-tomb is in fact a solid block of stone that serves as an offering table where folk could leave tokens of respect. (This occurred until quite recently—in fact, until the townspeople were killed off over the last few months.) The undead door warden regularly removed any items of interest and carried them to the warlord deep within the barrow, eventually discarding the rest. The chamber has three secret doors, each of which requires a separate Search check to detect (DC 20 for the one in the north wall, DC 25 for the other two). All three secret doors open away from the chamber, and all three are weighted so that they close by themselves if not held or wedged open.