Red Guard Cairn

This adventure is more of a location and general description than an acutal plot. The site is featured in The Chronicle of Tears adventure and is a good site for other possible adventures. Enjoy.

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

Ballad

In 642 under skies of blue
Rethem forces invaded.
Arms and armor repelled
but stone walls were felled
and few survived the invasion.

Chorus:
Dark men a-brooding War time was near
Farewell dear mother we march on to war
With Grondos, Maltheus and Martin.
Strong stones were new
Stood proud and stood strong
Timers from wood heart were aided
Men lost their lives
but all the kings forces were abated.

(Chorus)

The doors of the castle
Kept the evil without.
And from within a hail of arrows did fall.
Rocks and great worries were thrown from above
But still the evil it came.

(Chorus)

A route to the castle
backs against stone.
Keep them doors shut fellow soldiers.
For should they be opened,
even to save my skin
Fobin will fall to the evil.

(Chorus)

And the battle raged on
from within and without
And mothers they wailed and they screamed.
For outside the walls, wood heart and all
died the red guard unaided.

(Chorus)

Rethem's king lost the day
his men went away.
And never again were they seen.
But that was the day
The Empire lost heroes
Of Grondos, Malehus and Martin.

as sung by
Llywen of Geishtei, Bard

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

History

The cairn was built in 642 to house the dead from the Rethem invasion of that year. Decurin Grondos of Lobar and four centurions died in the first wave of attacks. Their deaths stopped the Rethem forces from overrunning the Keep in the first few moments of the attack. They are said to have died fighting incredible odds with their backs to the door.

The song (Grondos, Maltheus and Matthew, or the Ballad of the Red Guard of Fobin) speaks of three of the four defenders. It is a well known ballad in and around the town of Fobin. The centurions were said to be of The Red Guard, the legion of Coranan and not local legionaries. The name of the fourth defender was never recorded and has been lost to time.

Four large earthen mounds were built, one for each of the defenders. Each one has a stone room connected to the outside world by a long tunnel. Huge boulders were brought from the northern mines to close off the entry-ways to each burial mound.

In the center of these four large earthen mounds, are four smaller mounds. These secondary mounds are made of earth and cover the rocks piled atop the mass graves of those slaughtered in the Balshang Jihad. There are no ballads nor stories to remember the dead of the Balshang Jihad as perhaps the memory of the tragedies that occurred when Morgathian forces swept through the area are still too fresh for even fallen heroes to be remembered.

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

Rumors

Rumors abound that something is still alive in these mounds. The entrances to the various tombs are easy enough to spot from the pile of broken stones that blocks each buried passage to within the Greater Mounds. The occasional animal that wandered up this way has gone missing, and now a few parents worry that their children might be next.

The following is a table of rumors to be used whenever anyone inquires about the Red Guard Cairn.

1. It's the ghost of the Fourth defender, angry that he's been forgotten. He'll take his revenge on any who enter the cairn.
2. Probably bandits gearing up to attack the salt route north of hear. They did that a few years ago. Don't know why the Legate doesn't send some of the legionaries up there to clean them out before somebody gets hurt.
3. Must be a cult or un-republican religion being practiced up there. Sacrifice is fine and good but it's just not right to sacrifice a good republican citizen to some foreign or crazy god.
4. Didn't you know? It's gargun. They're sneaking back south to try and get at the apples. Gargun love apples, and since apples don't grow so well in the mountains - they must come south to get ours. I've seen gargun stealing apples just this past week. I wonder if the Legar still offers a penny a head for a Gargun?
5. Rumors, lies and tall tales friend. If that place is haunted, I'm your mother. Nah - there's nothing up there to scare or harm anyone 'except maybe a fox or two.
6. If there were something up there don'tcha think the Legate or at least Lobar would have gone up there and investigated? Unless of course he's involved in it. If it were anyone else I'd saunter right up to them and ask for a silencing fee. With Lobar asking for such would probably get my neck cut. Brr but he's a cold one.
7. Sharley's up to something up there. I've seen him head up that way two, no three. Three times last week alone. I bet it's a bunch of smugglers or something.
8. George, the barkeep of the horse's hide, has been acting weird. Says there's gargun up there. Claims there's just one and that fellow has been trying to break into his apple-brandy stores. You ask me, George has been tasting his own mix a few times too often.
9. A Navehian cult is using those long dead bodies up there for something or other. If I was you, I'd stay far away from there unless you want to be changed into something or other. That's for sure.
10. Why are you so interested in such a dead place? Perhaps I should mention your curiosity to the Legar. After all if something's going on up there - he should know about it eh?
11. Surely you've noticed the amount of theft's been on the rise. If you go up there you'll probably find a bunch of bandits hiding out inside the greater mounds.
12. Wild animals. That's got to be it. We've seen some strange ones around here in the past. Perhaps its even something that got loose from a caravan heading towards the Pamesani games.

    Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

History According to Jarrel

Jarrel, the local Peonian priest knows the history of the place. If asked, he will gladly tell it.

"Ah, well now. There's a tale for you. Come, sit. Sit.

"Yes now. The Red Guard Cairn; few have shown interest in that place for quite some time. I'm told, shortly after the fall of the Theocracy, it was a popular place to visit. They said giving donations to the cairn would grant you luck for the whole year. We should know. Our predecessors built that place. You see, when the Balshang Jihad (never may they come again) took Fobin, all the dead were thrown together in a pit north of the city. Those burial mounds mark the spot. For years, nothing seemed to grow there. But after the invaders left (and never may they come again), the few servants of Peoni remaining went north with the Sisters from the Order of the Scarlet Veil. Together the two groups gave services for the dead, and prayed for their souls.

"After two days of ceremony, the place finally had a clean feeling to it. Before it,... well - my predecessor, Andre DuBord, said it felt just like you were sitting in the center of a long dead campfire, with all the little pieces of ash floating about and making it hard to see and breath. Every year, as a commemoration to the honored dead, both the Sisters from the Order of the Scarlet Veil and ourselves go up there and offer donations and supplications in the hopes of freeing those poor tortured souls from the grip of the Invader (never may they come again).

"These past few years none of the locals have been willing to go with us. Perhaps they just have more things on their mind. Some have said there's now something living in amongst the burial mounds - but we saw nothing last year. We're to go up there on the 17th of Morgat this year; but I'm not afraid. It's just the resting place of some very troubled dead who should welcome our prayers and remembrances.

"Lets see now, the four heros are said to be buried in the lesser mounds in the middle. The greater mounds contain the countless dead gathered from the countryside. From what I remember some of those mounds contain animals as well as people.

"But that shouldn't matter. I suppose it could have been attractive to Gargun at one point, but all those dead can't be more than skeletons now. It was built in 642, that's more than long enough for the dead to decompose. And I strongly doubt that those skeletons have just gotten up and started attacking the living. Sure I've heard of such things, but it's very different hearing of such things and believing them.

"There's always rumors floating around. But Lordai hasn't shown an interest in the place, so I'm not going to start believing what the locals say. Especially since they haven't been up there in a while.... But I have heard of a few local animals going missing. It could very well be some tramp or bandit has set up camp near the area. Hrm. Now there's a rumor I'd believe.

Ah well - if you're around on the 17th of Morgat, I'd appreciate the company..."

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

The Greater Mounds

The four greater mounds may have once contained bones, but there is sufficient lime in the soil to have destroyed most of the evidence. The Greater mounds are covered in weeds and the trees press in against them. Their shape has been softened by the seasons, and the earth that forms them feels, smells and tastes like regular earth.

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds

The Lesser Mounds

The four mounds in the center of the circle made by the Greater mounds are different. Their earth is hard to the touch, even after rains. The grass that grows there is a short-stalked sod that never seems to bloom or die off. It goes from a vibrant yellow to a vibrant green with the passing of the seasons. These mounds have retained their shape since they were built.

The center of the lesser mounds is hollow. Each one has a buried entrance facing away from the center of circle made by the lesser mounds.

The tunnel entrances are blocked with stone, clumps of sod, and arm-fulls of branches. The debris can be shifted with relative ease.

1. The Tunnel
   
   This 10' long, 5' high and 5' wide tunnel is almost perfectly square and straight. The floor and walls are made of mud tile that was obviously laid by a master. The ceiling is some kind of wood (cedar) with a strong scent. The ceiling is spanned by two planks that are almost perfectly smooth to the touch.
2. The end of the tunnel
   
   It is blocked by more debris that can, again, be easily shifted with patience.
   
   The burial chamber is 15'x20'x12, and made of the same mud brick as the tunnel. The ceiling is one of large wooden beams holding up more mud brick.
   
   Against the far wall is a large stone coffin sitting upon a slab of black granite 6'x4'x4'. The coffin is made from the same material. Standing before the coffin is a statue of a man dressed for war. He wears a short hauberk of chain, and leather leggings. On his head is a helmet that hides his cheeks and his nose from view. His eyes appear to be watching you, and follow you as you move about the room. He carries a spear in his left hand, and his right holds a large buckler.
   
   The statue is just that, a statue. But it - like the rest of the chamber is masterfully crafted. The statue is made from a softer stone and appears grey in color.
3. The Coffin
   
   The coffin lid rests unattached to the base. The lid weighs some 400 pounds. The lip of the coffin, just below the lid, has some minute scratches that could have been there for as long as the coffin, or it could denote that the coffin was opened sometime after.
   
   The coffin is empty.
   
   The Barrow Wright will deny he stole or ate the bodies. They were not there when he arrived late last fall. The coffin is clean but for the remnants of a torn burial shroud that has decayed to dust.
   

All four Lesser Mounds display the same things. All four have their bodies missing. The statues differ only slightly in dress and length of hair beneath the helmet.

Ballad | History | Rumors | ...According to Jarrel | Greater Mounds | Lesser Mounds