Cairn Hills

The Cairn Hills form a broken chain of highlands, composed of granite ridges, limestone bluffs, scrub-covered slopes, and narrow river valleys that descend toward the Selintan River. The terrain is deceptively difficult to traverse: mist-wreathed ravines, sinkholes, and dense thickets conceal sudden drops, hidden cave mouths, or old roads choked by centuries of overgrowth.

The hills are largely treeless, save for groves of wind-stunted oaks and scattered copses near springs. Unpredictable weather, especially in spring and autumn, often brings sudden storms or dense fogs that disorient travelers.

While the hills are technically under the Domain of Greyhawk, they remain largely lawless and untamed. Threats include:

• Bandits and mercenary outlaws, using the hills' caves and valleys as hideouts.
• Goblinoid tribes, particularly hobgoblins and bugbears, who contest territory with human raiders.
• Monsters from the depths—including otyughs, ghouls, and other aberrant creatures drawn to ancient magical energies.
• Cultists, especially agents of the Temple of Elemental Evil, who have been known to conduct dark rites in hidden groves or reclaimed cairns.
• Mad necromancers, tomb-robbers, and arcane researchers, many of whom vanish in pursuit of deeper mysteries.

Despite the dangers, the promise of unclaimed treasure and arcane relics continues to draw fortune-seekers, often sponsored by nobles, guilds, or the University of Magical Arts.

Parts of the southern Cairn Hills are rich in iron, silver, and precious stones, and several mining camps and fortified outposts have been established—often with Free City support or under noble charter. These include:

• Diamond Lake, a notorious and grimy mining town known for corruption, intrigue, and proximity to several active cairns.
• Narwell’s Watch, a fortified village that serves as a staging ground for expeditions and a refuge from the wilds.

Most settlements are heavily fortified and rely on mercenary protection. Relations between miners and adventurers are often tense—especially when tomb raiders attract unwanted attention from what stirs below.

The Cairn Hills are steeped in myth:

• The Veiled Tomb is said to house a slumbering entity of pure elemental fury.
• A hidden cairn shaped like a spiral reportedly grants visions of the gods—or madness—to those who meditate atop it under the full moon.
• Beneath the Star Cairn lies a gate to the Shadow Plane, sealed by nine runes whose keys were lost ages ago.

Even bards and sages speak cautiously of the Cairn Hills, for truth and legend intermingle, and what once lay dead beneath the stone may yet stir again.

The defining feature of the Cairn Hills is the ancient necropolises and subterranean complexes buried within. These cairns, dolmens, and barrows range from simple burial mounds to sprawling, trap-laden tombs filled with magical wards, lingering undead, and treasures untouched for centuries.

Some of these structures date back to:

• The Ur-Flan, whose dark magics and funerary architecture still echo with menace.
• Lost kingdoms from the Age of Sorrow, whose names have been scoured from all records.
• Forgotten demigods and heroes of myth, whose relics are said to lie entombed in the deepest cairns.

The most famous of these is the Star Cairn, which draws scholars and adventurers alike—though few return unchanged.

For those willing to brave the wilds, the Cairn Hills offer endless opportunities:

• Treasure hunts in half-explored barrows and sealed crypts.
• Cultist confrontation and ancient curse unraveling.
• Rival adventuring parties, jealous guilds, or hired killers competing for the same tomb.
• Artifacts of great power waiting to be unearthed—or best left untouched.

But caution is well advised, for in the Cairn Hills, greed often digs its own grave.