Dragon Barrow

Lady Tanamere Alagondar was a royal scion of Neverwinter more than a century ago. Along with two parties of adventurers, she fought and killed Azdraka, a green dragon that had long terrorized the High Road. Lady Alagondar died in the battle and was laid to rest beneath a barrow near where the dragon fell. The remains of her fallen compatriots and the corpse of Azdraka were sealed in the barrow with her, in accordance with Lady Alagondar’s dying wishes.

Quest Goals
To complete the Dragon Barrow Quest, the adventurers must retrieve Lady Alagondar’s dragon slayer longsword which, according to legend, was buried with her.

Travel to the Barrow
The barrow is roughly 40 miles northwest of Phandalin, amid the rolling hills and grasslands between the High Road and Neverwinter Wood. Since the characters can travel roughly 24 miles in a day, they should expect to take one long rest in the wilderness before arriving at the barrow on the second day of their trek. A cold wind blowing in from the coast assails them for most of the trip, bringing occasional rain.

Centaur of Attention
After being driven from his home in Neverwinter Wood by marauding orcs, Xanth the centaur has taken refuge in the hills around the barrow. When he spots the characters, Xanth approaches peacefully and shares the following warnings:


 * “Strange witchlights hover over Dragon Barrow at night. The hill is haunted by the restless spirits of the dead.”
 * “Neverwinter Wood has become overrun with orcs in league with half-orc spellcasters. Deep in the forest, atop a cave-riddled hill, is a circle of standing stones where the evil half-orcs perform their dark rites.”

Xanth avoids Dragon Barrow and would like to see the evil half-orc spellcasters of Neverwinter Wood driven off or killed. He offers to guide characters to the Circle of Thunder if they wish to take on the half-orcs there, and is willing to wait until the characters are done exploring the barrow. The Circle of Thunder is roughly 40 miles away, deep within the forest.

Catacombs Features
A series of chambers and tunnels at ground level form the catacombs beneath the barrow mound. They reek of damp earth and stale, deathly air.

Ceilings. Ceilings throughout are 8 feet high and flat.

Earthen Construction. All tunnels and rooms have walls, floors, and roofs made of packed earth.

Light. There is no light within the barrow. Adventurers require darkvision or their own light sources to see inside.

Sarcophagi. The sarcophagi found throughout the catacombs are carved from solid blocks of granite and sealed with heavy granite lids. The seals are airtight.

Arrival
''A thirty-foot-high hill rises ahead of you, its top too flat to be a natural occurrence. Jutting from the grassy hilltop is a row of ten-foot-tall, bone-white rocks that arc toward the stormy sky like outstretched talons.''

Characters who climb to the top of the barrow and survey it notice its distinctive dragon-like shape with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Insight) check. The pale rocks resemble spikes protruding from the dragon’s back.

At night, the will-o’-wisps in area D2 emerge from the hill using their Incorporeal Movement and float above the barrow, hoping to attract prey with their lights. If they detect characters nearby, the will-o’-wisps turn invisible and withdraw into the barrow.

Barrow Locations
The following locations are keyed to the map of Dragon Barrow.

D1. Secret Entrance
One of the white rocks atop the hill acts as a stone plug embedded in the earth. Characters searching the hilltop can spot a opening beneath the base of the rock with a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Perception) check. By lashing ropes around the top of the rock, the characters can topple it with a successful DC 19 Strength (Athletics) check. A knock spell also causes it to topple over. The opening beneath the rock reveals a 2-foot-wide spiral staircase with flagstone steps, descending 30 feet to area D2.

D2. Will-o’-Wisps
The tunnels around the spiral staircase are haunted by three will-o’-wisps. The wisps are invisible until they hear intruders coming down the stairs, whereupon they illuminate and move to the far side of the three concealed pit traps (area D3), hoping to lure intruders to their doom. Each wisp has its own pit and attacks any character who falls into it.

D3. Concealed Pit Traps
Each of these pits is 5 feet wide, 10 feet deep, and dug out of the earth. Rows of rusty swords are embedded into the floor of each pit, whose tops are covered by rotted wooden planks hidden under a thin layer of earth.

D4. Skeletal Surprise
The bones and rotting saddle of Lady Alagondar’s horse lie in the southern niche of this cavern. When a creature approaches within 5 feet of the bones, they knit together and rise as a skeletal horse. This steed has the statistics of a riding horse, except that it’s undead. It bonds with any character who wants to ride it.

D5. Narrow Tunnel
This tunnel is only 2 feet wide. At the halfway point, a 5-foot-long pressure plate is hidden under a 2-inch-thick layer of earth. The first character to step on the plate causes the walls of the tunnel to collapse inward, burying all creatures in the tunnel. A buried creature is blinded and restrained, has total cover against attacks, and begins to suffocate when it runs out of breath. Only a creature that is not trapped in the tunnel can clear away the collapse, using an action to open up the 5-foot-deep section of tunnel closest to it.

D6. False Tomb
Two sealed stone sarcophagi rest in alcoves dug into the south wall here. Each sarcophagus releases a cloud of corrosive dust when opened, filling the 10-foot-by-10-foot area north of the sarcophagus. The sarcophagi contain nothing of interest.

D7. Adventurers’ Sepulcher
Four sarcophagi in alcoves contain the moldy bones of adventurers (a bard, a cleric, a fighter, and a wizard) who perished fighting Azdraka.

D8. Dragon Slayer
Two sarcophagi in alcoves contain the moldy bones and rusty armor of Tanamere Alagondar and her faithful squire, but hold nothing of value. The area north of the sarcophagi has the bones of Azdraka, a Huge dragon, embedded in its walls. The dragon’s skull rests on the floor and has a longsword set atop it.