Tomb of Barbarossan

(References @Barbarossan, the Warden of Frost , and @Tomb of Barbarossan )

High in the jagged peaks of the Drachenzahne Mountains lies a ruin shrouded in snow and silence: the @Tomb of Barbarossan, once a sanctum of ancient reverence, now a place of myth and dread. Legend holds that @Barbarossan, the Warden of Frost was a warlord of ancient Hesan descent, crowned not by lineage but by conquest. He unified the fractured highland clans and forged the first mountain accords, pledging Hesan steel to the first gods who carved order from chaos. Upon his death, he was entombed in a vault carved into the mountain itself, sealed with rites so old they predate the current imperial calendar.

The tomb is said to be unreachable in summer, as the mountain storms guard it jealously. Only in the thinning breath of winter can one ascend the narrow Mountain Approach that lead to its Broken Archway. The entrance is a broken arch of black stone, half-swallowed by ice, with the sigil of Hesa etched above: a sword entwined with a serpent. Inside, the air is still and bitter. The first chamber is a Rotunda of Murals of cracked pillars and faded murals depicting Barbarossan's campaigns—his pact with the sky-priests, his duel atop the burning ridge, his final march into the frost.

Deeper within lies the Hall of Vigil, where stone sentinels stand in eternal watch. It is said that Barbarossan sleeps beneath a slab of red granite in the Sanctum of the Warden, his beard still growing, his sword still warm. Some claim he will rise when Hesa is threatened by a foe no steel can pierce. Others say he stirs already.

@Barbarossan, the Warden of Frost

Barbarossan was no heir—he was a conqueror. In the age before the imperial calendar, he rose from the highland clans of Hesa, uniting them not by blood but by blade. His campaigns were brutal, but his vision was clear: a mountain accord, sealed by steel and sky. He pledged his warband to the gods that carved chaos into order, and in return, the regents gave him a tomb worthy of legend.

Some say he sleeps still, waiting for a threat no steel can pierce. Others whisper that he stirs already—that the Accord is broken, and the Warden must rise.