Old Tomb

The Old Tomb was a large mausoleum nestled in the Desertsmouth Mountains.

Location
The structure was located in a boulder-strewn valley overgrown with scrub in the Desertsmouth Mountains between Anauroch and the Dalelands. It could be found traveling through miles of challenging wilderness due west of the Serpentsbridge that spanned the Dagger River. There was a distinct trail through the valley leading up to the doorstep, as if it was inhabited or visited regularly.

Structure
The mausoleum was built of skillfully cut stone blocks to form a one-story building with no windows and a gently peaked roof. Three stone steps bracketed by stone banisters led up to a set of large double doors. A statue of a female knight with a shield and an upraised sword stood above the lintel on a platform.

Interior
The inside space was approximately 20 ft (6.1 m) wide by 30 ft (9.1 m) deep and open to the roof. On the back wall of the room was an inscription in the Common tongue. In the center of the floor was a rectangular stone coffin on a bi-level bier that was 4 ft (1.2 m) by 10 ft (3 m), all carved from the same block of granite. The coffin lid was a stone slab decorated with a relief of a female knight in full plate armor minus the helm. The arms of the figure laid by her sides with a sword and a wand held at the ready. The face of the knight had no distinctive features other than being a human female in repose.

The coffin was empty and at the bottom was the opening of a circular shaft with hand- and foot-holds carved down one side. The shaft descended some 30 ft (9.1 m) with the last 10 ft (3 m) open to a rectangular room with wooden doors on the other three walls. The room contained a stone chair and table, and a small chest. On the table were some sheets of parchment with writing on them, and a ring. The coffer contained three magic scrolls: a cure serious wounds and two invisibility spells. On a peg near one of the doors was a warm woolen cloak. In a stained area of the floor laid a dagger. The ring, cloak, and dagger all radiated magic if detected.

Through the door next to the cloak was another small room that contained a table. On the table was an open coffer that contained a human skull that burned with continual flame, a mundane longsword in a scabbard, and a map. The map appeared to lead to some treasure cache but, compared to known and proven maps, it was fanciful and only contained one or two actual locations that were correctly labeled.

Through the door opposite the climbing shaft was another small room that contained a well with fresh, drinkable water, a stool, and a set of low wooden shelves that stretched the length of one wall. On the shelves were random pieces of old, ornate armor&mdash;helms, gauntlets, bracers, etc.&mdash;that looked like they had been looted from ancient Netherese or Anaurian tombs. Many of the pieces were magically enchanted with unknown effects. The door nearest the floor stain and dagger opened into a room with a large circle chalked onto the floor that appeared to have arcane uses. In one corner was a wooden side table with some lumps of chalk and a ring of keys. Mounted about three-quarters of the way up one wall was a metal ring with a chain attached to a lockable metal collar.

Atmosphere
A most unusual aspect of the Old Tomb was that regardless of what got moved, used, damaged, or taken, the contents of the rooms were restored to their original arrangement (as described above) before the next visitor arrived. The armor pieces may have varied&mdash;the weapons were slightly different; the map and parchments may have changed; the ring, keys, and scrolls were replaced&mdash;but everything was put back in essentially the same place every time it was disturbed and the disturbers departed.

Activities
The owner of the Old Tomb was Shattershree, who, in the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, was a mature adult silver dragon that liked making profitable trade deals and had various investments in Sembian businesses. She disliked those who made their wealth through corruption, manipulation, and foul play. The Old Tomb was her way of luring adventuring types into performing services favorable to her goals (and detrimental to her rivals) without them knowing anything about her. The maps she left were lures to explore places she wanted explored, and the sheets of parchment were clues and information needed to profit from the ill-gotten gains of those she felt deserved to be exploited in kind.

The ring, dagger, cloak, and sword were all props that might or might not have played a role in the schemes hinted at by the parchment clues. She made the stain on the floor with owlbear-hide dye, the chalk circle was a hoax, and the keys she spell-duplicated from originals that fit certain mansions and guild vaults in Cormyr and Sembia. The armor pieces really were antiques that didn't match anything else and some had minor beneficial enchantments. Every item that anyone would want to remove from the tomb was tagged with Shattershree's own beacon tracer dweomer. She was alerted to the location of her items whenever a spell was cast on them, or when one of her scrolls was used. Thus, she was able to follow the progress of her unwitting henchmen and perhaps play a role (always behind the scenes or in disguise) to assist or nudge them toward a favorable outcome.

If anyone was ever left behind with her shackle around their neck, she would question them in human guise before deciding what to do with them.

Defenses
The Old Tomb had no defenses except Shattershree herself. When she wasn't off tending to her business interests, she sprawled on a mountain ledge that overlooked her valley where she could keep an eye on her lure and keep the large predators (attracted by the deer that used the well-worn path) in check.

History
No record of the Old Tomb or who was buried there could be found in the libraries at Candlekeep, Cormyr, or Sembia, or the Leaves of Learning in Highmoon. Shattershree commissioned some clanless dwarves from the Storm Horns, led by Hamhaerth "Goldhand", to build the Tomb for her sometime around the Year of the Wandering Waves, 1292 DR. The dwarves knew better than to reveal they had any knowledge of the Tomb.

Rumors & Legends
There were plenty of stories that attempted to explain who was buried in the Old Tomb. Early tales describe her as a "lady-lord" named Ilmaerile, or perhaps Yimaerl. Later stories inflated her title to a lost princess of Anauria. A popular tavern tale postulated that the Old Tomb was the resting place of the warlord (or bandit) Loardrin who marauded from Thar down to the homesteads that eventually became Sembia&mdash;the truly interesting part being the explanation of how he came to be buried in a tomb with a feminine theme. The magical references in the decorations gave strength to the theory that the wizard Sraedar was the Tomb's occupant. Sraedar was thought to have tutored the infamous Malaug.