By Jeffrey Gerretse, By Kyle Hunter

Frontier settlements often hold remnants of the societies that preceded them. In these remote locations, the landscape plays into stories of myth and legend that explain natural and supernatural phenomena. How these stories interact with history is the purview not only of scholars, but also of adventurers, for their actions are often intertwined with the tales surrounding curious places.

This article describes seven locations that blend history and myth. These can be dropped into any campaign to add local flavor or to introduce new plot hooks for your band of adventurers.

The Bleeding Stone

An hour’s travel from a secluded village, there rests a small copse of trees. Within these woods, a tall stone protrudes from a bed of crisp leaves surrounded by vigilant boughs. Thin trails of fresh blood trace lines down the sides of this 4-foot-high stone to soak into the damp earth.

According to the villagers, the stone was once the knife of a young soldier, who upon returning from war and discovering his beloved dead, plunged the blade into his chest before driving it into the earth. By the will of the god Heironeous, the knife slowly became the bleeding stone now familiar to the locals. They say that when the stone’s blood runs dry, someone in the village is victim to a grisly crime, and when that person’s soul has passed, the stone bleeds again in mourning.

The stone has been dry now for three days. A local ranger carried the news to the village, and fearing the tragedy the stone foretells, the village has shut itself off from all visitors.

The Chalk Man

A chalk hillside that slopes toward a busy road bears the immense carving of a crude spearman. Travelers are uneasy with the image and claim it watches them as they pass. Some say the carving pays homage to a great hero of antiquity, but others claim the image is possessed by a warrior spirit.

During winter rainstorms, chalk dust sometimes runs with the water into the nearby farmlands, and when the clouds recede, travelers find the carving’s position has changed. The warrior’s head might face a different direction, or his spear might be held in two hands instead of one.

The significance of these changes is unknown, but for the next few days after such storms, wild dogs howl atop the hill and travelers keep vigilant, wary of the warrior spirit thought to be contained in the chalk man.

The Laughing Tomb

A chambered barrow along a nearby ridge overlooks the farmlands of a quaint community. Cairn material once blocked the entrance to the barrow, but now the stones are scattered throughout the forecourt. The burial site is the resting place of a child murderer and is mostly avoided for fear of evil spirits.

Every so often, farmers working their fields hear childlike laughter within the tomb, and a few days later, another child disappears. Such disappearances are never explained and the children are never found.

Though the farmers clearly suspect that the evil originates from the barrow, no one has had the courage to enter the tomb in search of the missing children. Attempts to block the entrance have failed, with stones later found shattered among small, childlike bones.

The Ruined Church

A ruined church dedicated to St. Cuthbert rests inside an old druidic henge not far from a bustling trading outpost. The tall stones form a wide circle around the church’s mossy walls and cast long shadows over the decrepit structure, giving it a blighted appearance.

Townsmen say that after religious fanatics massacred the local druids, they constructed a church within the henge to rid it of its pagan evil. According to the story, the murdered druids rose from the dead after the church was completed and took their revenge, destroying the sanctuary and slaying the zealots.

Followers of St. Cuthbert buried the bodies, but the henge has since been left alone. The druids are said to rise once every year to sanctify the site, and their chanting can be heard throughout the town. These rituals now occur more frequently, raising concern among the faithful.

The Stone of Faces

Nestled within a small forest is a cool spring bordered by soft grasses and filtered sunlight. A number of vague faces are carved into a vertical rock near the spring, each expressing an emotion from joy to sorrow.

The site was once the domain of a naiad worshiped by local druids sworn to protect her. The druids were slain by an agent of Erythnul, and when the naiad was later killed, she imprisoned their souls within the stone.

Some say freeing these souls grants great fortune, while others warn that such an act brings the naiad’s curse.

The Watchful Ladies

Each morning, the sun rises between six stones overlooking a shallow valley. Travelers honor these stones as symbols of safety, and pilgrims decorate them with offerings.

Legend holds that the stones contain the souls of six young women slain by brigands. They now warn travelers of danger by blocking the sun during early morning hours.

Despite their duty, the watchful ladies are said to be joyful spirits who dance at sunset, grateful for another peaceful day.

The Weeping Tomb

On the outskirts of a small farming community lies an ancient burial chamber made of four upright stones supporting a capstone. Each upright bears a single rune unknown to the locals.

No evidence suggests anyone was ever buried within, yet the farmers respect the site and leave it undisturbed.

On clear nights during a rising full moon, weeping can be heard from inside the tomb. No one has ever been found there, yet local children claim to know the life story of a young girl they believe is buried within.