#88 Where the Horses Are Buried

Age: 300 Years

Hidden or Lost?: Hidden

History: Nestled deep within the vast expanse of the Grain Sea, those endless fields of wheat and grass stretching out among the Low Hills, there is a nameless and silent necropolis known only as Where the Horses Are Buried.

The ramshackle cemetery sits in a remote hollow, far from the site of any settlement or habitation. With its towering mausoleums looming up over strange monuments and simple wooden markers, it feels as though it has always been a place for the dead. And it was the horses who knew it.

The cemetery was first established after a lonely drifter followed his beloved, dying mare out into the Grain Sea, intent on burying his companion where she fell. But the sickly nag sauntered farther out into the fields than the drifter had ever dared venture, until he was hopelessly lost. Finally the steed knelt against an ancient boulder and died. Upon the horse’s death, a tall spirit rose from the stone, declaring itself The Triquine Duke. It bore three equine faces and long courser’s limbs that ended in human-like hands with thick, blunt nails. The spirit lifted the drifter in its many arms and threatened to devour him lest he join a pact to return with more offerings. In addition to his life, the demon spirit promised the drifter a boon of power. The drifter agreed, and buried his horse’s body at the foot of the stone.

The drifter traveled back across the Grain Sea, having no trouble retracing his steps. Within days he returned to the spirit’s stone, a companion and her ailing horse in tow. The cackling spirit was pleased and granted them each gifts of wealth and speed. Once word got out about the haunted gravesite, people traveled far and wide to feed the Triquine Duke, building ever larger monuments to their proffered steeds. Soon an odd necropolis had formed and countless visitors had received the demon’s boon.

Foreseeably, the Duke's gifts came with strings attached. In time, each of those who had received the Duke’s blessing grew into cursed, misshapen horse creatures themselves. Despite this deadly price, some still brought offerings to Where the Horses Are Buried. It wasn’t until a team of frontier exorcists gathered to place wards and warnings around the site, working to erase any memory of the blighted burial spot.

Yet centuries later, wild horses who venture near occasionally heed the call of the Triquine Duke, every once and again luring some desperate soul to the place Where the Horses Are Buried, hoping to begin the cycle of boon and birth all over again.

1. The Hitched Gate

2. The Silent Stables

3. Wall of Shoes

4. Jawbone Ring

5. The Courser’s Mausoleum

6. Obelisk of the Lame

7. Ferrier Stones

8. The Neighing Dark

9. Old Graves

10. Cloven Remembrance

11. Monument to the Horse

12. The Colt’s Rotunda

13. Marker of the First Offering

14. Prison Stone of the Triquine Duke