The Beacon Cairn
The town of Beacon Cairn is the westernmost frontier of Nathoud. It takes its name from the towering pinnacle of rock that rises like a lone sentinel alongside the Golden Way. The rock, a chimneylike tower, stands approximately 500 feet above the surrounding plain. Since the land here is quite flat, Beacon Cairn can be seen for many miles. Even more unusual is the light that shines from its peak at night. A flickering blue-green, the beacon fire (as it is called) was magically created by Nathoud wizards as part of a series of navigational aids for travelers of the empire.
The town of Beacon Cairn is clustered around the base of the rock tower. It is built from the same red shale as the tower itself and easily blends into the base. As traffic on the Spice Road has dwindled over the years in favor of the southern routes, the fortunes of the town have also dwindled. About half of the buildings are complete ruins or seriously decrepit. Some of the ruins are 500 or more years old, but most of the buildings have been abandoned in the last 20 years or less. Beacon Cairn is in the process of becoming a ghost town.
Aside from the beacon fire, there is little of obvious interest in Beacon Cairn. Most of the folk are simple farmers, trying to eke out a living from the hard prairie soil, or merchants trading with the western-most of the nomadic tribes.
