The Sheepwright Cairns

A scatter of small grave-cairns on the commons above Hollowfold where the shepherds lay their honest dead — a deliberate refusal of Vandahl's ranked crypts, blessed by the Mourners of the Hush.

Three generations of Hollowfold folk have buried their dead up on the commons rather than pay the house's lineage-tithe for a niche in the catacombs. The cairns are plain field-stone, hand-stacked, marked with a carved sheep if the dead person had a flock. The Mourners of the Hush bless them once a season — quietly, without asking Vandahl's leave. The house officially ignores the practice; unofficially, it is a small insult they cannot afford to punish.