d100 Locations

Sometimes, for me, the hardest part of adventure design isn't the conflict or the enemies, but figuring out *where* the conflict should occur... hence this thread.

So post your ideas. They can be grand locations of geography (a desert, a swamp, a floating city, whatever), or more specific locations for engaing combat or adventuring (a slimy bridge over a chasm? A near-endless plummet down a shaft?)

So here's some to start off.

01: The Dried Lake
It used to be the largest lake on the planet, miles deep, with clear water that was circulated through a spring deep within the earth. Great sea monsters once called this place home...thousands of years ago. Today, it is endless sand, studded with the skeletons of once-great creatures; seashells hundreds of feet tall stand deep in the drifting sand, serving as houses, as fortressess...and the ghosts of the sea monsters still roam the canyons....in addition, the spring itself can lead deep below the surface of the earth.

02: The Peaks
Spearing nearly vertically out of a nest of valleys filled with a poisonous mist, the peaks stretch up narrowly, like a bed of spikes from the clouds, bridges spanning their length. Flying is the best way to get around, but savage winds threaten to throw you to into the mists below. Multicolored kites hang from them, harnassing the power of the wind, and ancient statues keep vigil over travelers here.

03: The City of Water
Think Venice; the city is filled with canals, rivers, and crammed with buildings. A vigilante group of crime-fighters call this place home, worshiping the celestial as the founder of their group.

Aw, man, pity this thread hadn't gone further than 3. Could have been really cool. Here's a contribution.

04: The Great Whirlpool
This is a monstrous whirlpool in the middle of a lake. Yes, a lake. The edges of the lake are calm, but the farther into the center of the lake, the more chaotic they become until the 500 foot radius circle consisting of the void in which the whirlpool constantly circles. The odd thing about the void is that if one could stand next to it and look down, they would notice that it goes down much deeper than the bottom of the lake.

Rocks jut up from the bottome of the lake near the whirlpool, some of which are flat and can be walked upon if one can manage to make it to the rock. Sticking up in the EXACT center of the whirlpool is a towering rock. A bridge leads from the towering rock to another tall rock at the very edge of the whirlpool. The bridge is obviously artificial and on the rock inside the whirlpool is an entrance, so someone or something long ago must have called this place home. Or perhaps they still do...

05: The Haunted Mage Tower

Long ago, in an age long gone by, a powerful wizard commissioned a tower to be built. This tower houses an library of the arcane, dining halls, cloak rooms, and everything a king should have in a castle. On the outside, the tower is no larger than a Daern's Instant Fortress; on the inside, however, it is as large as any mansion.

Over the millenia, the eldritch power infused in the tower has begun to rot, and the seals barring its entrance have begun to fade. Portals that once connected rooms now lead to planes fell and dark; or worse yet, to nothing at all. Creatures from the Outer Darkness, born of the rotten magic, now inhabit the tower. Magic on clothes, books, and even candelabras have become dangerously unstable, and there is no telling what their activation will do.

Nevertheless, there may be great reward for the risk of entry. It is told in ancienct legend that the wizard hid a fortune in the tower, sealed by deadly traps. Who knows, perhaps the magic protecting the treasure has begun to fade, as well?

Nooo! Must live!

06: Tree Woman
In the midst of a large forest is an enormous tree. Although this tree isn't special because of the size [it is surrounded by numerous large trees], it is special because of the shape. Near the large tree woman are large circular discs made of wood, somewhat resembling flat steps that could be used to climb around the woman, though the steps, being 3 feet apart in height and 5 in distance, make it difficult for a normal-sized person to climb them easily. These lead directly to her mouth, though the mouth is closed.

Lucky you, i got a gift for my birthday: 1001 Natural Wonders you must see before you die.

Okay... random page, and adapt for any place...

Ahh.

07. Cenote Grotto

Among the highlands deep in dwarven territory, there are places where dzonot, literally "Swallowing Holes", bring hundreds of square feet of forest crashing down into the depths. This particular sinkhole happens to have come to form it's own unique ecosystem. Surrounded by vertical walls of earth over 140 feet high , there is a lush, untouched section of dense forest about fifteen acres square.

08. The Caverns of Fungi

The cavern itself is 200’ high, with enormous towers, taller than you have seen before. Rising near the middle of the vast space, three can be seen from the entrance. The towers are covered with shelf fungus and luminous patches of moss. The colors are dim, violet, russet, olive and occasionally the brightness of an enchanted light. Window slits open at random intervals over the length of the towers. Long bridges connect the towers, and small bearded figures can be seen strolling around, mummers and voices can be heard filling the air. The floor is covered with rows of fungus, with carefully pruned paths winding through them.

- each fungal tower was a clan of gnomes, and represented in a ruling council by a druid. The whole city was a strong republic, with each druid serving as spokesperson for the concerns of his/her clan. At least it was until Zuggomony took a hand.

09 The mountain is higher than any surrounding it. The top has a clear pool of water at the top, perfectly circular. At night it seems to be illuminated from below with colors that resemble the edge of a soap bubble. The pool is called Bottomless Pool, and for good reason. It is said you can lower a rope into the water until it breaks from its own weight, and it will never go slack.

It is said that great magics can be preformed by the pool... for a price.

10 The Cave of Time
This cave is set in the highest mountain in the world. It is said that those that enter usually do not come out, and if they do they reappear way after they are thought to be dead. Not only does time flow differently within the cave, its vast network of tunnels have openings into the timeline. These openings can desposit those that traverse through it into a time before humanoids were called or evolved into existence. If anyone just walks in the cave and then steps out the way they came in they find that a significat amount of time has passed. One second spent in the cave equates in the passage of 2 hours. Use the following chart to determine how much time has passed between entering and exiting:

11 - The Lost Ark

A skeleton of a long lost ship, the size of an oil tanker, half-buried in the desert sands. Was it built in anticipation of a great flood in ages past? Who built it and what secrets might it hide?

12 - The Walking Colossus

A colossal stone man that walks across the land, trampling anything in its path. Some have told stories that a door is visible in the heel of one of its feet. What or who could be inside? Where is the Colossus going?

13 - The Sentinel Tree

This massive tree stands two hundred feet tall in the middle of a deep forest. If its sheer size alone didn't make it stand out from the other trees around it, its blood-red leaves and white, almost metallic bark would. It stands in a patch of bare earth that reaches out some fifty feet from the trunk.

There are other trees like this one scattered across the world, but nothing anything near as massive as this one--most are barely larger than a shrub. Some sages speculate that this tree's size might mean that it may have been specially bred and planted there... but why? Is it a waymarker, or perhaps a warning?