D&D General #Dungeon23

gorice said:

I like a good sewer.

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Ye gods, not again....

There are a number of places in the town I designed that have access to underground tunnels to the dungeon areas (they used to be sewers and aqueducts), and now I'm suddenly plagued by the urge to map out ALL OF THEM, despite the town being ten miles from the dungeon....

Damn you all!

gorice said:

I like a good sewer.

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The sewers of the city of Kyrthar Tahlketh were the best sewers if their time. They even surpass sewers that were build 1000 years later. But the city being sealed away for a 1000 years and having a devil/demon government that doesn't really see the needs for sewers, led to some maintenance problems. Also having barley enough water to feed the slave population, not having functioning sewers was more of a luxury problem.

M_Natas said:

Day 126 - sewers - gate
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As you push forward past the bend, you suddenly come across a set of metal bars blocking your path. They seem to be rusted and old, but sturdy enough to hold. On your left, you see a small room covered in the same slimy moss that seems to be all over the tunnel walls. The room is small and cramped, with barely enough space to move around. There is a musty smell coming from inside, and you can barely make out what looks like a pile of old, moldy blankets in one corner. The walls are slick with moisture, and the air is heavy and damp. You feel uneasy, and the scratching sounds from above seem to have grown louder.
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Day 127 - sewers - secret door

The tunnel that leads away from the Crypt of Heroes in the sewer system has a secret door leading south. As you enter the small chamber beyond, your senses are overwhelmed by the thick, slimy green moss that covers every surface. You feel as if you've stumbled into a hidden realm, the air thick with an otherworldly energy. Your eyes are drawn to the pulsing green crystals that glow rhythmically at the chamber's far end, casting an eerie light that illuminates the swaying moss in mesmerizing waves. It's as if the chamber is alive, pulsing and throbbing with a power you can't begin to comprehend.

M_Natas said:

Day 127 - sewers - secret door
View attachment 284107
The tunnel that leads away from the Crypt of Heroes in the sewer system has a secret door leading south. As you enter the small chamber beyond, your senses are overwhelmed by the thick, slimy green moss that covers every surface. You feel as if you've stumbled into a hidden realm, the air thick with an otherworldly energy. Your eyes are drawn to the pulsing green crystals that glow rhythmically at the chamber's far end, casting an eerie light that illuminates the swaying moss in mesmerizing waves. It's as if the chamber is alive, pulsing and throbbing with a power you can't begin to comprehend.
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Day 128 – sewers – laboratory​

Underneath the secret tunnel lies a large chamber with a flood basin. A wooden platform has been erected above the basin, with tables holding various alchemical equipment. Green crystals emit a pulsating light, casting an eerie glow on the surroundings. In one corner of the chamber, a large basin contains a slimy green moss, which is being harvested and directed into the flood basin. The air is thick with the scent of decay, and strange whispers seem to echo through the chamber. You can’t help but wonder who has been conducting experiments in this hidden lair.

M_Natas said:

Day 128 – sewers – laboratory​

View attachment 284221
Underneath the secret tunnel lies a large chamber with a flood basin. A wooden platform has been erected above the basin, with tables holding various alchemical equipment. Green crystals emit a pulsating light, casting an eerie glow on the surroundings. In one corner of the chamber, a large basin contains a slimy green moss, which is being harvested and directed into the flood basin. The air is thick with the scent of decay, and strange whispers seem to echo through the chamber. You can’t help but wonder who has been conducting experiments in this hidden lair.
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Day 129 - sewers - flooded junction

M_Natas said:

Day 129 - sewers - flooded junction
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Day 130 - sewers - Wood storage

M_Natas said:

Day 130 - sewers - Wood storage
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Day 131 - sewers - partially flooded junction

Aaaah I'm so late! In my defence, I wasn't in great health this week. Feeling much better now, and happy to explore this new level.

Level +1: The House of Doors
Ambient threat: patrols of heavily armed ghouls from the bowels of the fortress.

1: Gates

• A pair portcullises, each shaped like a cyclopean hand, left facing outward, right facing inward. There are gaps between the fingers, wide enough to stick an arm through, which allow someone to peek through – into the gloomy stone hall within, or the ruined city outside.
• (?) Arrow slits in the gatehouse overlook the space between the portcullises.
• (?) The fingers lock into pits carved in the stone floor.
• (?) Each portcullis is of titanic weight and strength, cast in solid bronze encased in verdigris.
• (!) The gates open periodically to admit or release a patrol of ghouls.
• (!) 2 ghoul sentries in the gatehouse.

2: Gatehouse

• Stone stairs rise to firing platforms overlooking the street and the space between portcullises.
• (!) A pair of ghoul sentries lurks in the dark.
• (?) A pair vast wheels of solid bronze, each joined to a portcullis hand by chains and gears. It may take some effort, but the portcullis can be raised.

3: Mustering Hall

• An empty hall with a floor of polished marble. Lit by natural light from high, narrow windows, near the 60’ high vaulted ceiling.
• Doors to the East and West, framed in grotesque mouths carved from marble. One door is blue stone, one crimson.
• (?) Both doors are locked.
• (?) Behind the blue door, sounds of grinding metal and hammers.
• (?) Behind the red, animal growls and gnawing.

4: Great Stair

• A great stretch of polished marble. A staircase without stairs, at a 45 degree incline. Marble bannisters run either side.
• (?) The individual marble panels have tiny gaps every foot or so.
• (!) The wheel in the control room flips these panels so that they become stairs.

5: Blue Hall

• A long, winding corridor. Dim light from flickering lamps.

6: Machinery Room

• Loud grinding and hammering sounds. Flickering lamps. Smell of grease and something awful. Heat like a furnace.
• Massive furnace and complicated machinery involving trip hammers and presses.
• (!) Lair of the ogre smith, and giant pale naked thing with a black metal mask. Too busy working to bother with intruders, unless they make a nuisance or interrupt the work.

7: Red Hall

• A long, winding corridor. Dim light from flickering lamps.

M_Natas said:

Day 131 - sewers - partially flooded junction

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Day 132 - sewers - crocodiles nest

Added a personal easter egg to my area map...

I went to the Avery Point campus of UCONN for a few semesters, which is located on the grounds of a 19th-century manor house called Branford Manor built out near the end of the small Point. (The house's back yard ends at Long Island Sound.)
I used to sit out on the rocks writing poetry instead of going to class, and one of my favorite spots to sit was a small bit of shoreline (with an eight-foot drop to the water below) that when viewed from above sort of looked like the sweeping wings and shoulders of a dragon, with erosion having caused the center section that jutted out into the water to sag, looking like the lowered neck and head of the dragon - there was even a crumbled slab of pavement and a round rock stuck in the side of it that looked like the eye and mouth.
It looked sort of like this:



I wrote a trilogy of poems about the place while I was there - in my mind, it had become a port town called Dragon Head, so-called because it sat in the lee of a high cliff that protected it from the harsher weather of the sea... A sea-eroded cliff that looked almost like someone had long ago intentionally chiseled it into the extremely rough shape of a dragon.
In my mind, local lore held that it really was an ancient dragon asleep for centuries as it guarded the town.

I've just added it to my area map, forty or fifty miles north of the city of Windward.

So now I have, I think, something like four or five personal references added to my world (including a number of former characters), half a dozen npcs based on Reaper miniatures, a vague nod to Game of Thrones, at least one Princess Bride reference, a gender-and-race-swapped nod to a Celtic god, and a wildly different riff on a Disney princess...

I am definitely keeping myself amused, lol.