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Message: <blockquote data-quote="frankthedm" data-source="post: 2846712" data-attributes="member: 1164">Animate thread!I think The Keep on the Borderlands runs better ‘out of the box’. The Lost City starts to really shine with a small amount of DM work. The mosaics in the hall of history needed to be in a “hand out” format. Here is a set I typed out to fit my own retelling of this module.[sblock=Mosaic in the Hall of History]1st A tribe of squat, heavy-browed humanoids wielding crude stone weapons worship a lizard-headed idol surrounded by willow like trees. The body of the idol has been worn away far more than the rest of the mosaic and several pieces are missing.2nd A large band of tall, black-haired people decimate the humanoids and claim their hunting grounds. A woman, who seems to be the one leading the black haired people, thrusts her spear into a corner of the mosaic that has been removed by force. 3rd A village rises over the scene of the battle. In the lands around the village are fields of grain and vast herds of cattle and horses. Several women bear a semblance to the woman who led the people against their humanoid foes. A snake headed man is trying to hide among the village, but is pointed at by a winged child.4th A great leader arises in time of need and gathers the villagers in to an army that destroys hordes of serpent men and other ill defined creatures. Several children are depicted with wings and cast lightning from their hands at the horrors.5th The victorious leader is crowned king, and the people begin to worship him as a god like the Female leader and winged child. His queen is from the number of those who resemble the people’s first leader.6th A great city is constructed at the command of the royal bloodline. The lands outside have become more sparse as the city is constructed. A number of men now bear a semblance of the first king.7th to 12th Scenes of the splendor of the kingdom at its height. Those depicted as the leader of old, first king and the winged child are not uncommon and is it shown those disguises are merely masks worn and wings of cloth. The King or Queen of the city often marries from that number.  As the mosaics continue the civilization is only hindered by infrequent attacks of dog headed men and that more and goods have to come from afar. The last of these mosaics show the land outside the city as desert.13th The royal line celebrates a twin birth. There is great rejoicing as the two grow and great things are prophesized by a winged child. Even when their masks are removed, the boy bears a strong semblance to the first king and the girl looks just like the ancient leader.14th The two grow into adults and rule over the great city. At their command a colossal stone building is being built in the center of the city.15th A group of workers fall into a cavern at the base of the building. When investigated, crudely formed ruins are found beneath. The workers dismantle much of it and take the stone for the building, which now resembles a ziggurat topped by statues of the three gods.16th The masked people begin to turn against the royal family. The King dies at the hand of a thin humanoid with sharp features. The Queen takes up rule and is eventually slain by those whose masks she resembles. They are interred in the Ziggurat. In their absence, turmoil grasps the city as the followers of the old gods fight for supremacy17th A golden dragon is shown defeating those masked as the cities gods, but not before one of winged child’s number warps its body to a horrid form. The Dragon’s face is nearly melted, leaving but its jaws, one eye and a single horn. Its limbs and wings became tentacles and its haunches melted. The people of the city, in their gratitude, take up worship of suffering dragon, heedless of its unpleasing appearance.18th A great celebration grips the city and all within live a life of happiness, lead by those in golden masks with the features distorted in honor of the dragon. They call for the casting down of the old gods, but the people have forgiven those cults and refuse.19th Blond haired foreigners enter the city and take up trade with its residents, but eventually attack the followers of the dragon. They are cast from the city, but return in great numbers. The city defeats them, but the great walls have fallen in many places. [That was the last mosaic.]20th A crudely carved base relief depicts the people fleeing into the ziggurat as numerous invaders of human and inhuman nature loot the city. 21st The great doors have a crudely carved depiction of a vast cavern filled with buildings.  An underground river divides the cavern. On the distant side, a cloud rises from a field of spikes.[/sblock] Another continent Eh? Perhaps a clan of Kitsune/Werefoxes are seeking the remnants of their family. They might try and employ foreigners from the land they believe a pair of siblings fled to. Perhaps the divine caster of the party gets visions of a lost city hinting at the urgency the situation presents.Or the lost city is taken over and converted to a far realm canker: A twisted pocket dimension with an even larger and more twisted second pocket dimension inside it; Last April’s Dragon magazine had a good article on this. There were a thousand souls down there besides the monsters trapped in that not all that sane pyramid, who knows what they will emerge as. The PCs will eventually catch mention of strange monster pouring out of the desert or Underdark. Should they investigate, make sure there were clues that show that there was a chance it could have been stopped, maybe  even have an encounter with an angel that got ‘converted’ to [non –epic]Pseudonatural.</blockquote>

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