What Goes into a Deity's Lair?

[Saagael]

My players will be heading to Celestia, home of Bahamut, Kord and Moradin, soon. Specifically they'll be in Bahamut's mountain-top home, and I'm working on mapping out the place, but it keeps coming out as too human; too much like a human designed it (of course a human is designing it [me], but that's no excuse )

So what features and details could I add to make Bahamut's lair memorable, unique, and epic. Maybe not all of the area, but a few rooms: portal entrance room, meeting room, Bahamut's throne room, a statue/art chamber, or something else.

 

[Arctic Wolf]

There is a sidenote in Draconomicon 2 Metallic Dragons that says:

The shining castle Bahamut calls home rests atop Mertion.
one ofthe seven mountains of Celestia, the astral domain
of the good and Just This grand structure is more than
just a palace-It's also Bahamut's hoard. The walls, inlaid
with copper and ivory on the inside and platinum on the
outside, reflect the etemal light of Celestia and make the
castle appear like a beacon on the horizon. The walls are
made of mithral tiles, and the windows of gemstones set
in silver and gold. Bahamut viciously pursues (usually by
proxy) anyone who attempts to steal from his great castle.
He might be a good god, but he's also dedicated to Justice​

and is a dragon. It's best not to mess with his hoard.

I hope this helps

 

[Mengu]

You should feel small and insignificant when you walk into the home of the gods. I'm thinking thousands of steps you must climb, 200 foot ceilings, statues over 100 feet tall. Windows (or tapestries) that display impossibly beautiful realms, as well as realms of horror. A ceiling of moving celestial representations from stars and moons on one half to suns and nebulas on the other. One would feel a rush of feelings as they get close to an inner chamber where the god may meet them, awe, fear, peace, confusion, and an inability to focus one's mind.

In the case of Bahamut, I'm imagining lots of white (platinum) and gold in the embellishments, bleached stone statues of warriors in gold trimmed armor and shields, golden wall crowns and pillar caps, white marble floors with gold veins running through them... And perhaps platinum statues of dragons, guarding entry ways, and seemingly watching every move. I'd also add ghost sounds that are heard but never seen, of canaries.

 

[Saagael]

Arctic Wolf, I'd give you some XP, but I must spread it around first. I haven't looked too much at the Draconomicon yet, but I might have to if its got stuff like that in it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A lava lamp...made with REAL LAVA!!!

 

[GreyICE]

Also if you want you can emphasize its otherworldly nature. Hallways that stretch on to infinity, all encrusted with gems. Rooms bigger on the inside than the outside.

Absolutely everything is scaled for the largest dragon imaginable. All the doorways are at least 40' tall and 40' wide, doors are impossible to open without strength of at least 30, etc.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dimension warping is a standard trope. Another one- slightly rarer- is anachronisms. Having a discussion with Bahamut while he's watching the Frazier/Ali fight on a plasma screen could prove unsettling.

Or perhaps he likes his 8th generation iPad...or is lounging in front of a Dyson Hot (AC/Heater).

 

[Saagael]

Making things really big is something I planned on doing: I portray deities as much, much larger than your standard Gargantuan monster. Infinite tunnels or rooms that loop back on themselves would be interesting too.

What about terrain or hazards and such, since the players will likely end up in combat at some point? Not traps, exactly, just things that change how combat is fought in a deities realm. I was thinking something like: All flight speeds are extended by 2 squares (to represent how most modes of transportation around here are flying, so its designed to be easier). Not sure what else though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

What about terrain or hazards and such, since the players will likely end up in combat at some point? Not traps, exactly, just things that change how combat is fought in a deities realm. I was thinking something like: All flight speeds are extended by 2 squares (to represent how most modes of transportation around here are flying, so its designed to be easier). Not sure what else though.

Watch Cloverfield.

While the gods may keep clean house, they aren't perfect (anything you hear to the contrary is just PR spin). They will have housepests...and they won't be itty bitty roaches or tiny grey mice...

 

[Shemeska]

Would he have a distinct lair at all? Would the mortal mind be unable to truly process a direct meeting with a divinity, and thus rather than perceiving him and his lair as it truly is, each individual might view it according to their own preconceptions and cultural understanding of dragons and Bahamut himself.

Give it mystique, give it wonder, don't just make it a bigger mundane dragon's lair like Bahamut is just the biggest, highest level dragon, no different except for numbers compared to his children.