D&D General Maps, Maps, Maps! Dungeons, Ruins, Caverns, Temples, and more... aka Where Dyson Dumps His Maps.

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Index Card Dungeon II – Map 15 – Pool of Drifting Lights

This is the fifteenth and final map in the Index Card Dungeon II set. It sits to the southeast of Map 14 (the Cave of the Candleman), and northwest of Map 13 (The Sorcerer’s Tomb) via the secret passage on that map.

This map is dominated by a single large cave. Even the rooms to the southwest were not cut from the stone, but were built up with stone to divide them from the cavern. The air here is damp and cold, carrying the scent of melted wax. A stream enters the cave from a narrow cleft in the north wall, spilling into a deep, glassy pool before vanishing into a submerged hole on the far side. The surface is so still in places that it mirrors the cave ceiling perfectly, except for the occasional flicker of blue light that dances across it.

A heavy, iron-banded door stands closed on the west side of the cavern, leading to a couple of rooms and then the secret passage to Map 13. The hinges of the door are flecked with wax drips that have run upwards, against gravity. Steps have been cut into the stone floor of the cave on the south side, with faint footprints leading to and from the pool. Floating on the pool are thin, curled flakes of pale wax, almost like flower petals.

A solitary wax servitor of the Candleman (a half-melted humanoid figure with no face – something akin to what a half-melted wax replica of Gollum would look like) lives in the pool and will likely come out when there are people in the cave. It carries a single lit candle in its cupped hands. It won’t attack unless provoked, but it tries to press the candle into the hands of a visitor before retreating back to the pool. Like the Candleman’s candle, this candle burns with a cold blue flame – the flame always dances in the direction towards the Candleman, but it carries the same slow curse, slowly stiffening the carrier into a wax effigy of themselves.

This is the last map of the Index Card Dungeon II set. I’m working on an overview of the full set that shows the linkages and so on, but there’s a good chance I won’t get it done and published before I leave for a one-week vacation on Friday.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,000 x 5,400 pixels (30 x 18 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 2,100 x 1,260 or 4,200 x 2,520, respectively.

Index Card Dungeon II – Map 15 – Pool of Drifting Lights

This is the fifteenth and final map in the Index Card Dungeon II set. It sits to the southeast of Map 14 (the Cave of the Candleman), and northwest of Map 13 (The Sorcerer’s Tomb) via the sec…

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Tideworn Grotto

An old smuggler’s haven expanded into the coastal rock by Deep One adherents, the tideworn grotto now lies half-submerged and forgotten. The smugglers are long drowned or transformed, but the grotto still pulses with the lingering touches of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. The tides within do not obey the moon; they obey memory, ritual, and the drowned gods.

The map shows the grotto at low tide – most of the grotto is underwater at high tide except for the top of the coral stairs and a few small areas around the edges of the caves.

The entrance from above descends through a slick, spiralling stairwell encrusted with dead coral and barnacle-pocked stone. Weathered and worn humanoid statues line the descent – so worn that little can be discerned except that their mouths are all wide open, as if gasping warnings. The top statue ends up ankle-deep in the briny water at the highest tide, and the statues serve as an indicator or warning as the tide comes in and out.

In the easternmost cave, a stone altar and five standing stones emerge from the depths at low tide. The stones are carved with serpentine motifs and representations of Dagon and Hydra. Just to the north of the shrine is the bound keeper – a water elemental tied down by chains of rusted iron and coral. It was once the guardian of the grotto, but now it seethes with betrayal. It offers knowledge and treasures from the sea in exchange for freedom, but its revenge will flood more than just the grotto.

The largest cavern houses a roaring whirlpool, its spiral visible even in total darkness. It siphons not only water, but light and magic. Torches dim, spells fizzle, and illusions unravel near its edge. The whirlpool is anchored by a submerged stone ring inscribed with runes that pulse faintly when arcane energy is nearby. Smugglers once used this chamber to dispose of cursed cargo, but some say the whirlpool remembers what it devours.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,600 x 9,600 pixels (32 x 32 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 2,240 x 2,240 or 4,480 x 4,480, respectively.

Tideworn Grotto

An old smuggler’s haven expanded into the coastal rock by Deep One adherents, the tideworn grotto now lies half-submerged and forgotten. The smugglers are long drowned or transformed, but the…

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The Hollow Abyss

An oppressive silence hangs over the Hollow Abyss, broken by the faint, almost imperceptible tremor of silk strands vibrating in the stale air. The walls, floor, and ceiling are draped in layers of webbing; some brittle and grey with age, others fresh and glistening, still tacky to the touch. The scent is a mix of damp stone, old dust, and the faintly sweet, cloying odor of spider venom. Every step risks alerting something that has been watching for far longer than you’ve been here.

Webbed Fissure
The entrance to the Abyss is a yawning defile in the stone face of the mountain. The depths of the entry are shrouded in darkness, concealed behind a wall of giant spider webs. A lattice of thick, rope-like spider silk spans the gap, trembling ever so slightly as if something unseen is moving far below. The strands are anchored to jagged rock on either side, their tension humming faintly when touched. A torn scrap of cloth, snagged on a strand of the web, matches the heraldry of House Cavrett, a local noble family.

Egg Chamber
A low, wide cavern, its walls and ceiling thick with layered webs. Pale, bulbous egg sacs cling to every surface, some the size of a fist, others as large as a human head. The air is warm and humid here, carrying a faint, rotten sweetness. Three humanoid shapes hang cocooned in the webs. Two are long dead, their faces frozen in silent screams beneath the silk; the final one is a local farmer who got too close to the Abyss and is still faintly twitching. One of the bodies has a silver amulet with a spider motif, the key to the door of the Alchemist’s Retreat.

The Recluse Den
A webbed-over entrance leads down to this chamber, lit by a faint, phosphorescent glow from lichen-covered walls. At its center rests the Recluse — a massive, ancient spider with mottled grey fur and eyes like pools of black glass. It does not attack immediately; instead, it speaks in a voice like dry leaves scraping stone, offering cryptic warnings and oracular visions. But it attempts to use these to manipulate visitors to working towards its own ends. The Den is eerily quiet, save for the slow, deliberate clicking of the Recluse’s mandibles. The webs here are old and brittle, layered over centuries.

Abandoned Camp
This chamber bears the remnants of a once-orderly campsite: bedrolls, a cold firepit, scattered supplies. The dust here is disturbed only by the faint drag marks of something heavy being pulled towards the Recluse Den. The silence is oppressive, and the smell of decay lingers faintly. A half-written journal lies open, its ink smeared by something wet; the last entry ending mid-sentence. The door to the north is made of iron and is sealed with a silver magical lock that uses the amulet from the Egg Chamber to open.

Alchemist’s Retreat
The final chamber is a stark contrast to the rest of the Abyss. Shelves of dusty glassware, stoppered vials, and stacks of parchment line the walls. A faint chemical tang hangs in the air. Without the amulet to unlock the door, access is via the claustrophobic passage from the Recluse Den. Within are alchemical notes detailing the creation of the spider mutants; experiments gone awry, using waste from failed transmutations. There is also old spider venom antidote, and a map to another of the alchemist’s lairs.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 7,200 x 10,200 pixels (24 x 34 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 1,680 x 2,380 or 3,360 x 4,760, respectively.

The Hollow Abyss

An oppressive silence hangs over the Hollow Abyss, broken by the faint, almost imperceptible tremor of silk strands vibrating in the stale air. The walls, floor, and ceiling are draped in layers of…

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