Surprise, I'm writing stuff for Glorantha now. Bitch. However, this dungeon should be easy enough to adapt for any setting which might have your earth mother goddess types. This is for Glaugust, specifically Prime's prompt for a deicide dungeon.
 |
| Typhon, Tarquinia Tombs |
This nameless vault was built early in the First Age to safeguard a rare and terrible killing tool of the powers of Earth. Over the long deluge of centuries, the temple above crumbled, the priestesses left, and the sacred grounds were forgotten. This dungeon can be put anywhere Ernalda is or once was worshipped, which is to say a significant chunk of central Genertela where everything of relevance is happening anyways. Likewise, the reasons you might come here are varied. Perhaps you've been hired by the Lunar Empire to capture a prized Orlanthi barbarian artifact, and use it against them before they can use it against you. Perhaps a minor Esrolian noblewoman has learned of it in dusty archives, and wants it for herself without going through the wealthy, power-hungry ruling Grandmothers. Perhaps you just have a treasure map and few scruples. It should be made known that this dungeon is a death trap; it should also be made known that it is not a negadungeon, and the prize within is genuine and true. [future purplecthulhu note: as I write this out it's obvious to me that you should probably run this as some kind of funnel].
 |
| Map by the exemplary Paratime |
General Dungeon Info: squares are 5ft. The whole dungeon is suffused with the pungent, sulfurous smell of the gas from 2. Doors are heavy stone and unlocked, except for the double doors to 29, 30, and 31, which are fragrant wood covered in sheets of hammered copper. The rows of dots represent barred copper gates. Secret doors are opened with cleverly-hidden buttons placed near the floor or ceiling. Stairs always descend deeper.
Areas 6-24 demarcate the maze, walls covered with frescos of
deep wilderness, wild animals, and reveling dancers and corpses. Random
encounters are only checked for while inside the maze. All random encounters are hostile to anyone who's not either an Earth priestess of some stripe or directly escorted by one.
Random encounters (not including stats because I'm lazy, square up)
1. 1d2 painted saber-toothed tigers, leaping out of the walls [painted enemies circumvent the cramped space by becoming 2D at will, and traveling through the art. They are immune to mundane harms while like this, but must emerge from the walls partially or fully in order to attack]
2. 1d6+1 painted venomous snakes, leaping out of the walls
3. 2d6! painted maenads, leaping out of the walls
4. The statue (only encountered once someone either sees or passes the statue at 9. More information there).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The entrance, a spiral staircase that bores 500ft down into the earth. Above, on the surface, the stair and temple ruins are now secluded in an elf grove. Watched vigilantly by 10 elven warriors camouflaged up in the trees, armed with bows and spears. They have little love for the fleshly human goddesses but are bound by ancient pacts and debts to guard this place. If defilers prove a tough fight, they'll beat a false retreat and then return to hunt the humans in the maze below. They are immune to the gas spewing from 2, and ignored by the painted guardians and statue, but do not know where traps are located. They refuse to pass 25a lest the holy place turn against them too.
2. Torches and lanterns flare bright in here. Sulfurous volcanic gas spews out from a copper grate in the center of the floor and causes hallucinations in any who breathe it in and fail a save. Those affected perceive the statues and frescos within as vivid, fearsome, and alive. If for whatever reason the grate is pulled out of the floor, the flow of gas increases and the atmosphere becomes unbreathable and explosive.
3. Three statues. From left to right: Maran Gor, the Strength of the Earth (armored, holding an axe and a maul); Esrola, the Bounty of the Earth (naked, pregnant, holding a cornucopia and a sheaf of grain); Ernalda, the Wisdom of the Earth (robed, crowned, holding a serpent and a spindle). Each has a skull in place of their face.
4. Plain stone room with wooden benches and empty footlockers pushed against the walls.
5. Outer purificatory baths. Frescos on the wall of women bathing in rivers. A large, empty pool on the south side of the room 5 feet deep.
6a. 20ft deep spike pit, swinging open in response to at least 25lbs of weight. A hidden mechanism resets the trapdoor after 30 seconds.
b. as 6a.
7. A ginormous crushing block slams down from the ceiling. Save vs death. Cracked flooring and more-than-usual wear on the frescos give the trap away to watchful eyes. A lowered block trap blocks its corridor completely and slowly, agonizingly resets after 10 minutes. There is a slight delay to the trap so that it triggers only after one person has already passed it; if this splits the party, a random painted encounter springs out to savage the smaller group.
8a. as 6a.
b. Statues of Axe Polisher (smiling) and Axe Grinder (frowning), the minor tutelary goddesses of the dungeon. At the end of the hall, hanging on a peg is a large brass key to the gate at 22. If someone not an Earth priestess touches the key, the statues scream and immediately trigger a random encounter roll.
9. A huge statue of Babeester Gor, berserker daughter of Ernalda. Fanged, naked save for a belt of human hands, wielding dual axes. Huge, impassable unless you're foolish enough to try to crawl between her legs. After defilers either first look at her, pass through the detour passage around her, or open the secret door in the northwest, she animates and begins to stalk them. She plays by Weeping Angel rules, at least until she gets close enough to bury one of her axes in your skull.
10. A steep, greased chute that descends 40ft into a wall of spikes, hidden by a trapdoor that swings open in response to at least 25lbs of weight.
11. as 6a.
12. as 6a, but the trapdoor has jammed open; the blue robes of an ancient skeleton have caught in the gears, and the corpse still hangs suspended. Besides the robes the skeleton also wears 100 lunars worth of jewelry; a sage would recognize the style as God Learner.
13. as 7.
14. as 6a.
15. Behind a locked copper gate, stone flowers grow out of the wall. A thick, dark green liquid slowly oozes out of them and collects in overflowing wood and stone bowls beneath. The liquid is a powerful psychedelic; besides hallucinating, those who drink it also gain a bonus to parlaying with and binding spirits of Earth and Darkness.
16. as 7.
17. as 6a.
18. as 6a.
19. as 15, but the liquid is frothy and reddish-pink. If drank, it's a medicine which guarantees a safe and healthful pregnancy and birth (no effect if the drinker is unable to bear a child).
20. as 7.
21. Statues to more minor goddesses: Echo-Maker, Beer-Brewer, Copper-Layer
22. A locked copper gate. The key is in 8b.
23. A 10ft length of swirling unnatural darkness. Within it, copper chains hang from the ceiling and attempt to throttle any who pass through who are not an Earth priestess.
24. as 15, but there's no locked gate, and the liquid is oily and greenish-white. If drank, it's a powerful purgative that instantly, violently rids the body of any disease. It's also a deadly poison against creatures of Chaos.
25. Frescos on the wall of a peaceful grove. Sections a and b are divided by a shimmering silver curtain (worth 1000 lunars) held in place by a golden plate with an etching of a loom affixed to the ceiling (worth 200 lunars). Those who try to pass directly through the curtain rather than through 27 are attacked each round by an invisible, dagger-wielding force until they retreat. If the curtain is taken down the effect expands to fill the whole room, and can no longer be mitigated.
26. A tapestry of a dense forest devoid of animal life. Study reveals it to depict the hidden body of Aldrya, goddess of the forest and mother of elves. This shrine was the gift to the elves in exchange for their protection of the place. Worth 1000 lunars, but a curse is placed on the thief that takes it from the shrine that marks them as a hated enemy of elfkind.
27. Inner purificatory baths. The 5ft deep pool taking up the southern half of the room is filled with hot, steamy water. Near the door to 25b, a chest with 10 folded green linen robes and pairs of wooden sandals, miraculously unaffected by the humidity.
28. Heaps and heaps of fine cloth fill the room, 10,000 lunars worth; a true hoard, although it would be exceedingly heavy and difficult to transport out of here. Working at a loom is the ancient priestess and sage Marane. Not undead, that would be Chaotic, just someone who has forgotten to pass on, deep in the womb of the earth where death is only sleep. She is dreamy, kindly, and very happy to have someone to talk to again. Marane is exceedingly knowledgeable in weaving, medicine, midwifery, the many gods and demons of the deep earth and underworld, and how to properly perform human sacrifice. However, she is also completely ignorant of history, and her long isolation has left her gullible. She knows how one may enter the inner sanctum of 31 without being attacked; why, you just need to perform the heroquest Funeral of Ernalda :). She even has the costumes you would need right in here! She also possesses the keys to 15 and 19 and will happily explain the effects of the various fountains.
If a hair on Marane's head is harmed, the cloth twists and transforms into a gigantic monstrous serpent. The full wrath of the painted guardians is unleashed on the defilers as soon as they step back into the maze; automatic encounters every turn.
29. Frescos of the many, many goddesses and spirits of the Earth, all with skull faces.
30. Two huge, stout lamia statues in this chamber frighten away any bound spirits not aligned with Earth. The doors to the south have a simple etching: a Death rune inside an Earth rune.
31. Unlike the rest of the complex, this room is a natural cave, a hollow of sharp glassy stone. Axe Polisher and Axe Grinder wait inside incarnate, two huge, spindly Earth elementals with long, long bladed flint fingers. They are the last line of defense; anyone who enters the chamber without performing the Funeral of Ernalda beforehand, even an Earth priestess, are immediately rushed by them.
Beyond them, on a plain bloodstained altar, lies a knapped flint knife. This stone was taken from the same cave where the sword known as Death was hidden within and bears a modicum of that blade's terrible power. The knife ignores all warding magic, and kills spirits too. If you take it into a heroquest, it can kill a lot more.
There is a good reason why this knife is so jealously hidden, kept away from all but the most devoted daughters of the power of Earth. It is a tool to be used very delicately. All good Orlanthi know that the misuse of Death was what first let Chaos into the world.
