Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Other Dungeons Of Carcosa Part One

Reed Flute Cave.
Location: 5 kilometers northwest of the city center, on the south side of Guangming (Bright Light) Hill, Guilin city, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (aka Guangxi Province).
Opening time: 08:00 - 17:30 (1 to 3 hours for a visit)
How to get there: private coach, or by bus No. 3 or 58
Best time for visit: all year long
 The Great Mega Dungeon of Zin & Rana. 
Suspended on a sea of liquid that might not be water is the great mega dungeon of Zin & Rana. These caverns have been carved from the sweat & bile of gods long since exinct but not entirely gone. These caverns are ripe with the remains of them. Thirty two levels of natural winding caverns snake their way through the radioactive hills of Carcosa. The crystals that make this place up are the brains of these two ancient gods & hold their terrible memories which manifest as a continuous psionic whispering that echo through the caverns. The place is a store house of all the alien technological wonders that were sacrificed to Zin & Rana after their great battles. 
The place is frequented by adventurers looking to make a quick score of items but often simply add thier own bones to the place. 

The Shrine of I'thaqua 
There is a lake of ice which never melts in the middle of a wind blasted desert of heat & sand. This is place is a prison for the Crawlers of I'thaqua. At the lake's center sits a ten level temple where the monsters dwell. These creatures will turn anything to absolute zero & leech away the heat from any source. This is their food & their curse. Whoa unto those who would free these fetid worm like monsters of ice, snow, & liquid gas. There are other things that dwell with them.Ice like slimes of horror & bodily gas flow from these creatures seeking to pull apart the " warm ones" The desert sands, sun, & worse keep these creatures imprisoned until the stars are right once again.  Yet they can be loosened for a time by the correct horrid rites. A limb of a Carcosian humanoid of the blue variety must be sacrificed & for 1 hour these monsters will roam the countryside at the behest of their master. Crawlers of I'thaqua Number #1d4 AC6 Move 9 HD 18  % In Lair 97% Treasure H
Those who come to the shrine must carry with them a technological treasure or seek the wrath of I'thaqua himself 





The Mountain Shrines of LO 

These are the so called dwelling place of the Veiled Sorcerer under the Monoliths whose reign of terror was ended by the Brethren of Xo. His limbs, body, corpse all scattered to each mount so that no man of Carcosa could reassemble him again. The valley is home to the Brethren who watch over the place. They watch over the monoliths & guard them. Any man who is able to find one of the body parts of the Veiled one may learn 4 rituals or rites of Carcosa. The scorcerer must teach those who ask of him his art. It is both his blessing & his curse. Only those who try & carry away the monsters body parts will face the wrath of the Brethren of Xo. Those who try will join the Sorcerer among the weeds, vines, & become an exhibit in one of the many shrines. There are 3 13 level shrines among the hills here rich with technological treasures from many lost eras. Beware the dark zombies that also dwell here for they are infected with the monster's magical parasites. They contain the tortured evil soul of the creature & possession is always a problem. 

Photo
The Carnival Of Loathing 

This place moves among the planes. A snare for the unlucky & waste of time for experienced adventurers. Those who come across the carnival swear that the barker is nothing more then an extension of Hastur himself. A barking reminder of some slip of the monster's mind let loose upon the muiltiverse. The fiend lures the foolish, the unwary, & the unlucky into the folds of its tent. It promises the wonders of the universe. It delivers a 10 level dungeon that transports the fools to the shores of Carcosa. There are over 10 random monsters that exist within the circus like folds of this traveling temple of horrors.
 Random Encounters Within the Carnival 1d10 

  1. 1d4 rabid trolls with tentacles for mouths. Able to heal from anything even fire. Acid is the only thing that kills them. 
  2. The Star Spawn of Hastur. Strange multi tentacled monsters where a head should be a stock of tentacles. 6 hit points Treasure H 100 % in Lair. 1d6 treasure type H 
  3. Land walking Octopus handing out tracks of Hastur 30% of the yellow sign. 4th level wizard plus regeneration 
  4. Veiled twin slave girls actually Deep Ones Max Hit points 
  5. A Flock B'yakhee(1d4)  taking a sacrifice to their master. 3rd level fighting man with sword & laser pistol. 
  6. A group of mad clown warriors 1d4 2nd level fighters. One will try to use the dreaded yellow sign (acts a symbol of insanity) on the party. Cannibals as well.
  7. A group of Silent Dwellers - 1d4 "Brains In Jars" walkers(AC 8,5 hit point )each armed with Jale Blasters 1d8 Damage 40 yard  range, 5 shots each. Will try to make more Silent Dwellers out of the PCs 
  8. Tentacled Horrors 1d4# Appearing AC 9 Move 9 HD 7, monsters loyal to Hastur looking to eat anything they can. 
  9. 1d6 Deep Ones loyal to Hastur 4 hit dice each, armed with spears & blasters. Slavers looking for a score 
  10. Avatar of Hastur which appears, spreads insanity & takes everything to Carcosa 

2 comments:

  1. I'm always impressed how you can take an interesting photograph and spin it into an evocative adventure setting. Great works, as always.

    -Ed Green

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the comment Ed. I do my best when something speaks to me or reminds me of something cool.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.