Water Roads, Week 1

We're now under the Necropolis, with sunken shrine and some other weird stuff that connects to that. This is actually the bottom level of this dungeon -- the main dungeon goes up, in the various ziggurat-like terraces of the central fortress -- but it will provide a useful shortcut to the overworld (or a secret entry to the necropolis, I guess).

The Drowned Fane

1: Shrine

    A chamber with a high vaulted ceiling, 20’ up. Pitch black. Submerged, except the top 10’ of the vault. Completely submerged passage to the East; short submerged passage to the west. Dirt-blackened reliefs of waves and playful dolphins.
    (?) Floor is littered with offerings that glitter in lamp or magelight, including a golden bracelet and 3d6 gold coins.
    (!?) There is a hole in the centre of the floor, leading to the abyssal lair of the infant god.
    (!) Oxygen in the air pocket in the ceiling is real but limited.
    (!) Stealing the offering coins raises the alarm level.


2: Sunken Passages

    Completely submerged passages with no air pockets. A faint current pulls toward the South.


3: Spiral Stair

    Hewn from the stone and rising out of the water. Water trickles down, echoing down the long spiral.



4: Lair of the New God

    60’ down, a rounded cavern formed naturally of gleaming jade, lit by the bioluminescence of the slumbering, many-legged child of the deep.
    (!) The god sleeps, unless alerted. Victims are subdued, encased in a gooey membrane containing air, and glued to the lair’s wall.


5: Leaky Valve

    Big brass wheel in a broad vertical pipe controls the valve that releases water from the aquifer. The valve leaks: water pools on the floor and runs down the spiral star #3.
    (?) The wheel is stuck.
    (!) Opening the valve will flood the stair and the areas beneath even more, eliminating any air pockets.
    (?) It may be possible to seal the valve, leading to the eventual draining of the submerged areas.


6: Dam

    Corridor is jammed with all manner of junk – flotsam, stones, clay.
    (!) This leaky dam connects to the qanat system under the desert. Breaking it releases all of the water from the flooded areas (except #4). Anyone caught in the flood will be carried along into the (now water-logged with very cranky inhabitants) land bat nest.
    (?) The seal is not perfect -- you can feel the faintest of currents leaking out.


7: Trough

    A section of the walls and ceiling of this old chamber has caved in, and a crude tunnel winds off above water level. The water is only 10’ deep – beyond this, the muddy ground is tramped with many strange footprints…
    (!) The molerat hive draws its water from here.