Dungeon of Doors

The darkness of the night is held at bay by the lantern swaying from edge of the wagon. It's flickering flame illuminates the path ahead, casting strange shadows across the trampled grass. Several figures wait for me beside a looming building. Their armor glints in the low light of the lantern as I bring my horse to a stop, giving them worried glances.

"This the black powder?"

"Yes Sir, Miss Hawthorne sends her regards."

Contrary to my expectation, the ornately armored man snorts in disdain. Not many are so disrespectful upon hearing Miss Hawthorne's name. Several of the armored men begin unloading the boxes from the cart. They're a bit too reckless for my liking, considering how valuable and easily ruined these goods are. Any complaints I have area quickly forgotten when I see a hefty bag of coins shoved in my face.

"Take your money and scram, delivery man."

I swallow any misgivings I might have as I take the heavy sack of coin. The men can be as rough with the black powder as they like, I'm plenty satisfied now that I've been paid! I get back onto my wagon and wait for them to finish with the work. Can't leave my wagon and horse here, after all. The men are carrying the black powder over to a hillside with a door cut into it. Looks fancy, made of stone and such.

Kind of strange seeing them line the door with explosive powder like this. Usually this stuff is used for mining operations, but they're demolishing this sturdy looking stone doorway with it? My confusion must be obvious, because one of the paladins grunts to me.

"Don't worry about it. We're doing God's work here, you know? This place is rotten."

"Shut your trap! Don't gab and get the boxes inside!"

It doesn't take long for them to finish setting things up. They even leave a few boxes around the seemingly abandoned building beside the hill, snuffing out the candle that was placed in the ground floor's window. Once the boxes are all off my cart I go ahead and get my horse moving.

There's no sense in lingering when I'm not needed, especially with black powder afoot.

~

Despite Rushwater Canyon being untested as of yet, I want to create another area for the water dungeon. This time I think I'll be going with a sewer level. I'm envisioning puzzles where adventurers need to raise and lower the water level, cut off the flow of water through certain pipes, and swim through pipes for additional rewards.

As for the structure, I think it's best to make it in three parts.

The first area will be a lengthy sewer tunnel lit by small grates in the ceiling through with artificial sunlight shines. The water will be populated by monsters, and the limited lighting will make navigating more difficult than it would be otherwise.

The second area will be a large open shaft. At its peak, sunlight will shine down from an unseen sky. Water will pour in through the top as well as from several passages along the walls of the cylindrical space. One of those passages will be the first section of this area. Another, the third and final portion. The bottom of the shaft will be flooded with roiling water. Perhaps something truly monstrous belongs down there.

The third and final area will be a set of two passages connected by ladders and access shafts. The gimmick will be raising and lowering the water level via valves, which will affect not only the locale but everywhere in the sewers. Risk of drowning and waterborne monster attacks will be fully realized here.

With a plan in mind, it is time I start creating my vision.

I start by carving out the horizontal half cylinder for the first portion of the sewer. Two walkable paths line a central canal, wide enough to fit a small boat. The ceiling is disrupted by several grates, some letting in false sunlight via sky rock above, others let in a trickle of water produced by water rock.

I move along the passage, adding variation to the structure. Some sections of the walkway are crumbled away to make them impassable without swimming. Makeshift bridges composed of that same water resistant wood are placed at arbitrary intervals, allowing one to cross from one walkway to the other.

The canal is primarily fed by a large amount of water rock hidden around the bend of an impassible tunnel, rusted metal grating preventing anyone from exploring the area. This water flows through the canal and eventually reaches the second area, which I have yet to carve.

For the second area I begin by excavating the needed space for the shaft. It's a massive cylindrical space, with the opening at the top slightly smaller than the shaft itself. Being roughly five storeys tall makes it quite the structure. Multiple tunnel mouths connect to the shaft, one such opening being the first area. Almost all other tunnels are barred and simply serve as an illusion of a wider sewer, spitting out water at a constant rate.

Stone ledges line multiple levels of the shaft, providing dangerous yet walkable space. Some wooden bridges made from the water resistant wood make the area slightly more navigable. It is by far the most treacherous area in the dungeon thus far, being such a precarious set of platforms above what is a lethal drop. To mitigate the lethality of the drop there is the water.

All the water flowing into the shaft collects at the bottom to create a deep murky pool. While normally this would cause the whole of the area to flood, some carefully placed drainage tunnels leading into sponge rock make it maintain a specific depth.

Moving onto the third part of the sewer, I carve out the two tunnel sections that will be in play. Both tunnels connect to the second area. One of the tunnels is meant to usually be underwater, while the other is usually dry. They're placed above one another, connected by small access ladders and the occasional drainage shaft.

I place valves in a few key areas inset into the walls of the tunnel. By blocking off certain portions of the tunnels with metal grating, I force the adventurers to change the water level to progress. If the grating is on the top tunnel, they lower the water. If it is on the lower tunnel, they raise the water. This all comes with the caveat of monsters that will be lurking within the waters they must traverse.

The sewer level ends with a shaft illuminated by sunlight from above. Metal grating serves as a floor, letting water drain below into sponge rock, giving the illusion of a wider area.

With the structure of the area complete I can move on to rewards and monsters!

I draw my mana to the first section of the sewers, the upper tunnels, and create a monster meant to frighten and confuse adventurers more than actually harm them. Shaping up to be the size of a large dog, these rodents are best described as great rats. Being rats, they're quite competent at swimming. While not overly aggressive to something as big as a human, they will attack when provoked in some way. Modifying the water rocks to produce water containing filth and waste consumable by the great rats isn't difficult. With a source of food and water, the great rats can populate the narrower sections of the sewer and scare any unwary adventurers who happen to cross their path.

For the water filled parts of the upper tunnels I go ahead and create a fresh population of great pike. They will serve a similar purpose to the rats, catching those unwary and foolish off guard when they inevitably slip into the water.

Moving onto the second area--the central shaft--it is time to create something truly malicious. Thus far the environment has been doing the heavy lifting in the water dungeon, but this monster is going to change that. Creating it takes significantly more mana than most monsters cost. The strain is taxing as I coalesce my mana into flesh and bone, molding tentacles and a soft central body. The creature's squishy body is held in the safety of a spiraling shell.

While not capable of sight, this creature can smell that which enters the water alongside itself. Using its acute sense of taste it can find prey and grab it with its six tentacles. Each tentacle is as thick as a man near its base, capable of strangling and pulling prey down into its beak. I'll name it the nautilurk. Modeled after a mixture of nautilus and octopus, yet with a monstrous twist.

Upon creating the first nautilurk I realize a crucial issue. There isn't enough space! One of them is more than enough to fill the bottom of the shaft, but I want a stable breeding population. They're not meant to live forever.

To remedy the issue I can just keep recreating new ones, but I'd prefer a more reliable solution. Instead I create a narrow tunnel at the base of the shaft. It is just big enough to fit a single nautilurk, and beneath it I carve out a large expansive area for the nautilurk to live. The nautilurk habitat is mostly empty, a large sphere shaped underwater chamber. I add a few natural grooves and tunnels for them to squeeze into should they wish. No food sources are added, as I want them to be interested in the shaft they have access to. All their nutrients come downstream from the sewer passages above, meaning they'll want to go up to get to the food.

Now, if I leave this as is I'll have tons of nautilurks swarming the bottom of the shaft. That would be far too deadly and an insurmountable threat for any adventurer. So, to fix the problem I add runes to the tunnel connecting the shaft and the nautilurk habitat. The enchantment ensures only a single nautilurk can occupy the area at one time, limiting the threat to adventurers and making the dungeon fairer. Adding a proper population of nautilurk to their habitat is the final step in finishing the monsters of this section.

While I could simply move on to the lower sewer tunnels and create the threats there, I think anyone brave enough to slay a nautilurk deserves a proper reward. That reward comes in the form of a sunken treasure chest wedged between a few fallen chunks of stonework. To get to it you would either need to be incredibly stealthy, incredibly fast, have a diversion, or kill the nautilurk in the area.

So what kind of reward befits such a risk? It can't just be another water breathing potion, nor can it be something mundane like a lantern. No, it needs to be something magical.

My mana drains as I fill the chest with a heap of gold coins. That is just an appetizer, as I keep spinning my mana into the shape of a loop of nautilurk leather. The loop is then cut on one side and fitted with a blue tinted metal clasp. Finally, subtle runes are etched into the inside of the belt with the intent to allow the wearer to move through the water as easily as a fish.

Thus I've created a belt of swimming. The item gently comes to rest atop the pile of gold, and I leave the reward with a sense of satisfaction.

Finally, it is time to work on the third and last section of the sewers-

Wait a minute. What are those paladins doing?