Throughout 2023, a roster of Kobold Press superstars are working together to create a full dungeon for the Dungeon23 project. Each installment contains a few areas that will stack up to a full delve! Catch up on previous articles here.
Dungeon Prompts
Seven words were created to help inspire this set of dungeon rooms:
- Odd
- Bewildering
- Unruly
- Motionless
- Elastic
- Devilish
- Jagged
The author can use any or all of them. See if you can spot where and how these ideas get used!
The Dungeon Map
The final dungeon level uses Dyson Logos’ map, The Statues of the Thrall Gods. (This link provides an unkeyed version of the map.)
This installment of the dungeon covers Areas 11–12 and 14–19. (Area 13 will appear in the next installment!)
Area 11: Guard Station
| An empty weapon rack stands on the west wall. Nests made from a fibrous, papery material fill the rest of the room, leaving just enough space for a path from the hall to a door in the eastern corner. A foul musky odor hangs in the air. |
Each nest is large enough for one satarre to sleep in. Nothing of value is in this area.
If the characters did not encounter the satarre patrol in area 4, the PCs find five satarre destroyers (see Tome of Beasts 2) in this area. The satarre mystic (see Tome of Beasts 2) is hard at work scribing scrolls in area 12 and may join combat after 1d3 rounds.
While restless, the satarre recognize they are at disadvantage in their nests. PCs may negotiate to pass without incident, but they have disadvantage on Charisma checks to parlay with the satarre.
| Designer Insights: Gotta Sleep Somewhere! Wandering monsters need somewhere to go when they’re done wandering for the day. Anything that supports the verisimilitude of the adventuring environment helps the DM respond quickly and naturally when the players go off the expected track. Now, where’s the bathroom? |
Area 12: Scribing Chamber
| This room is dominated by a heavy writing desk covered in curling sheafs of paper, quills, and ink pots. Rolled scrolls fill a shelf in the northwest corner. There is a closed door to the south and stairs lead up to the north. |
If the PCs did not encounter the satarre patrol in area 4 or fight the satarre destroyers in area 11, the satarre mystic (Tome of Beasts 2) is here.
The satarre mystic transcribes its incessant babbling here. The papers on the desk contain fragmentary phrases of Void Speech, and any creature who reads them must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of the papers and scrolls in the room and any creature it hears speak Void Speech for 1 hour.
A creature who searches the shelf and succeeds at a DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation) check finds a spell scroll. Roll on the Shelf Scrolls table to determine what spell is on it, rerolling repeat results. Each character can only search once. If they do not find a spell scroll, they find paper like those on the desk, with the effects detailed above.
Shelf Scrolls
| Roll 1d4 | Spell Scroll |
| 1 | Protection from the Void |
| 2 | Maddening Whispers |
| 3 | Void Strike |
| 4 | Nether Weapon |
These spells can be found in Deep Magic: Volume 1.
Area 14: Viewing Mirror
| Stairs ascend to a small chamber. Doors lead to the east and west, and the remainder of the western wall is covered by mirrored glass. |
The soul eater in area 15 can magically view this Area through the mirror.
PCs who inspect the mirror closely must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be stunned for one minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a character is stunned, the soul eater enters the room and tries to drag them into Area 15. A stunned creature’s reflection remains motionless in the glass until they end the effect, even if their body is moved.
Area 15: Arcane Colors
| The floor of the room is dominated by a 20-foot-diameter arcane circle that shimmers with the full spectrum of colors. Three mirrors are set equidistant around its edge, each a different color: red, blue, and green. A crystal erupts from the center of the circle and glows bright white. An eclectic collection of smaller mirrors is scattered around the room. |
A soul eater (see Tome of Beasts) lairs here, storing creatures in the extradimensional space seen in the scattered mirrors and devouring their souls as it waits for Yskarakta’s commands. A multifaceted crystal the size of a human fist lies among the desiccated corpses seen in the mirrors. It is one of the keys that provides access to Yskarakta’s court in Area 28 and can only be retrieved by using the arcane circle or by using extraordinary magic.
The arcane circle functions as both a teleportation circle and as a trap, depending on how the colored mirrors are turned to reflect the light from the crystal. It functions as follows (other arrangements have no effect).
| Path of Light | Effect |
| All mirrors towards light | Teleports any creature that enters the circle or is in it to area 16. |
| Red and blue angled at each other | Teleports any creature that enters the circle or is in it to area 8. |
| Red and green angled at each other | Teleports any creature that enters the circle or is in it to area 23. |
| Green and blue angled at each other | Teleports any creature that enters the circle or is in it to area 27. |
| Mirrors angled red to green to blue to red (or the opposite) | Turns all mirrors in the room into portals to the extradimensional mirror space. |
When the extradimensional mirror space is accessible, a creature can reach into it or enter it by passing through one of the mirrors. The portals then close and any creatures in the mirror space is trapped there if the colored mirrors are moved. The mirror space is only as large as the room and has no physical exits.
Area 16: Abandoned Guard Station
| Shattered glass from broken mirrors litters the floor near the walls. A door leads to the north. |
This guard station is abandoned. It lies deep in the complex and was at best a third line of defense. Summoned creatures were kept here for a time, but they broke the scrying mirrors, and the chamber has fallen into disuse. The jagged glass can be easily avoided.
Area 17: Four Doors
| This hall runs from east to west, with four doors: one in the middle of southern wall, another at the east end, one in north wall between the first two, and another when the hall turns to the north at the west end. |
The door to area 18 is cold to the touch and bears a glyph of warding that casts darkness when the door is opened. PCs can find the glyph with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check, and they can determine how to deactivate the glyph with a DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check.
Area 18: The Waiting Voidling
Read the following only if the characters entered the room without triggering the glyph of warding on the door (see Area 17). Otherwise, the room is shrouded in magical darkness.
| Black tendrils writhe around a ball of pure shadow that floats in the center of the room. An angry green eye flashes at you from the center of the darkness. |
A summoned voidling (see Tome of Beasts) waits in this room for its master’s orders. It attacks any living creature it sees but does not pursue past Area 17.
Area 19: Vault of Secrets
| A mirror of black glass faces cabinets and shelves laden with books and loose papers. |
This room houses secrets that have traveled the height and breadth of the world tree. However, it is terribly disorganized. A PC who spends 1 hour searching the collection and succeeds on a DC 25 Intelligence (Investigation) check finds something of value. Choose something fitting as it relates to your campaign.
If a searching character has a result from 15–24 on their check, they find a nullifier’s lexicon (see Vault of Magic), a book strong with void magic.
Delving Deeper
In two weeks, the horrors of the lost Area 13!
If you’re looking for a notebook to jot down your Dungeon 23 ideas, check out the Kobold Press TeePublic page!
