Lugubrious — Roleplayer Guild

Time to set a ludicrously detailed example.

Name: The Queen's Tree
Brief History: Within the jungle city called Virens, a lowborn girl called Nona grew up on the streets, ignored by all but a boy called Theo who gave her refuge solely to seem charitable. Harboring much resentment in her heart, she was all too eager to listen to a voice that appeared in her head one day, demanding that she journey into the jungle and find its source. After much walking, Nona stumbled upon a logging camp, and in its main hut found a large, deadly-looking wasp sealed in a jar. When she released it, it stung her, transferring into her body the powers and spirit of an ancient evil – Avak. The infusion transformed her into a woman armored in maroon exoskeleton, armed with a barbed rapier, and freed by two marvelous dragonfly wings.

This being, calling herself Clotho, searched the jungle until she found the King Tree, a centuries-old behemoth that towered above the canopy. It was there that she fashioned her essence into a cocoon at the very top, and it was there that her conquest began. After littering the King Tree with countless hives and making the place into a veritable citadel in the sky, she attacked the town of her birth and stole a gem from its guild of life-mages, the Biomancers, that contained the source of their powers. The Biomancers' Guild has reached out for a band of adventurers brave and strong enough to attack Clotho's lair, fight their way to its top, and pry their Jade of Vitality from Clotho's cold, dead forearm.
Layout Summary: Despite the density of the Saploya jungle, the ground beneath the King Tree has been cleared for several hundred feet in every direction, meaning the only way to approach it is from the trunk. At the base of the King Tree, among the roots, is the underground colony of the Antlions. From there, the marauders must work their way up the trunk and into the canopy, exploiting many hive stems, branch bridges, and tunnels through the wood to traverse the way. At various locations on the tree are different specialized rooms, including the Antlion Colony, the Myrmidon Den, the Lambent Hives, the Compound of Eyes, the Living Foundry, and the Apothecary. Each are challenging to assault but will debilitate the dungeon's ability to fight back when taken. There are numerous Stashes hidden everywhere, where loot hidden away by the insects can be found. At the very top of the tree, at a dizzying height, is the Heart Chamber, wherein lies the cocoon that contains Clotho's life essence. There, the Jade will be.
Threats: This dungeon's primary threat are the various monstrous insects that infest it. There are no real traps to speak of, or puzzles, but navigating the place can be tricky since it was built for insects, so agility skills may be necessary.
Macula- A living security system. It is approximately a foot across and wide, with traits of both tick and cicada. It sports a thin carapace, murky brown-green in color, that help to camouflage it, but its dominant feature is the huge eye in its abdomen, facing upward. This startling oculus resembles a human's, but with a sickly yellow hue and orange iris. They sound a large grating song to alert other Maculas when they see any intruders. Their vision is relayed back to the Compound of Eyes en masse, allowing its occupant to see whatever they see.

Myrmidon - 6” tall, 4” long ant-centaur sort of thing. Though it does have a humanoid torso, it is still totally enclosed by a carapace that is tough, fibrous, and spiky all in one. Usually outfitted with both body-length shield and long spear, and can fight with claws and mandibles in close quarters. Built for survivability. Expect to find them throughout the Tree.

Antlion – Living siege engines. Six feet tall, six feet wide, and sixteen feet long, these huge bugs are sturdily built, with multi-coloured splotchy shells. They have four huge mandibles on their heads; these mandibles are incredibly dense and possess extraordinary strength, and are used for digging through the earth or tearing apart structures and enemies. The feet have high traction due their barbs and hairs. Physically powerful, but has negligible mental or magical capability. Though big and intimidating, Antlions' slowness and stupidity make them relatively poor fighters in sustained combat (though they can charge fairly quickly). The head, all muscle and no shell, is the weak spot—if you can get past the mandibles. Expect to find them closer to the base of the Tree.

Lambent- Large fireflies with a few human traits. Decently intelligent, strong, and fast, though their dark brown exoskeletons cannot sustain much damage. They wield natural blades extended from their first two pairs of legs. Their bodies are full of chemicals that react to produce intense light. This light can be used to disorient foes, but the chemicals are even more useful when stored in their abdomens for use as glowing, caustic projectiles to rain down on foes from above. Expect to find them in great numbers at the top of the tree.

Baudrii - Having once been human like his mistress, Clotho, Baudrii's appearance is similar to hers in many aspects. He stands at a tall 7'8", leaving him a few inches taller than his mistress, his carapace being a much darker shade compared to Clotho's, almost black with dark-green lines and streaks. His carapace was fashioned into sleek, contiguous plates. and his head and shoulders in particular were shaped to form a chitinous gorget and armet. A large rhinoceros beetle horn grows out of the top of his forehead. His beetle-esque wings are protected by hardened fore-wings that formed a shape very much like a shield when not in use. One his forearms are tiny pores that can be opened at will to secrete an acid venom capable of burning and melting through most materials, that he is also capable of determining just how long the affects of last. He is most likely to be encountered in the Living Foundry, or in the Heart Chamber. Consider him a miniboss.

Clotho - A tall, lithe physical fighter that prefers speed to brute strength and is a master of bugs and parasites of all kinds. She is a foot taller than most men, with long arms and legs, and has a rather spiny, chitinous exoskeleton that is a dull brown-maroon in colour. Two gossamer rounded wings form into a cloak when not in use. A mohawk of sorts adorns her head, made of a rough, leathery material that resembles scales. Her favoured weapon is a barbed sabre, which goes in cleanly but is very messy coming out. Some of her power relies on the gem she stole from the Biomancer's Guild, which is implanted into her left forearm. Protruding from that same arm is the Stinger, a small blade full of corrupted life magic, capable of delivering devious toxins. As long as Clotho's Heart lives, she will be resurrected by it. She is most likely be in the Compound of Eyes, monitoring her tree through her Maculas' eyes.

Thanks for acceptance.

Darcs said
I want to make a list of unique possibilities every time she uses her connection to Chaos Magic and roll actual die to see what happens. 1-6 and 1-20 would be my go to numbers, but as things get more challenging maybe I increase the roll and with it the negative possibilities, including death.I could run the lists of possibilities by you to keep things as fair as possible.(I also had an idea for a dungeon where the main enemies have been corrupted by this magic, and they have just as of a chance when attacking to put themselves to sleep as the do to cast a bolt of lightening.)

This reminds me of a book I recently read called the Storm Thief, wherein a huge city is ravaged by magical events called Probability Storms that alter reality locally. For example, one of the main characters had his breath robbed by a Probability Storm, and is forced to use a respirator. A different storm created monsters called Mozgas, which were out of sync with time and would shift from moving too quickly to see at one moment to slow-motion the next. Probability is an interesting thing.

After playing in an RP series called Dungeon Keepers for so long, I have more than a few ideas for dungeons I could make. Should be awesome.

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