Axziga's Lair - Complete Variant Set

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This weeks release is a huge collaboration with my very good friends Borough Bound and CzePeku! As well as the Axziga's lair map from me it includes the Lair Entrance map from CzePeku, Part 1 and 4 of the Zahuatil Ruins maps from Borough Bound, 2 music tracks from BB and the Zahuatil Borough Guide.

This is the complete variant set for this weeks maps. It includes high resolution Day, Night, Dry, Clean and Simple variants of every level. 

This map set is part of the Hideouts & Lairs series.

Background

Travelers from across the realm flock to Zahuatil Ruins. This recently discovered temple complex in the heart of the Chorago rainforest is the ideal destination for aspiring archaeologists and gentleman adventurers alike. Somehow, these ancient ruins remained undiscovered for centuries, but now that word has spread, there’s a mad dash to uncover the temple’s secrets and plunder its treasures. There’s just one catch: the whole complex is a fake.

One particularly clever dragon, the ancient serpent Axziga, had grown tired of lording over her reptilian minions. For thousands of years, she ruled some two or three hundred kobolds in what she considered an irrelevant corner of the realm. She wanted more. She wanted to strike fear into the hearts of men. She wanted to become a legend—a creature known across the seas for her guile and strength. Axziga wanted a reputation.

She also didn’t particularly feel like exerting too much energy. And so, she decided to team up with Triqe van Leery, a mimic shepherd. With Axziga’s ragtag crew of loyal kobolds and Triqe’s unusual legion of transforming biomatter, the duo was able to construct Zahuatil Ruins, an incredibly convincing facsimile of a crumbling jungle temple complex. It has everything an adventurer could hope for: the promise of untold secrets, traps and enemies that appear challenging but are, in fact, easily vanquished, and hundreds of ancient artifacts—most of which are mimics in disguise.

Once her scheme was discovered she retreated to her lair, a real ancient temple complete with traps and puzzles, and guarded by her Kobold followers. She feels safe within, knowing that if the temples deadly traps don’t finish off any intruders her army of devotees certainly will.

Grid Information

GRID SIZE – 44x34 (300DPI)
VTT SIZE – 6160x4760 (140DPI)
RECOMMENDED PRINT SIZE – A0/ANSI E

Collaborators

Borough Bound

The Borough Bound team create entire locations, along with lore, maps, NPCs Music, Plot hooks and much more every single month! This collaboration is part of their Zahuatil Ruins series, and includes parts 1 and 4. Get Parts 2 and 3, plus an incredible amount of other content over on their Patreon!  Check Borough Bound out HERE

CzePeku

Cze and Peku created the excellent map for the entrance to Axziga’s lair. This is ideal for parties that want to take down the dragon before she flees deeper into her treacherous dungeon. They’ve also made over a dozen variants for this map that are only available to their patrons.  Cze and Peku have created an unbelievable library of RPG maps, each colorful and stunning.  Check CzePeku out HERE

Design Notes

Axziga’s Lair

• 01 – Entrance Hall – The entrance chamber to the crumbling temple is overgrown with plant life, fed by the central pool. Text written in an ancient language on the two stone tablets to the east tell some of the temple’s history, but most of it is faded. Doors to the north and south are locked but can be opened by pressing a switch inside the corresponding snake fountains mouths. A secret door in the east wall can only be opened from room 08. Axziga uses this as a quick way to travel through the temple interior but relies on her Kobold servants to open the doors for her.
• 02 – North Passageway – 3 carved tiles are in the centre of the passageway. It is likely these will cause suspicion in the players, but in fact only the first tile is trapped. The other 2 are red herrings, as the trapped tiles are to either side of them (x). Axziga’s kobolds are watching the players from 03 and 06 through hidden hatches (S). If the players can disable or avoid all of the trap tiles successfully, the Kobolds will set them off manually anyway.
• 03 – Kobold Tunnel – The Kobolds have dug tunnels in between the temple chambers, allowing them to bypass the traps and hide from intruders. They have constructed small hatches in the walls (S) that allow them to secretly pass through and watch, and also manually set off many some of the temples hidden traps and dangers. This one also contains old jars and urns of mostly rotten supplies.
• 04 – Puzzle Room – A carved statue sits on a podium in the centre if the chamber. At each corner of the podium is a bronze bowl, and to the east and west sides are 4 large gemstones. The gemstones can be pushed, causing the statue to rotate in 45 degree increments in a clockwise direction in the following manner - (a) One 45° clockwise rotation - (b) Three 45° clockwise rotations - (c) Two 45° clockwise rotations - (d) Four 45° clockwise rotations Whenever the statue is facing an empty bowl, it will ignite in blue flame. If the statues faces a lit bowl, the flame will go out. If the statue faces the north, east or west walls, darts in the wall panels will be fired out at anyone in the room. If the statue faces south, any lit bowls are put out effectively resetting the puzzle. Once all four bowls are lit, the locked door to the east will open. The Kobolds watching from 03 will manually set off the dart trap if the party spends too long deciding what to do.
• 05 – Mural Wall – Aside from the passageway which enters this chamber, there are two exits. The passage to the east is completely blocked off by a cave-in, and the door to the south is locked. A stone tablet in the centre of the room is inscribed with a question that can unlock the door, the answer to which could be found within the carved mural on the north wall. However, the mural has collapsed and broken into pieces. While the players are distracted by this conundrum, a group of Kobolds will take advantage of the situation to emerge from 06 via the hidden hatch (S) and attack. A perceptive character will notice where they emerged from and once they Kobolds are dealt with, can open the hatch.
• 06 – Kobold Tunnel - The Kobolds have dug tunnels in between the temple chambers, allowing them to bypass the traps and hide from intruders. They have constructed small hatches in the walls (S) that allow them to secretly pass through and watch, and also manually set off many some of the temples hidden traps and dangers. This one also contains cages that small animals are trapped in.
• 07 – Locked Passageway – Doors to the north and south are locked shut and can only be opened from within this passageway by disabling the pulley system holding them in place. A hidden hatch in the wall (S) leads to 06
• 08 – Hidden Passageway – This hidden passage connects 01 and 09. The panels to the east and west can be opened only from within this room, using the pulley system.
• 09 – Antechamber – A small rest area. The large doors to the east lead to14, but similar to the panels connecting 08, they can only be opened from within the room. However these doors are ancient, and the surrounding stonework is beginning to crumble. Someone small could probably find a gap to crawl through, while someone big could probably make a hole to walk through.
• 10 – South Passageway – Similarly to 02 this room features a series of carved tiles and hidden traps. If anyone steps on a tile marked (x) without first disarming it, the statues on either side will shoot gouts of flame. If all traps are successfully disarmed or avoided, the kobolds watching from 12will set it off manually.
• 11 – Boulder Trap – This was once a classic boulder-run trap. Stepping into the central trough would activate a pressure plate and drop the boulder from a hidden chamber in the western wall, sending the boulder hurtling along the passageway. Now the boulder is broken, and the chamber has caved in, but some of the pressure plates (x) are still active and set off the rooms secondary traps, darts loaded into panels in the walls. The cave-in to the west (R) seems fully blocked but can be passed by a small creature that knows or can find a route through, leading to 12.
• 12 – Kobold Tunnel - The Kobolds have dug tunnels in between the temple chambers, allowing them to bypass the traps and hide from intruders. They have constructed small hatches in the walls (S) that allow them to secretly pass through and watch, and also manually set off many some of the temples hidden traps and dangers. This one also contains a shrine to Axziga.
• 13 – Locked Gates - This area contains a series of levers and locked gates. A cave-in to the east (R) seems fully blocked but can be passed by a small creature that knows or can find a route through, leading to 16. Each lever corresponds to one or more gates. Activating the lever for a second time resets the connected gates to the state they were in previously. Once a lever has been activated, the previous levers cease to function. - Lever (A) opens gate (A) - Lever (B) opens gate (B) and closes gate (A) - Lever (C) opens gate (C) and closes gate (B) - Lever (D) opens gate (D) and closes gate (C) - Lever (E) opens all gates and causes constructs to be dropped into each room that will attack until defeated. - Levers marked (x) are trapped. Unless magic or alternate methods are used, this puzzle forces the party to split up, leaving one character in each room as the rest move on to the next lever. They can reunite once lever (E) is activated but will be attacked individually by the constructs first. This puzzle requires a minimum of 3 characters to complete in this way. For smaller parties allow one or more of the gates to remain open.
• 14 – Axziga’s Chamber – This is Axziga’s final retreat. She prefers to allow others to do her dirty work and stay out of danger, but is vicious when backed into a corner.
• 15 – Hoard – Very little remains of Axziga’s hoard. Most has been put to use drawing in adventurers to her false temples.
• 16 – Kobold Den – Axziga’s Kobold servants are always near at hand. They worship her, but she considers them disposable and easily replaced so has no qualms sending them into danger in order to protect her. If she is attacked they will not hesitate to come to her aid.
• 17 – Hidden Treasure – This small chamber has not been discovered by Axziga or her followers, and contains the ancient temples most valuable treasure.