Dockside - Hi Resolution, Night Variant & Underwater Caverns!

PRINT DOWNLOAD
VTT DOWNLOAD
or
USE ZIPs ATTACHED TO POST

Hello Travellers!

A short walk from town on the shores of the nearby lake is the area known as dockside. Home to humble fisher folk, it is rarely visited by adventurers, but if you need to get across the lake it would be quicker to take a boat across than to walk around.

Unfortunately, it seems no one is offering passage at the moment. Alberun, the gnomish Dockmaster, explains that a series of odd thefts have happened lately, and in such a small community this has quickly lead to mistrust of strangers. There are few valuables in the hamlet worth stealing, instead the thief or thieves have been taking fishing supplies, and a few worthless, shiny objects have vanished as well.

No one has any idea who the culprit is, or where the stolen goods are, but Hemun over at the Smokery swears he saw a creature emerge from the seas in the dead of night. “T’was a man, but not a man. It stood on legs and walked like us, but had fishy scales and the stench of the sea about it.”

Will the party choose to aid the locals? Is the thief a hidden outsider, a treacherous member of the community, or a group of fish-people who recently moved into the hidden underwater caverns below the village in order to worship a rock that looks like a giant shark?

I have included a number of areas that you could use for potential encounters, interactions or traps. See the labelled maps below for a key. Here are a few ideas on ways you could use them: 

1) The Storehouse – If the party chooses to stake-out an area in the night, they may spot one of the fish people entering and stealing a few items. From here they could follow them back to the lair.

2) The Smokery – Hemun, a young human who took over the smokery when his father died at sea, can be found here during the day and questioned about what he saw. He seems oddly nervous. The party could also hide out here to watch for night time intruders.

3) Hemun’s house – Hemun lives here with his young wife, Gertrude. If questioned at home, he will be oddly protective of the door in the bedroom and nervously glance towards it. If the party notices this and chooses to investigate, they will find a trapdoor leading to the caverns below. Hemun has been using this area for personal secret storage, so as not to have to pay for storage in the community storehouse (1). A couple of weeks ago part of the floor caved in and Hemun heard strange noises below, a guttural, chattering sound that was almost like speech. He has been too scared to tell anyone for fear of getting in trouble.

4) Dockmaster’s hut – Alberun can be found here during the day. If the party wants to hire a boat, this is where to do so.

5) Small Island - The hut on the island has been abandoned for some time, it used to be inhabited by a hermit. The pool on the island will lead to an underwater cavern below the island.

6) Sunken treasure – During storms, boats occasionally sink on the lake. The calmer waters of the bay in which dockside sits means they often end up here. If the party chooses to explore the seabed, they may find some useful items. 

7) Entrance to caverns below – A sunken pit leads into darkness. If the party enters the lower caverns this way, they will fall 20ft into a pool of water below (10). This is the entrance/exit that the fish-people tend to use so the party might find guards above.

8) Collapsed floor – This is the collapsed area that Hemun mentioned. If the party enter the lower caverns here they may be able to sneak in as the fish-people don’t use it.

9) Ledge - This raised ledge offers another potential route into the cavern, if the party can spot it in the dark.

10) Nest Pool - This is the nesting and sleeping area of the fish people. If entered during the day, some of the nocturnal creatures will be sleeping here and will most likely be woken by the loud splash of falling adventurers. 

11) Tunnel – This long tunnel is completely submerged and in total darkness. If the party brave it they will find their way to the shrine area (12), potentially unnoticed. If they alert enemies in the Nest Pool, some of them may escape this way to alert the others.

12) Shrine – The fish people gather here to listen to ‘sermons’ by their leader about the great shark god. It seems they haven’t only been stealing from the fishing village, but have amassed a pile of offerings for their god from sunken boats and other parts of the lake.

13) The Shark God – This rock formation does look eerily like a great shark, but surely it would be easy enough to grab the offerings in the pool around it. If the party spend too long in the water, they may find out.

14) Mess Area – An assortment of furniture and weapons crafted from provisions and fishing equipment stolen from Dockside. It seems these fish-people are crafty scavengers. Some creatures seem to be locked up in those rickety cages. If released, they might cause havoc among the fish-people.

15) Ledge – If the party enter the mess area from the hidden ledge, they may be able to gain the advantage of surprise.

Use the link at the top of this post to download the day and night variants of all 4 levels in Print and/or VTT format.

GRID SIZE - 34x22 inch 

VTT SIZE - 4760x3080 pixels

RECOMMENDED PRINT SIZE - A1/ANSI D