Iseldec’s Drop – Levels 20-23

We are finally at the deepest parts of Iseldec’s Drop. This section is over two hundred feet below the fortress on level 19 and is only connected to the levels above via the shaft (the barrel for some planetary-scale defence system?). And even these final levels are difficult to travel between. Again, down the shaft proper hangs that long and heavy hemp rope from many levels and hundreds of feet above. The rope down here is sodden, soaking up water from the base of the shaft.

Level 20 feels like some ancient cave shrine – natural caves around the shaft with statues of primordial spirits and deities of the underworld along the upper tiers. A small 4 foot by 4 foot grate eight feet up the wall opens into a small crawlway through precisely cut stone to another 20 foot wide shaft that looks down over levels 21 & 22. Again, the only accesses to the lower levels are via the shafts – three shafts extend down to level 22, while the main shaft skips this level completely.

Level 22 hints at the purpose of this structure. Magical structures of the ancients are built into this level and some still hum with mystical energy, illuminating crystals embedded in them. The northeastern chambers are accessed via a small pair of 3 foot curved crawlways on this level – they were traditionally accessed via a small shaft and ladder from level 23, but the chambers on that level have partially collapsed, and this same shaft is one of the only means of getting down to them now.

The lowest level of the Drop, level 23, has a canal cut into the floor to channel water from a stream that flows in from the northwest and down to the southeast. The structures on the north side are partially collapsed, and whatever means of access was meant to be used to these structures is gone with them, although a secret emergency door links them to the north side of the stream.

(And of course, level 23 is shaped like the five-fingered hand of Eris because… well… All Hail Discordia!)

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 9,600 x 9,600 pixels (32 x 32 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10‘ squares that make sense with the design) – so resizing the image to 2,240 x 2,240 pixels or 4,480 x 4,480 pixels, respectively.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2024/08/06/iseldecs-drop-levels-20-23/