Sunday, May 13, 2012

The Dungeon: Sublevel 6A - The Air Temple

Back into the Dungeon we go.  The Air Temple centers on the Pool of Air, a bottomless pit which emits a steady stream of clean fresh air.  This could be a portal to the Elemental Plane of Air, but that would be a literal leap of faith.  More likely, it's a conduit to the alien mind forcing its way into this reality in the physical form of The Dungeon.  The other side of this well might contain nothing more than sanity crumbling dreams of chaos.
The Dungeon: Sublevel 6A - Air Temple The Temple of Air has two obvious entrances, but the big locked double doors are the easiest to open. A constant stream of air whistles out through the seams around the heavy oaken doors. These doors are intreicately carved with all manner of cloudy faces, mouths puckered and emitting swirling clouds of wind.

The smaller side entrance is an obvious door that is just as obviously sealed up by the surrounding rock.  It can only be opened if you blow on it. Good luck sussing that out unless you see one of the monsters inside the Temple inadvertently blow on its sister door. Then it serves as an easy back door or escape route from pursuing monsters.

The walls and floor of this temple are carved out of massive tan sandstone bluffs. The sandstone is very friable, meaning that brushing against it rubs sand off. This results in a dungeon level where find grit swirls around the floors, gets into your clothing, and is a continual irritant - especially when combined with the breeze that constantly wafts through the level. These winds rise out of the Pool of Air and grated foyer floor, drying everything in the level, snatching at loose scrolls, and threatening to put out even the tightest sealed lanterns. The ceilings of the rooms are high vaulted affairs, stretching up more than 30 feet and providing dark cover for the flying creatures that call this level home. Even the ceilings in the hallways rise 20 feet above the floor. The only area seemingly built to human proportions are the back rooms behind the altar. Though barren, they lack the continuous breeze and blowing sand that marks this entire level. The feeling of normalcy in these rooms keeps wandering monsters at bay - none will disturb those who rest and recover here.

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