The Ruins of Maladyr (2026)

06/01/2023

Room #5 — Pool of Reflections

Read Aloud:
The marble walls darken to an ebon sheen in this room and starkly reflect the four brightly glowing white marble columns that line parallel to the western wall. Reflection-upon-reflection against the black marble creates an illusion of an infinite row of pillars surrounded by darkness.

The stone floor is textured with etchings of strange sigils that are nearly identical in design yet don one minute difference to make each unique. The ceiling is considerably lower here than the previous rooms, barely granting enough margin for the iron doors on the east and western walls to crest.

In the center of the room is a deep pool of crystal-clear water. The white marble of the flooded basin is illuminated by the glow of the columns, providing an unobstructed view at it’s bottom of a glittering pile of treasure including gems, gold and silver coins, and various ornate pieces of jewelry.

GM:
The treasure at the bottom of the pool consists of 800 gp, 1,300 sp, 1,000 ep, 60 pp, three rubies worth 800 gp each, two sapphires worth 500 gp, and a diamond worth 1,000 gp. There are also six pieces of jewelry worth 3,000 gp total, and a ring of protection +1 that only functions for humans.

The columns are non-magical, but have each had a permanent light spell cast upon them.

The pool is fifteen feet deep, filled with pure water, and is a magical device. When any living creature completely submerges themselves beneath water contained within, a double of that creature made of water leaps from the depths to attack anyone not submerged.

Treat the double as a Doppelganger (4 hd) with no equipment or treasure. There can only be one doppelganger of a specific creature in existence at the same time, but an unlimited number of doppelgangers overall. When a doppelganger is destroyed if the creature it replicated is still submerged or becomes submerged again within the pool then another double immediately leaps out to attack. For each subsequent doppelganger created this way for the same creature the monster gains +1 hd.

If the water in the pool is drained to a level that prevents a creature from being completely submerged, it’s doppelganger generating magic is thwarted until it is filled again.

Journal Hints: A sketch of four columns emitting light are above a scrawling that reads, “When seeking treasure from below, beware the watery echo!”

04/01/2023

Room #4 — The Hall of Mediums

Read Aloud:
A large central chamber of smooth verdant marble opens above to a matching, unadorned domed ceiling. The north, east, and west walls boast shallow inlets that are barred by large iron doors, and the arched glyphed door is centered upon the south. In the center of the room is mounted a gigantic hourglass bound elevated by a pivot-pin within a sturdy wrought iron frame. The timepiece stands nearly ten feet tall, and its bottom globe is filled with a brasslike silvery-gold sand. In each corner of the chamber stands a wide marble column rising fifteen feet to support the base of the dome above. Etched arcane writing creates an ornate spiral pattern down each shaft.

GM:
The pillars in this room are deeply engraved with detailed instructions for every 1st level spell. If copied into a tome exactly, they will create a complete 1st level spell book. If blank parchment is used, one individual spell can be transferred to one piece of blank parchment via rough frottage (using charcoal or similar substance); when this is completed the pillar imbues the parchment with magic transforming the parchment into a usable magic scroll of the spell marked upon it. Each pillar may be utilized to create one scroll using this method every 36 hours. Marked parchments that are not imbued by magic are not usable scrolls but could be later used to transfer the spell instructions into a spell book for study.

The large hourglass is fully functional, and though weighing roughly 1,500 lbs., it can be pivoted by hand within its wrought iron frame to be reset. It takes exactly 36 hours for the sands to pass through the glass. It is not a magic device, however the sand contained within the crystal phials is 1,000 lbs. of pure electrum dust (5,000 gp value).

The north, east, and western doors are unlocked, but being crafted from solid iron, require significant effort to push open or close.

The room is inhabited by the adventurers’ first encounter with a Haunting of Maladyr (more info here: TBD will be posted and link updated here on 01/05/23). Within the chamber are four Spectre Conjurers. The specters are completely invisible unless the adventurers are utilizing the Maiden’s Blaze or another magic means of detecting invisibility. The spectres are each stationed at one of the four pillars and a preoccupied by endlessly studying the spells engraved upon them. However, they are provoked to anger and attack if the hour glass is reset or if they are damaged while in their preoccupied state.

Journal Hints: There is a sketch of an hourglass flanked by four pillars. Beneath are written the words, “Hall of Mediums — Pages of stone are queued where magic is imbued.”

03/01/2023

Room #3 — Azure Maiden’s Blaze

Read Aloud:
The arched hallway beyond the entrance declines a twenty-foot staircase before opening into a singular chamber with no other obvious exits. The walls of the room are carved with gilded imagery of debauchery and drunken revelry—an amalgamation of naked and scantily-garbed bodies dancing, frolicking, and sinuously intertwined.

The western side of the room is occupied by a large ornate floral-themed fountain flowing with vinaceous-hued waters. Across from the rippling pool, backed against the eastern wall, stands a five-foot tall white marble statue of a maiden dressed in loose gowns.

Sculpted with preternatural mastery, the stone figure is startlingly lifelike. She gazes at the fountain in stoic repose, one arm wrapped around a hollow ampoule, the other raised high overhead tightly grasping a translucent crystalline torch bearing a flickering blue flame which bathes its bearer in soft azure-hues.

GM:
The liquid flowing through the fountain is the finest of red wines and is magically preserved within this room. Visible within the reservoir are a half dozen submerged ornate silver goblets (125 gp value each). The bitter-sweet waters provide an amplified intoxication (drinking one cup is roughly equal to a full bottle of wine) and offer restorative effects when consumed within this chamber (all damage, poison, and disease are fully cured). The curative properties do not exist outside this room.

The torch held by the statue is too tightly grasped to be removed, however the grip loosens enough for it to be obtained if the statue’s hollow vessel is filled with wine from the fountain. If filled with fluid, the ampoule will become empty in one hour as the contents are drained by a miniscule pipe in the bottom. If the statue is severely damaged or destroyed the torch becomes permanently inert.

The torch is a magic item called Maiden’s Blaze. Within Maladyr it functions as an ever-burning torch with a blue, heatless flame. Its illumination also reveals the forms of various hauntings throughout that would otherwise be invisible. If the torch is ever removed from the complex or taken beyond the external stairs of the stepped dais in Room #1, then it is instantly destroyed by crumbling into a fine dust that quickly dissipates. When destroyed, the torch magically reappears again whole in the maiden statue’s raised hand.

When the adventurers eventually retrace their steps to the landing there is a bright flash of vermilion followed by the ephemeral sound of feminine giggling. They will discover the stairs now lead down into Room #2 instead of the chamber they were just in.

Journal Hints: There seems to be no specific reference to this room within the journal. It is possible that information was provided upon some of the pages lost or damaged over the ages.

02/01/2023

Room #2 — The Glyphed Door

Read Aloud:
Rough, natural stone transitions gradually into masterfully hewn walls. Deeply carved faux bricks manifest an arched corridor that embraces equally pristine stairs which descend another twenty feet at a steep angle. The passage captures ambient dim illumination from the entryway. Beyond the steps the hall continues until terminating at a massive arch-pinnacled iron door flanked to the east and west by doused wall-mounted bronze braziers. The doorway is unadorned aside from a circle of twenty strange glyphs; each rimmed in hairline recess indicating they can be depressed.

GM:
The door is magic and there are no obvious mechanisms to explain how it is locked. There are twenty pressable symbols on the door that resolve a three-glyph combination lock. The combination is random (determine which of the twenty runes are the current combination by rolling 3d20 and re-rolling matching results).

The order the glyphs are pressed is irrelevant, however pressing an incorrect rune causes any depressed glyphs reemerge and the lock resets with a new random combination.

If both oil-filled braziers are set alight, two of the three correct glyphs will appear to glow in the firelight. If the magic torch from Room #3 is used to light them, then each ignites with roiling, heatless blue flames and the glyphs of solution for the combination glow brightly with a blue hue.

When unlocked and opened, the door will close itself and lock again with a new combination after six hours. From inside the door has a simple k**b that can be turned wittershins to unlock it for another six hours; if the k**b is turned deosil instead then the door becomes unlockable for six hours.

Glyphs: 1 ) Ankh, 2 ) Eye of Providence, 3 ) Bound Crux, 4 ) Pentagram, 5 ) Tetrad, 6 ) Hexagram, 7 ) Ouroboros, 8 ) Heptagram, 9 ) Waning Crescent, 10 ) Waxing Crescent, 11 ) Metratronic Cube, 12 ) Taijitu, 13 ) Trispiral, 14 ) Forked Staff, 15 ) Infinity Knot, 16 ) Spoked Wheel, 17 ) Horned Sun, 18 ) Trefoil, 19 ) Labyrinthos, and 20 ) Philosopher’s Sigil.

Journal Hints: A crude sketch of an arched door with what appears to be a ring of indecipherable symbols is accompanied by the notation, “Fickle fortunes abalze are all revealed beneath the azure maiden’s gaze.”

01/01/2023

Room #1 — Entrance to Maladyr

Read Aloud:
The scalding arid winds of the desert wasteland shift and whistle across endless dunes and sand plains. Sparse, brown vegetation clings wilted and dried to the few sand-barren patches of parched, cracked earth.

After what seems like a near-endless trek across dune after dune, in the distance a rocky monadnock comes into view. Its distant reddish hue wavering in the heat almost obscuring the complex stationed at its base.

As you grow closer a stepped dais comes into view, waves of sand dancing across its sandstone brick surface. Three isthmi extend forward, each bearing a wind-worn life sized red stone statue of a robed figure.

The depictions are kneeling, each holding what appears to be a bronze basin. Behind them a gaping mouth delves deep into the mountain, caged by six smooth marble pillars that rise 15-feet high to support the outcropping stone above. A strange translucent wall made of pulsating waves of shimmering silver blocks entry, though beyond you can see carved stairs leading further down.

GM:
There is an impenetrable wall of magical force that blocks entry to Maladyr. The wall can be dispelled for three hours by either tracing a rune carved on the eastern side of tunnel wall beyond (accessible only from the inside) or by placing a magic item into each of the three basins. Any three magic items will suffice; including potions, scrolls, or other less valuable magic trinkets. When three magic items have been placed into the basins, all three items suddenly vanish with an audible popping sound and the wall wavers violently before vanishing. The magic items are instantly teleported to the Great Vault on Level 11 of the complex in Room #333. When the magic wall is dispelled the tunnel beyond leads to Room #2. However, if the combined value of the three magic items placed into the basins is 15,000 gp or higher, then the stairs magically lead to room #3 instead.

Journal Hints: In the journal you see a rough depiction of three robed figures kneeling. Beneath them is scrawled, “Three gifts to the watchers pay and true generosity will unbar the way.”

01/01/2023

(Bonus Post) Happy new year! This post begins this journal project with the overarching synopsis and GM introduction of the mega-dungeon. It provides context for the projects centralized theme. I will be posting Room #1 later today but wanted to get things off proper with this introductory information.

**SYNOPSIS**

Maladyr—the legendary citadel of the arcane and wonder of the ancient world. Lost to time for a millennium, the site was once the headquarters of a powerful order of archwizards known as the Council of Stars. The complex was constructed as a vault and library to house and protect the realm’s most legendary artifacts and powerful esoteric secrets. For centuries, contributing to its continued construction was a rite of passage for the most powerful wizards who sought entry to the prestigious order; each leaving their mark by constructing ever-more ingenious puzzles, traps, and magical spectacles to protect the treasures secured within. Generation-after-generation of magic-users contributed their magnum opera to the vault, extending the complex into the depths of the earth, and exponentially increased the power of the Council of Stars.

For over 3,000 years the Council were an influential organization, its members often altering the course of history. They were known as winners of wars, makers of kings, and guardians against the horrors unknown. Along with the accolades and fame bestowed upon the order, Maladyr grew to mythic proportions.

And, then cataclysm. The Council, it’s members, and the arcane beacon of Maladyr were utterly destroyed in a single night. Legend holds that the gods themselves, fearing mortals were growing too powerful, smote the Order and wiped it from the face of the world.

The resulting destruction created a vast wasteland for hundreds of miles and left not a single member of the order alive. In the centuries since, its exact whereabouts passed from living memory. There would be sparse reports of adventurers locating the complex entrance, but none substantiated. It remains a mystery.

That is, until now… the adventures have inadvertently discovered an ancient journal, one that seems to contain firsthand knowledge about the site—and more excitingly—details about its exact location. The tome is damaged and missing much of its content, but enough remains to piece-together a map to the ruins of Maladyr.

**GAME MASTER INTRODUCTION**

Wile exploring the vast mega-dungeon that is the Ruins of Maladyr, the adventurers will face a near-constant onslaught of magic obstacles, strange creatures, and fierce beasts. They will uncover lost secrets and obtain powerful magic items, and ultimately discover the dark truth behind the legend.

The Council of Stars was a front secretly controlled by a cabal of five evil liches. The architects of the farse of Maladyr, they carefully manufactured and groomed the order’s prestige over centuries to lure powerful wizards into contributing to their personal vault of magic and building what would become the most elaborate vault to protect their immortal souls.

This deception continued for thousands of years until one great wizard, Thalmus of Darkstones, uncovered the plot, amassed a small army of magic-users, and attempted to overthrow the liches. They were no match for the power accumulated by the cabal. The uprising prompted the liches to accept their vault was complete, and they destroyed anyone and anything that bore knowledge of its location or secrets.

The five liches then slept. They continue to sleep within the ruins, awaiting a specific celestial alignment that occurs in roughly one thousand years where they can complete the final ritual needed to manifest the ultimate power of Maladyr: to become gods themselves. They will not be pleased by the sudden unexpected intrusion into their citadel.

Note: The adventurers have in their possession the Journal of Maladyr. A damaged tome from which they discern the location of the ruins. The book is intended as a plot device of sorts and can provide helpful details about the dungeon. The only additional details they have is that the apparent author of the tome was someone named Thalmus of Darkstones, but the name bears no significance (as it was eradicated from history during the fall of Maladyr). When appropriate, a room description will detail if any relevant information can be gleaned from the remnants of the journal.

The adventure begins as the adventurers arrive at the entrance of Maladyr (Room #1).

30/12/2022

January 2023 Map
The Ruins of Maladyr
Level 1 (Rooms #1-31)

28/12/2022

I decided to take part in the challenge that I've seen going around in TTRPG social media circles. The rules are simple: create a dungeon with one level for each month, design one new room every day for all of 2023. The end result is a 12-level, 365-room mega-dungeon. I am creating this page for that purpose so I don't spam my friends and followers with daily updates. I will likely post monthly recaps on my main page @ http://facebook.com/justin-andrew-mason

Welcome to the Ruins of Maladyr!

The Ruins of Maladyr

06/01/2023

04/01/2023

03/01/2023

02/01/2023

01/01/2023

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