Castle of the Bloated One: Feral's Urn

February 29, 1976 Original Concept

Egypt has mesmerized me forever. From the first time I read the story of King Tut's tomb and saw images of the Canopic Jars, my imagination ran wild. I laid out a "run" of sorts, a dungeon with a single entrance, filled with a few routes that meandered around a single common feature. Later, when I had the opportunity to travel and see Tut's exhibit in person, I immediately focused on the jars again, and when I had the opportunity, added the finishing touches.

Presented below is Feral's Urn:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One: Hallowed Ground

April 9, 1978 Original Concept

Forever, or so it seems, I've had a particular fondness for dungeons that combined traditional hallways and caverns together. Level One and Two contain some of the earliest recollection of actively infusing that design into my growing neurosis. Perhaps Luray Caverns had something to do with it, or maybe its simply the dwarf sitting at the controls in my brain pining for bedrock above his head. Speaking of, does anyone know of a good Dwarven psychiatrist?

In any case, I present, Hallowed Ground:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One: Tribute

April 3, 1978 Original Concept

This project sat partially finished for thirty years, collecting dust and waiting for a revisit. I had envisioned a five level complex, with approximately ten to twenty chambers/rooms per floor. A central entrance led downwards to an ancient ruin, forgotten to the ages but just waiting for the right circumstance to activate.

March 4, 2008 Revisit

Gary Gygax's passing affected me deeply and when I found this layout, realized it would be a fitting ode to a dear friend. Thus, Tribute is presented below:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One: Iszac's End

March 12, 1978 Original Concept

Directly west of the Castle of the Bloated One is the Crestfallen Mountains, a large scallop that runs for some 250 miles. Iszak Morshow, an enterprising gnome, had been exploring new territory in the range. One day while fishing in a mountain stream he realized there was an opening and being a gnome quickly decided to investigate. He discovered a large cave complex that contained everything essential to develop a thriving business, namely minerals, water, and privacy. Over the next two years he built a successful business, harvesting ore and trading it for information. Every few months, like clockwork, he shows up in town selling rare rock statues, drinks a few pints and disappears just as quickly.

Thus presented below is Iszac's End:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Scarab's Heart: Level 10

January 31, 1977 Original Concept

After I laid everything out on common brown table paper (with a hand drawn grid), it suddenly dawned on me the direction this level would take, and more importantly what role it would play in my growing campaign. Like my original Isolde-Delta map, this level went through so many changes I had to continually redraw on new paper. Thus, Level 10 was the first level I originally laid out, but didn't really have a fully fleshed out idea of what, or rather who would live there till about six months later.

I envisioned a burrow of sorts with beetles, lots of beetles and two rather large set pieces around a central theme. Scarab's Heart finishes off The Castle of the Bloated One's Main dungeon complex.

Edit: The original I uploaded had a hidden burrows and shadow layer on the Sun Temple. 

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Ruins of Ja'ron Fer'oc: Level 9

December 29, 1977 Original Concept

"You want to know what happened to the Legion?", the old bard leaned forward and whispered. The children moved closer to the fire, transfixed by his words. "Very well... the fields were covered with human, elf and dwarf. The Legion's finest warriors battling The Wite; a horrible mass of orc, hobgoblin, gobber and undead. From my vantage point smoke rose into the air, billowing upwards from the mass of bodies burning everywhere. but ..." the bard faltered, choking back a sob ... "but... through my gossamer eyes ... they weren't moving, silent screams unanswered, frozen in place mid-strike. The Legion had fought their last battle".

Five of the children started crying, reaching blindly for comfort from each other, when the oldest boy glanced up, anger and tears reflected on his face, "I don't believe it!". The old man nodded "aye, ti's true ... for the fields were covered in glittering ice".

*****
Level 9 was based on that passage from my notes. A larger level featuring snow, ice, fissures and crevices, along with a wilderness look and feel. Presented below is the Ruins of Ja'ron Fer'oc: Level 9.

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Ophidian Level 8

December 26, 1977 Original Concept

A chance viewing of a silly 1973 horor movie titled "Sssssss" led me to purchase a couple golden books on amphibians and reptiles. Over the next few weeks I slowly worked on a monster who could bite a humanoid and subsequently they would transform into a snake-like creature. Like the vampire, infected humans would be under their master's control. I called them Sssnapes (highly original *rolls eyes*), and added them to my trove of beasties. Six years later the Ophidian would appear in Monster Manual II and I instantly thought, that should have been mine!. C'est la vie...

Thus, Ophidian Level 8 is presented:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Organ Donor Level 7

December 19, 1977 Original Concept

Luray Caverns, http://luraycaverns.com/ August 10, 1977.
My family had traveled down to Falls Church Virginia to see my Aunt Marie & Uncle Andy - the same uncle who first introduced me to Miniature wargaming, stamps and coins. After spending a couple days at the Smithsonian, my Uncle took us to Luray Caverns and there I was introduced to a wonder. The cavern is impressive, all the moreso when you account for the ghost stalactite that one can see from 7 or so different places during the tour, and just how cool (literally and figurately) the place is. The bombshell for me however is the stalacpipe organ in the main cavern, operated by a custom console that produces the tapping of ancient stalactites of varying sizes with solenoid-actuated rubber mallets in order to produce tones.

As we listened to this amazing instrument, my mind instantly started working on the next level of The Castle of the Bloated One. We purchased one of the original 33 albums (vinyl, ah how I pine for thee) and I used it, along with the images I'd taken on the trip to lay out Organ Donor.

Cheers,

Temple of the White Lotus - Level 3: Balcony

The Temple of the White Lotus, Level 3's primary purpose is balcony, storage of weapons and arrow slits for defensive purposes on the exterior. Twin staircases on either side lead down through level two, and exit via secret door inside and outside on level one. Sleeping quarters have existed here in the past, as have a few collections of books and artwork.

Cheers,

Temple of the White Lotus - Level 2: Gallery

The second level of the Temple of the White Lotus has a unique feature, a grand gallery. In the past both art and jewelry exhibits have been held here, and some of the proceeds from such events help supplement the temple. The upper balcony gives a lovely view of the reflecting pool below, and incense provides a peaceful environment. The upper halls include the three guiding principles of the order, Harmony, Peace and Nature.

Cheers,

Temple of the White Lotus

I'm a firm believer that OD&D and 1E are the best versions because the rules have a mystical quality to them. In addition, since I run a medieval western campaign (always have, always will) I stick to the base classes. I wanted to include monks in my campaign, so I created the Monks of the White Lotus.

This is the finished recreation of the Temple of the White Lotus, devoted to study and training, and includes the largest fountain/reflecting pool that I've ever created. The monks supplement their temple's coffers beyond donations by selling their famed lotus at local events, and are a source for rarer varieties of the popular flower.

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Castle Main - Level 3

Level 3 has a singular feature, a multi-pillared room with central dias. L'chian Endor'e and his enclave make their home here.

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Castle Main - Level 2

Level 2 includes a central training ground, and multiple stairs leading to various levels. There is also current work being done on sub-levels by work crews recently hired by his grace, L'chian Endor'e, high druid of the School of Scales.
Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Castle Main - Level 1

Now that the Castle complex is correct, the three previous posts show The Castle of the Bloated One Levels 4 through 6, which are specifically part of the Castle Main. These are not shown on the previous blue overlay map, because they are 212 feet below the castle complex. They can be accessed from inside the Castle Main, or by using the twin set of spiral staircase just east of the main entrance, and the vertical Columnar Basalt shafts located east and west.

In the past, rangers and druids were trained in specialties like botany and fungi, but recently (50 years), the school's focus has shifted to the preservation of knowledge, while still retaining a vast library of information on the trees located throughout Isolde-Delta. Level 1 includes the School of Scales, and the last surviving Llorimar Tree, known for its medicinal properties.

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Massive Update

From January through September of 2012, work on recreating images of the layout of The Castle of the Bloated One, all done in Dungeonographer, and finished in Paint Shop Pro took place. The entire complex was also created in Sketchup for both perspective and top-down viewing. Those images were posted on this blog from October through December 2012, to both share the original campaign, and to collect as much data as I could in hopes of at some point publishing the material.

Over the last month, I've been revisiting this area to correct errors made in recreation due to not having my original source hex maps available, which I found on September 3rd. First was recreating a basic blue overlay of the entire castle complex to show the layout, sans any dungeon levels.

Next, all the entrance points from the castle complex into the dungeon were created, and then Dungeon Level 1 was laid out. I did this in two versions, a full 10,000 X 10,000 version in Dungeonographer, and a smaller overlay version to fit the blue layout.

Then, I added an overlay of the dungeon onto the blue background, giving a collective view of the complex together.

More to come,

Castle of the Bloated One - Running Water Level 6

December 16, 1977 Original Concept

Level 6 took five days to layout, due to the angled section at the bottom. I wanted a design that included a mushroom/lichen garden, so I researched my Encyclopedia Brittanica collection. I discovered that soil rich in nutrients, and higher humidity would be key. Logs could be stacked into various shapes, and over time the mushrooms would flourish. The level is split horizontally by the river, which falls partially from Level 5 above, and a natural fissure that runs due north some 1400 feet before branching off. One of my favorite types of rooms includes multiple stairs, and this particular design include five separate sets which lead down to three different levels.

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Deep Level 5

December 10, 1977 Original Concept

This is the first level I laid out on the morning of my 14th birthday. My notes include the following info:

This level includes a waterfall (from the aqueduct on Level 4) and a combination feeding ground/slaver region. The water leads around to room #8, which has an entrance to a set of natural caverns, home to mushrooms, lichen and a couple big nasties. Traps are prevalent throughout, along with a couple surprises. Thus, presented below is Deep Level 5:

Cheers,

Castle of the Bloated One - Garden Level - revisit

Originally, I had posted an image of the Castle of the Bloated One Garden sub-level on December 16, 2012. I had the write up from my original notes, but the image was based on an workaround due to not having the original main castle layout and the sub-levels available. It was all based on memory. The original image:



In any case, last week I was looking through my Forgotten Realms boxed set (for info on the gods of the realms), and in the bottom were six hex maps folded up. Angels did sing! So, I'm revisiting and posting the now correct information.

December 10, 1977 Original Concept

The Garden Sub-Level was designed as a place where crops are grown and harvested for the Castle's occupants, while the resulting seed is stored/maintained for next season. Fresh water is collected via the natural sandstone filter in the ceiling, which slowly drips down into the deep central collection chamber. An aqueduct complete with gated levers, drops the water down to Level 5.

Ventilation, sunlight, and some rain water is filtered down to the 80 foot tall chamber via four vertical Columnar Basalt shafts who's entrance is housed in twin open air buildings on the surface. These shafts have steep vertical stone steps, and while only the steadfast dare to use them on a regular basis, most prefer the twin Guard Tower stairs.

A grove of trees serves as a reminder of the deep connection to the Older Faith, while the outer walls keep the residents safe and secure during wartime. Other secrets remain...

Cheers,

Custom Mapwork: Basement

The basement includes one of my favorite features in maps, both carved rooms and natural caverns. I decided to add in a stone backround, which I feel finishes the design:

 Cheers,

Custom Mapwork: Ground Floor

The Ground Floor mentioned a vegetable garden outside, but no details were included. This was an opportunity to create one in black and white, and add in a bit of detail including a cobblestone path and well. The design also required two Sphinx at the entrance:

Cheers,