We are at Month #9 for #Dungeon23, and after two months of dark dingy dungeons it is time to switch back to a widescreen setting again, in this case the previously untold horrors of the Plane of Rust, which forms a part of the great Demonic Pit! There may be several ways that Heroes end up here based on choices made previously, and we will look at some of those entry locations as we explore this hideous place over the course of the upcoming month.
The Demonic Plane of Rust - In the vicinity of the Carnelian Desert
"The Plane of Rust is a desert-like wasteland formed from scarlet dunes of metallic dust, of bizarre fungal oases and ruined cities of corroded green bronze. Its fortresses and palaces are weird and organic-looking, its gardens a twitching sward of fungal savannah. The Plane of Rust is a place of inevitable decay, of collapse and disorder, of the chaos of terminal decline, when the endpoint extends to an infinite horizon of living hell..."
Vade Mecum Infernum by Aughm Lightchaser (p. 15)
A map of this region can be found in the Rough Guide to the Pit (p. 38), as well as general encounter tables (pp. 40-41), and some notes on new monsters and other inhabitants (p. 36).
The Plane of Rust is a place of corrosion and decay. Any metal items will gradually rust away to dust if they are not magical, enchanted or blessed in some way. Every week a Hero spends on the Plane of Rust, they must decide what one metal item (weapon, shield, armour etc.) has been lost to decay that week. As a result, if not magical, most items and implements are either made from non-metallic sources (wood, bone, rock, etc.), or treated with potions that prevent rust.
Deepshadow Woods (#1/30; #244/365)
The Deepshadow Woods are a tangled wilderness of gigantic red, black and purple mushroom trees, overgrown with all kinds of smaller and more colorful fungi. Nevertheless, true to the woods' name, the shadows are long, dark and dangerous. Here and there larger 'trees' break through the foliage, such as multi-branching orange coralline fungi or gargantuan gourd-like baobab-shrooms, each a perch or haunt of some flying monster or another. Indeed, at canopy-level dwell all manner of horrors including flocks of Gargoyles, solitary Night-Mares, packs of Devil Hounds, and so on. Further down, at ground-level, we find no end to the terror, such as slithering Angarocs, family mobs of ape-like Spike Demons, and the enormous entrapping webs of Death Spiders.
Within the Deepshadow Woods lies the Fortress of Black Night. From the fortress emanate a steady stream of soldiers, usually comprising ten or so Clone Warriors lead by a stalking Mantis Demon. They patrol the forest, hunting for food and capturing strangers to be taken back to the fortress for interrogation. For encounters within the Deepshadow Woods, roll three dice on the table below:
What Lurks In Yonder Woods?
3. Family mob of SPIKE DEMONS
4. a solitary NIGHT-MARE perched in a tall tree
5. VAMPYRIC SLIME MOULD
6. a small GARGOYLE hive
7. a pack of DEVIL HOUNDS
8. DECAYER
9. a Patrol (10 CLONE WARRIORS and a MANTIS DEMON)
10. BLACK IMPS
11. FUNGOIDS
12. SHADE
13. a herd of WUDREFMIK with FIEND shepherds
14. LAVENDER DREAM-SHROOMS
15. ISHKARIM
16. a WOOD DEMON
17. a DEATH SPIDER basking on its web
18. an ANGAROC
The Fortress of Black Night (#2/30; #245/365)
If the Heroes venture through the portal at the end of the Road to Bisu, they will end up in Deepshadow Woods, close to the Fortress of Black Night, an imposing castle of monolithic black basaltic bricks fortifying the dying sprawl of a ridiculously huge baobab-shroom.
The reason for this portal destination is that after the Maker God Bisu was taken prisoner, they were kept in this fortress for memory extraction. Once this process was complete (and after any Heroes reach this Plane), the god was then moved again, this time to somewhere within the Free City of Thagwar.
The fortress is ruled over by an enormous Rust Demon, that infests the entire great central hall, called Bth-Ff-Rck-Ds, or, "A Mist-Like Spore-Cloud Of Slow Lingering Death". Bth regularly sends out patrols into the woods, to hunt, forage and scout for any hostile forces sent from the Oasis City of Kor. The Mantis Demon patrol leaders are especially hostile towards Death Spider and Ishkarim.
For their part in the conspiracy to capture Bisu, Bth has been rewarded with some of the god's acumen, and is now attempting to create a legendary artefact, the Helm of Darkness! Currently they are seeking help for obtaining the major ingredients, including the brain of a Giant Sandworm, the eye of a Night Horror, and the heart of a Lesser Shadow Demon, for these components are proving troublesome to acquire.
Western Dream Glades (#3/30; #246/365)
Eastern Dream Glades (#4/30; #247/365)
Southern Dream Glades (#5/30; #248/365)
The Dream Glades are a series of fungal woodlands and savannah, similar to the Deepshadow Woods above, however there are some differences, as one would expect for terrain that borders the north-western expanses of the Carnelian Desert. For starters, these glades are so-named for the profusion of weird fungi to be found here, including plenty of Lavender Dream-Shrooms, but also much rarer and esoteric varieties that are prized by demons elsewhere for their psychotropic properties.
There are some regional differences too. For example, the Western Dream Glades border the Thaynor Uplands, and are rugged terrain, with the fungal forest growing up and over corroded ridges of rusting iron boulders. The Southern Dream Glades are more open and almost park-like, but also the location of the much-feared Pit of Endless Nightmares. The Eastern Dream Glades are more like the Deepshadow Woods, but also quieter and quite eerie, lacking the constant patrol of soldiers.
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