BEHOLD - the lair of the Eye Tyrant - Xalquor.
This is one of the largest and more involved dungeons I've created, and I'm very happy with the result. This map depicts a subterranean lair of an Eye Tyrant, an egomaniacal creature that lords over its army of minions in pursuit of knowledge, artifacts and wealth.
Formerly a dwarven settlement, the Eye Tyrant assumed control of the structure after enslaving and/or chasing out the remaining dwarves. Over the next several years, it summoned several minions to its side, controlled by its persuasive magic to do its bidding and serve its interests over their own.
Click your appropriate Tier below, and you can go grab your download links!
Tier 1 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-1-dungeon-81146477
Tier 2 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-2-world-map-81312503
Tier 3 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-3-master-87793681
Tier 4 - https://www.patreon.com/posts/tier-4-master-87797001
We have a great illustrated scene to help set the mood, by Ha Art:
The dungeon has many chambers separated by the three factions that own and operate their section of the settlement. The main entry is accessed by crossing an underground river running through a cave system, watched by a series of paranoid, magical eyes that Xalquor to the arrival of any unexpected guests.
Here is an example of the lair:
Xalquor sees itself as the last guardian of all forbidden knowledge, hoarding and protecting vast resources of books, relics, artifacts and other items of power. It believes that knowledge is dangerous in the wrong hands, and it is the right set of hands, or set of eyes, in this case. It is also discovered that Xalquor not only hoards this knowledge, they curate it. Tomes are found annotated or completely rewritten, recipes and formula redesigned and "improved" for their true purpose and some artifacts reworked to meet their "true purpose".
We have a great sprite for Xalquor by Katsudon Art, obviously discontent with one of their minions for failing to recover an important source from their travels.
The factions that serve Xalquor are comprised of the Midden Guard, the Delvers and the Vault. These various factions are each led by someone loyal to the Eye Tyrant, not out of respect or love, but because they've been fitted with a magical restraint that allows Xalquor to know their thoughts and take them over at will, ensuring it knows the mind of its servants at all times -- even when it is playing games with the factions for entertainment.
The Midden Guard are a collection of goblins, hobgoblins and bugbears that serve as the low-level enforcers of the settlement. They conduct surface raids, handle the containment and torturing of prisoners and see to the refuse of the colony.
Here is their leader pictured here in an illustration, by Clark Ocleasa.
The Delvers are a clan of duergar (dark dwarves) that have answered the call of Xalquor to handle the working of metal, collection of secrets and relics from the Underdark and see to the spellforging on the items of power Xalquor demands. They are led by a female dark dwarf, whose illustration shall be added as soon as it is completed.
The Vault are a collection of human and humanoid servants that see to the research, study and maintenance of Xalquor's library and vault of artifacts. They spend most of their days pouring over tomes, experimenting with relics and sending plans to the Delvers and Midden Guard to obtain newly discovered sources of knowledge or power.
Here is an image of their leader, a powerful wizard with a gazing familiar, by Clark Ocleasa.
The beholder uses the same restraining item on his leaders as he occasionally does on other beings that he controls elsewhere. It is a metal circlet that features an eye in the center. It allows telepathic communication between Xalquor and any who wears it, as well as the ability to control them as Dominate Person at will.
Here's an illustration of the circlet if you would like to weave that into your campaign, by Steve Bell.
I've also created an asset that you can place on whatever map you wish, if you'd like to weave that into your world, by John Ric-Deto-on.
How do I use this location?
Xalquor's Lair could certainly be a dungeon crawl, though it would be an extremely difficult fight without some kind of help or plan (exploiting one or more of the groups).
You could also use the location as a recurring set piece where the party can barter magical goods and knowledge for favors, influence, items or knowledge in kind. Xalquor is constantly on the hunt for these things, and it does not care from where they originate. If an alliance with an adventuring party means a steady supply of goods -- it is a deal well struck, until it deems they know too much.
In addition to the illustrations above, I also had some illustrations created for some potential creatures one might encounter within the various chambers of the settlement.
In the Vault section, there are certainly many tomes, scrolls and other sources of recorded knowledge, but Xalquor has also placed several mimics to ensure no one is stealing from him or delving into secrets too deeply.
Here are [2] mimic illustrations, by Carlos Eulefi:
In the Midden Guard section of the settlement, there is a large chamber where they sift through stolen goods brought back by the goblin and delver teams, as well as manage the garbage of the compound. Their waste management system is comprised of a creature returned from the Underdark by the delvers known as an Omnivoron - it literally eats everything, and anything. The creature does not harm the goblins, because they bring it a steady supply of food, however, it will lash out at any non-goblin that comes too close.
Here's an illustration of an Omnivoron beneath a heap of refuse, by Carlous Eulefi.
Also, as not everyone is always happy with their plot in life, I included a small camp in a cave located through a small, secret tunnel only a Small sized character could enter via one of the [3] prisoner cells. The camp is owned by a small goblin hermit that stole one of the keys to the cells, and lives away from the colony because of its fear and hatred of Xalquor -- this could be a good source of information for the party and a potential alternative exit/entry.
Here's an illustration of the goblin hermit, by Carlos Eulefi.
I also enjoy providing some Easter Eggs in my maps, and this one has one near and dear to my heart. If you were a child of the 80's that enjoyed RPG's, then the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show was part of your world. Six friends that found themselves teleported to the world of D&D while riding an unassuming carnival ride resulted in constant struggles to find a way back to their home world.
I thought it might be an interesting and fun throwback for Xalquor to keep statues of adventurers that it has petrified after potentially using them for personal gain and/or as trophies to revisit as it desires. It's also always been a fun thought that perhaps the party had never made it home, because they came to be frozen in time within this lair.
As an Easter Egg, I had several assets created for both the petrified versions of the characters, as well as normal versions should your party find a way to reverse the process. Xalquor keeps a magical portal behind secret doors for traveling the planes and moving quickly between other locations it controls, but it may also be used to finally send the party home once more.
Here are the petrified characters that are on the map, by John Ric Deto-on:
I will provide both this set and the colored set in a separate release/post, so that you could potentially use them on other maps and for other stories, if desired.
The dwarven settlement also has a feature convenient for Xalquor and its sense of paranoia, which is the dwarven engineering for air flow through the colony. High above the tall ceilings of the settlement's largest rooms are holes designed to move airflow via large mechanical fans, the power of which comes from the flow of the river below, to circulate air through the settlement and replace it with air from the surface.
These vents, while nearly inaccessible to most creatures, provide a perfect highway for Xalquor to move about the settlement and create alternative entry/exits for it to surprise visitors, spy on its minions and make dramatic entrances.
Here's an example of the PNG transparent tile for that system:
As the lair is quite large, I will be recording a video later of a walkthrough of the map, discussing my thoughts for the various chambers and how they might operate within the scope of a dungeon and/or a more semi-permanent set piece for your party to interact with along their adventures.
I hope you enjoy it!