Thursday 27 January 2011

Scenery - cliff dwellings

I'm not entirely sure where this structure is, or what it's for, but I suspect it's another monastic retreat. Monks seem to like living in peculiar places.

I don't know about other people's campaigns, but in mine terrain has turned out to be as deadly — or more so — than any nasty monster with teeth this big. Climbing and swimming (or more accurately, the failure to climb or swim) has claimed the lives of several brave adventurers, so getting at a place as inaccessible as this is bound to raise a groan or two.

A couple of potential scenarios come to mind for this scene: maybe it's a prison, from which the party have to rescue an almost insanely arrogant and touchy prince, sequestered there by an imposter who has taken his place (the Man in the Iron Mask schtick). Or maybe it's the quarters for the guards of some potentate's treasure vaults, carved into the cliffs behind them, and therefore a legitimate target for any band of adventurers of the usual low level of morality and high level of criminality.

2 comments:

  1. Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying these scenery posts. It's an incredibly evocative way to start the day!

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  2. I'm using one of these cliffside dwellings in my game - named for and based on Roque-Gageac in my Dordogne Campaign. Very evocative locations.

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