World that is entirely a dungeon

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So, I had a little idea the other day. I call it "Dungeon World" just to cause confusion. But it's also literally a world of dungeons 😏 . No, literally. There is no natural landscape in this world. It's all dungeons. 


Picture by Rudy and Peter Skitterians, used with permission.

It was originally built by unknowable creators in some unknowable time in the past. Since then, mages from various planes of existence discovered the place and decided to add their own touches.

Many peoples live here. To them, the thought of a world not made by the Makers is just freaking weird. Mountains of just solid rock? Preposterous. Only the great edifices of the Makers or the Mage-Kings that followed should reach towards the skies. Food is something you get from the Garden-Cemeteries of Ceres. Or maybe you hunt it in the Underworld. 

Picture by 132369, used with permission. 

Journey deep enough and you find the Columns That Hold The World. Great hexagonal pillars made of a substance that bends light and slows time around them. Further down you find the Mausoleum Cities where the Mage Kings in their hubris staked their claim. Little did they know that they disturbed the Ergatis - a breed of Insectfolk that the First King made. 

A new world waits below that again, beneath the ossuary layers. Where billions of skeletons lie, witnessing a horrific event. It is not recommended to stay here for long. Below is the Cistern World, where the Makers built great pools as large as oceans. Here is the sanctuary of all aquatic creatures that would be seen as monsters in their homeworlds. 

Finding access to the depths below here are difficult, as they are intentionally hidden on artificial islands or submerged in the reservoirs. Some take that as a sign that they should now travel further down, but others don't heed warnings that well. 

While the Makers were generous with light in the worlds above, below the Cisterns there are only faint lights and many shadows. Some shadows stir on their own accord. You probably should not have come here. Who's whispering?


Comments

  1. Dreaming DragonslayerDecember 21, 2021 at 4:28 AM

    Amazing. Sign me up. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sigve SolvaagDecember 21, 2021 at 4:34 AM

      Is this the beginning of the Neverending Dungeonworld? *sighs* Let's go!

      Delete
  2. Eldrad WolfsbaneDecember 21, 2021 at 6:08 AM

    This is very cool!

    ReplyDelete
  3. PicadorDecember 21, 2021 at 7:45 AM

    Very cool. Some thoughts on precedent/sources of inspiration for this setting:

    Dark City, where the world is literally the labyrinthine streets of the city, floating in space

    Video games like Dark Souls, where the inhabitants are all undead (solves the food / ecology problem) and the world is a prison that has been built for them

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sigve SolvaagDecember 21, 2021 at 9:05 AM

      Thanks for the tips! I've also heard "Blame!" as another source of inspiration.

      In terms of food, I imagine that there are probably enough gardens and pocket planes to sustain a small population. Probably a total population in the millions at most.

      Delete
  4. matterhornDecember 24, 2021 at 12:18 AM

    Also check out JG Ballard short stories: Report on an Unidentified Space Station is a good start.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownJanuary 17, 2022 at 10:31 PM

    similar concept to the Meikyuu Kingdom RPG

    ReplyDelete

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