Scribbles and Horrors

So have I heard and do in part believe it. —Horatio, Hamlet

In order to present the most recent Redux addition, I will need to share something I haven’t before: a piece of Foundational Redux Lore. It’s short, don’t worry.

REDUX

weird, the wild, undiscovered action-mired morass the tangled place. and in the darkness him weeping, he/him/his, the bastard.

even from near the end of the second age stonetime, before the reign of Krathyguiar’lkjjin mirethought dripping green-glue mantras down sulliedthroats and murkywhisperers, and the Wife–nasty cruelwise knowledgewhore she–weaving blood-tacticals, politic-mazes, general-slaughter the like—that Before When it Was Sometimes Quieter, yes, even then, porticoes and arcades and chambers were echoey-excited by muppetry tears.

The God of our Place whimperskimp jumphobble scuttleyawn rambler, crying again again for his beloved, bemoaning the mail, shrieking at emptiness and cowering, shivering for fear of what He is, His world, our world, depth and reality. Our home:

REDUX

Here then is Level ETA, The Tomb of Krathyguiar’lkjjin Mirethought, housing the remains and treasures the deified mantra-dripping ruler whose reign was so ancient and influential that it is used as a point of comparison to the weeping heart of the underworld. (ETA is only the tomb of Mirethought–a monument placed relatively near the surface. What remains of his former domain is still deeper and more unspeakably vast.)

Location Within Redux

Obviously there are exits North and South to maps which haven’t been drawn yet, but Upwards is The Palace of the Snail Men. You can spot the spiral ramps coming down if you look closely.

Dangers

There are no opportunistic monsters in the tomb; no creature dares enter, save to pass through. It is all finely polished stone, statues and stellai, polished vessels, various thrones. The main danger is becoming snuffed out by the immensity of the place; getting lost, suffocating, starving, etc.

Smells

• Death
• Heavy musty perfume
• Blood
• Halitosis
• Spring flowers

Sounds

• The quiet of peaceful meditation
• The silence after a murder is over
• The apprehensive silence before standing up to someone in power
• The soundlessness of trying to sneak up on an animal
• The silence after giving up on sex
• The silence of paralyzing fear
• (muffled, far away) The edge of a distant sob

Treasure

There are Great Treasures in the tomb–17 for the King, 17 for the Queen–objects of unimaginable power. They are each placed in their own chamber, lining the north edge of the map.

I don’t have any of these worked out yet, but they’re the sort of objects where touching them turns you into a god or teleports you to mars or fills your insides with maggots or allows you for force any man into servitude for ten generations.

You know, the sorts of things that no reasonable person would ever want, and thus which are highly coveted.

Layout

This is the densest map of its type I’ve ever drawn. For the most part I’m pleased with it for what it is. It is much more difficult to navigate than my usual stuff. Unlike my previous maps, dead-reckoning can only get you so far.

I challenge you you trace a path from the big spiraling passage to one of the treasure rooms at the top. It is possible, I promise!

By my count there are 1,254 rooms, so probably close to 300 points of interest.

More than other levels, ETA will rely on something like setting-writing on my part, and will of necessity need lots of maps/hints/instructions for navigating. It’s a place with a strong story, which is somewhat unusual for me.

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Redux will be on hold for a while after Monday. I’ve become burnt out, and need to take time away from these games to clear my head. Forget some things, so that I can approach them afresh later. This always happens, where suddenly I can’t stand RPG stuff. I will come back. That always happens, too.