Timgal Ruins Overland Map

A quick map today showing the location of the Deep Pits of Timgal dungeon recently detailed. Landfall is the closest village. It is a mix of outcast Alusian natives and explorers and pirates from the seven cities. Many expeditions into the interior of the main island leave from Landfall.

The Timgal ruins are well known. But most explorers have spent their time exploring the ziggurat near the river and the ruins near it. A few miles away on a trail through the jungle is a large, stone ruin leading to the Deep Pits Dungeon.

A few other sites have been added to distract the players with. The Moaning tower is a tottering stone tower which moans eerily when the wind blows through cracks in the rock. The Mongala marshes is a deadly area full of quicksand, bogs, hidden pits and venomous snakes. Giant sea turtles can be found at Lafira beach.

There are few natives on the big island now that the serpent men activity has picked up. There are a few abandoned villages near Timgal and one fishing community at Dja still manages to hang on. Though the population of Dja has fallen to 45 natives.

Timgal Ruins area Map

Exploring the Ruins of Timgal

I have not talked about the Alusian Setting for awhile. This is the OpenQuest setting I am developing. A bronze age world with a primitive lost island. On the main island are the remnants of a once powerful lizardman or serpent man civilization.

Human explorers have ventured into the ruins they call Timgal on the main island for years. It appears on many treasure maps. The players will be following one of these maps to Timgal and spot a trail leading into a fairly intact structure rising out of the jungles.

Just one level is mapped. Further levels are accessible via the deep pits that are filled with water. The lizardmen come up these tunnels to raid the surrounding jungles after dark.

So without further elaboration here is the map of the Deep Pits of Timgal.

Deep Pits of Timgal Map Level One

Treasure Map

I have been pondering the best way to start off an OpenQuest game in my Alusia setting.  And probably I should just put the player’s characters on a boat bound for the Alusian islands. But it also occurs to me that they have heard of the islands by getting their hands on an old pirate's treasure map showing the location of one of the ruined cities on the main island.

Treasure Map

During the day the jungles on the main island are dangerous.  Large wildlife, giant spiders and the like but at night the seemingly empty ruins start to see some activity from the serpent men.

The serpent men of the Alusian islands are the degenerated survivors of a vast magical empire that covered the globe back when humans were just learning to use tools. Now they live in some small pockets deep beneath the earth on the Alusian islands which used to be at the center of their empire.

The local islanders know it is unwise to travel on the islands that have serpent men ruins after dark. The serpent men are very jealous of protecting their cities.

Serpent Man Ruins - Author 2017

Safe Harbour Alusia

A couple of maps for the Alusia OpenQuest or Runequest game (rules to be determined).  The players will start on a boat coming to Alusia but the first stop will be at Safe Harbour on North Island. The one pretty safe island in the Alusia island chain. Only the occasional giant lizard to be worried about.  No angry natives or sneaky lizardmen.

North Island, Alusia

I did decide to include a mine.  Which on a small island is a bit of a stretch, but I figure North Island is at 30 miles long and 10 miles wide.  When you think tropical island mines you think phosphate (fertilizer). But I doubt that would be a commodity in the bronze age.  So I will go with an open pit gold mine.  Mining placer deposits of gold in the Pacific is not entirely unlikely. A quick Google search reveals there is an open pit gold mine in the Solomon islands.  The mine is worked by settlers who have become in debt in some way to the Viceroy of the Islands.  The de facto leader of the island appointed by a Sultan in Valarre (one of the seven cities).

The rest of the island is covered in grasslands and coconut trees.  Except for the southern tip of the island where there is a large, rocky area that is home to nesting birds and giant lizards. Blackseal bay provides a calm harbour for ships from the mainland and Safe Harbour itself has sandy beaches where ships can be beached and repaired.  Nearby Hog island is like it sounds. Hogs were let loose on the island by an early shipwreck and now they overrun the island.  It provides a handy place to collect meat but they are quite dangerous.

I tried two different version of the Safe Harbour map one with sepia tones and one using custom shading (thatch for cultivation, waves for the sea and pebbles for the trail).  I think I prefer this version that I have posted.

Safe Harbour Map

The buildings are all single storey huts made from the local palm trees with thatch roofs and woven reed walls. Along the beach are a number of guarded storage sheds that protect goods that are shipping back to Valarre (gold, diamonds, exotic birds, coconuts). Players can purchase use of one of the huts or simply sleep outside on the beach. The weather is generally temperate with occasional overnight rain.