Building an "Empire of the Petal Throne" style Undercity / Underworld

[Dyson Logos]

Last year I was dealing with the gentlemen of the Tekumel Foundation to work on the classic Jakallan Underworld map drawn by M.A.R. Barker for his Empire of the Petal Throne campaigns. The original map is drawn on a massive desk-pad of 10 square per inch graph paper (at 10' per square, as with most old school D&D material). The goal is to reprint the original map, but also redraw it in a more modern dungeon style like my current work.

However, things stalled out (as they all have lots on their plates, and I need a bit more guidance about the contents of the Underworld before I start remaking it in my style). So, inspired by having access to M.A.R. Barker's original map, and the Empire of the Petal Throne campaign I've been playing in for the last two years, I started on my own "Jakallan Underworld".

Over the last five months I've posted a number of maps that are coming together into my version of an Empire of the Petal Throne underworld. I'm calling it "My Private Jakalla" for now, but in time my goal is to draw not only the undercity but the city above.

The first six maps are here:

[Dyson Logos]

Map 1A



This particular map contains two access points from the surface, both on the bottom edge of the map – basements with stairs leading down to a great hall on the left (probably linked to a clan house or similar structure, or perhaps the doorway has been boarded off, bricked over, or otherwise sealed to prevent whatever lives in the dark recesses from coming up), and a set of stairs and doors leading into a series of crypts on the right (probably linked to a temple that stores the revered dead in crypts, tombs and so on).

Map 1B



While the first map in the”My Private Jakalla” set was primarily influenced by the classic Jakallan Underworld map combined with my own personal idioms and stylings, this second map is more firmly rooted in the “feel” I got from some of the underworlds we’ve explored in James Maliszewski’s EPT game combined with the design concepts of some sewer maps I drew for Alexander Macris.

With the additional sewer structures, I aim to also make this map link up with the much older sewer map I posted to the blog – the Sewers of Travon. (Seriously, I posted that seven years ago? This blog keeps getting older and older on me… Maybe I’ll even redraw the original map…)

To see where this map links up with the previous map in the “My Private Jakalla” project, I’ve put together a little index card that I’ll update as I add new maps to the set (visible at the blog post).

This area of the underworld contains the aforementioned sewers as well as the basements of several buildings that have been repurposed along the way. Two surface access points are included on this map, both towards the left hand side.

The upper entrance is a ladder that leads into a small section of the sewers and to a set of secret chambers – remaining fairly isolated from the rest of the underworld unless one should trudge down along the very narrow and low-ceilinged sewer ways to the larger sewers.

The entrance on the bottom side of the map leads into a series of old basements that have been refitted as a sort of “underground shopping plaza” with holes cut into the walls between the structures on the left and a larger chamber on the right used for larger auctions of goods.

Map 1C



This third map in the set continues some of the sewers from the second map while keeping close to the classic Empire of the Petal Throne feel of having most connections into the underworld be through the various temples and clanhouses of the city. In this case we have two different temple basements here that are indirectly linked through other chambers and passages.

This particular map has a number of access points to the surface – perhaps a few too many. The temple on the upper left has two stairways down to their lower structures, and there are two sewer access points (one directly south of the left hand temple, and one on the far right). The second temple probably has it’s own access to the lower structures and monk cells, but it isn’t indicated on the map as give (probably a trap door from which a fold-down staircase is lowered). Finally, there is a basement from someone’s house or business just off the side of the sewers with a very thin wall that could be breached with a few minutes of work and the right tools.

This map (1C on the diagram above) connects to map 1B via the sewers, but has no connection to the other maps in the set yet. My goal is that the next two maps in the set will be the connections between 1A and 1C.

A definite point of interest in this map is the molds or mud that have taken over the oddly-structured temple at the top of the page. A large part of this structure has been inundated with whatever this map marker represents (I picture a collection of fuzzy molds that may even be quite pretty initially, like devil’s tooth fungi) and those wishing to travel further into the underworld from this temple will have to deal with at least an edge of the infestation as it has taken over the only doorway between the temple and further depths.

The origin of this map detail is a little more mundane.

I bought roses for my girlfriend. We put them in a vase with water on the table. That night one of the lovely orange fuzzballs we call cats decided to eat the roses and knocked over the vase in the process, ruining a number of works in progress and also damaging this map. Andy Solberg suggested I turn the water-damaged areas into mold-infested areas and the transition was soon complete.

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Map 1D



This portion of the undercity resembles in many ways the first section I did – containing a lot more temple & crypt areas and no sewer connections. It connects to section 1C via a major 20′ wide passage that I’m starting to think is a major underground thoroughfare for the priesthoods of a few major temples when they need to confer without sending processions marching through the city above. It connects to the upcoming 1E map on the lower left through some crumbling catacombs and has a further connection to the south (to what will probably be map 1F – unless I end up drawing the area above 1C first).

There are two access points to the surface in this section, both of which are secret. They are both basements to local businesses or homes. The spiral staircase on the north side of the map leads up to a small stone home that has been rebuilt over the half-walls of the previous structures. The owners are unaware of the secret access route to the depths below. The other basement contains a large collection of boxes, barrels and other supplies belonging to the outfitter’s business above. The outfitter is quite aware of the basement doors, and both secret doors are locked and barred and an alarm is tied to each one to sound upstairs if either is opened. The outfitter occasionally rents out access from his basement to the undercity beyond.

A major point of interest is the columned catacombs on the lower-left of the map. Evidently a combination of crypt and religious structure of an earlier age, the catacombs are not linked to any of the existing temples of the city, and in fact lie beneath a small common market used by the local farmers. Some upper sections of these catacombs are in very rough shape, cut into softer stone that has partially compacted and collapsed under the pressure of years. Throughout the catacomb, it is clear to anyone familiar with stonework that sections of the walls were cut out and then rebricked after the construction was complete. Pulling open these bricked-over niches exposes old crypts of the church that first built this structure.

A final point of interest is the stairs that head downwards just to the southeast of the basement entrance (top middle of the map). This is the first connection to the deeper levels of the undercity added to the map so far. While seldom used, it is quite accessible to the temples that use the thoroughfare that goes through this map and map 1C.



Map 1E



This section of the undercity is mostly sewers and a mix of ruined and lost temples and abandoned substructures. The ruins from the east side of 1A continue into this map, with collapsed areas and ancient temples to the north and a natural void in the stone to the south that is collecting water and waste from a small breach in the sewer system.

This section of the map ties the first section I drew (1A) to last month’s section (1D) with these five maps forming the nucleus of how I picture the final map to be (I’ll probably be adding six or so maps around the edges further interconnecting the areas in question).

Surface access to this section of the undercity is via a well-maintained basement structure that links to the sewers and older lower-level ruins via a pair of secret passages. The sewer access seems to be the primary one for this connection – so it is probably a thieves’ guild, smuggling organization, or even just a civic access point for sewer maintenance. I also should have indicated that the secret passage from this access point to the lower ruins is a downward slope to account for the different elevations of the two sections.



Map 1F



As this section of the undercity links into the sewer-heavy section to the west of it, it also contains a number of sewer tunnels. However, it also contains a number of older substructures that sit under the sewers, collecting muck and moisture from leaks in the levels above. Most of these lower level areas have slime on the walls, drips from the ceiling, and a number of areas even have pools of collected effluvia and runoff.

Points of interest include the six warehouse basements on the lower right, the classic “appears in every fantasy video game with sewers” circular chamber in the sewers on the upper right, and the old sanctum decorated with pillars carved in the visages of demons of all the major deities of change on the lower left (along with a secret observation chamber that looks in on said sanctum).

This map connects to the 1D and 1E maps providing alternate means of linking the two together (since they are already linked). The main surface access to this map is via a basement stairwell in the north centre of the map that links to the sewers and has secure access to the passages that lead to the crypts to the north in map 1D. Alternately, the six warehouse basements on the lower right each lead up to a full warehouse above them, but are only accessible through metal grates mounted over small drainage lines to keep the basements dry (great access point for wererat or druidic thieves).

This map was actually done as part of the Mapvember challenge. The theme that day was “Storage” and I started the map with the six warehouses in the lower right side and their connecting sewer linkages… and then went from there to the old temples, extended sewers, and so on, finally linking it all up to the other maps from the My Private Jakalla project.

[Hewdamia]

Dyson, I first would like to say wonderful maps. I have been at a loss for my current game I am running in finding a large scale underground map that would work that is broken up into different sections or zones and this definitely fits the bill. I would like to know if it was ok with you if I used them for said game I am running, no commercial use at all just personal in home game use. Also, would you by chance have a copy of these without the grind lines showing? I wanted to print them out large scale to use as a full sized battlemap and we do not use grid systems. If not they are still phenomenal maps and I only wish I could do something such as this myself.