Since ancient times, the mortal kind has been fascinated by the gathering places of the spirits. These megalithic constructions have spawned in countless locations all over the world, oftentimes bringing peril and fortune in equal amounts.
Mortal races have always sought to delve into these places of power, both to cull the dangers lurking within and to try and claim a piece of that power for themselves. Thirteen of these “dungeons” have become known by the moniker of “Great-Dungeon” - a dungeon so far above and beyond the rest in size, danger, and reward that they defy categorization. Many scholars have debated upon which dungeons deserve the title, but many agree that the following list should serve as a commonly agreed-upon guide for the layman.
- an excerpt from Atlas and History: Megadungeons - by Rudeus Flukewrit
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Vitrium, The Crystal Ring.
In the early days of the world, the spirits and gods of knowledge were said to have assembled in one place and built a great tower out of precious stones. This tower served as a proving ground for divinity and spirit alike to demonstrate their intelligence and claim power from the megastructure. In its lowest depths, there is said to be a city of light where all knowledge is kept by beings of unimaginable wisdom.
So the story goes: When mortal races first invaded this tower in ages long past, the tower’s keeper, a supposedly powerful spirit known as “Master of Masters” sealed off this fabled city of light. No record of such a city or entity has been recovered in years of archaeological studies.
In modern times, The Ringed City - a parliamentary monarchy founded by the Goldwatch family retains military control over Vitrium after a mass dungeon break wiped out its former attempted controllers, a band of nobility that called themselves “The Diamond Collective”. The Ringed City sponsors thousands of students each year to learn at the illustrious “Crystal Ring Academy” - a school embedded into the surface levels of the dungeon.
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Vodyanitsa, The Mire of the Ancestors.
in the nation of Carniola, Highly respected shamans jealously guard this dungeon. The Republic of Carniola prevents access where possible, but it is impractical to guard every entrance. at night, the moon illuminates the mangrove swamps of Carniola, revealing mystical passages deep below the illuminated waters of the spirit swamp into the crypts and rivers of Vodyanitsa. It is well known that the depths of Vodyanitsa are patrolled by sanctified corpses of those who choose to be ritually buried there.
Tomb raiding is inadvisable. The swamp is considered blessed by the locals who live in harmony with the swamp, offering up their dead. interlopers will find themselves subject to all manner of horrific curses.
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Luma, City of the Glass Clocktower.
Said to be lost beneath the sands of the Bleached Desert, an ancient city that was once the capital of time magic rests in obscurity. Many trade records of the nomadic tribes, coupled with a robust amount of lumen relics indicate that the lost Great Dungeon is indeed somewhere out there beneath the treacherous bleached desert.
According to a diary donated to the royal archives:
The last great immortal king of luma sent away his daughter who was slated to be the only heir to the city's foundational magic, causing the city to sink beneath the sands during a relentless onslaught by enemies of the city. Luma stood against the forces of some great spirit of oblivion, who swore to see that time magic was forever kept away from the unworthy. This, combined with jealous merchants who sought to divide up the wealth of the city, spelled the downfall of the once-magnificent dungeon. The eponymous Glass Clocktower was a central point of the city, where skilled clockworkers and temporal mages joined to trade knowledge.
No claims to the location of the dungeon have been substantiated.
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The Spire of the Art - Ataraxia.
The proud grand coven of Ataraxia built their metal city on top of this dungeon. The immortal Witches of Ataraxia waged a slow-burning war against the denizens of the spire, claiming its resources for their own purposes. The Spire of the Art is also known as “Swordmaker” on account of the high amount of valuable sword relics that it produces. This dungeon is widely regarded to be a crucial element of Ataraxia’s military supremacy. Ataraxia guards further details about its military resources jealously. Some fringe elements of Ataraxia claim that the metal of the city of Ai-Khanoum is produced by a subjugated breed of surprisingly “human” monster known as Dactyls, who are able to produce metal from nothing, inside the dungeon. Ataraxia refuses to comment on the veracity of these claims
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The Hole in the World - bottom of the great sea.
perhaps the most dangerous of the known great dungeons, the hole endlessly spawns legions of titanic leviathans that agressively devour both each other, and anything that gets close. The hole itself is a giant crater, about a mile across. The dungeon has two phases and changes with the moon. oscillating between a vortex that swallows everything within nautical miles, to a spout that increases sea levels and releases sea-beasts.
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Few delving parties have returned successfully, but those who have are known to have returned with incredible riches.
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The Unnamed Dungeon - Arctic Circle.
Information about this dungeon is kept largely confidential, as the mention of it's true name causes mental distress in those who hear of it. Little information has been made public about this dungeon, besides the fact that no successful expeditions have been reported publicly. Occasionally, a creature will escape from the arctic dungeon to the surrounding ice-caps, prompting a multi-national threat response.
Known survivors of this dungeon are often inflicted with terrible madness, and a coalition of defenders has confiscated all known magic and relics produced from within to reduce the number of would-be delvers. Approaching this dungeon is strictly prohibited under international law.
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The Wicker Cradle - Northern Great Forest
An eternally burning section of the Northern Great Forest. This sprawling dungeon is an eternal plague on the northern alliance, creating tons of ash and pollutants, and releasing deranged humanoid creatures into the surrounding lands.
Enchanted fire mars the surrounding landscape and the flaming ‘cultists’ abduct people for use in crematory rituals. Flaming dryads patrol the sacred groves of the cradle, guarding ashen altars full of heretical magic. A standing bounty has been issued for a ‘Grand Delve’ to potentially remove whatever lies at the heart of the Wicker Cradle.
Raids of the Wicker Cradle routinely prove fatal, and the challenges issued by the spirits within are often sadistic and cruel. To date, more than 30 recorded hostile aspect-related classes have arisen from the Cradle. Many of these aspects are still at large.
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The Garden of Names - Farland Mountains
High in the Farland Mountains, a lush paradise exists among tall sculpted walls. Hostile, magic-wielding Giants patrol these gardens, Guarding shrines in which the names of dead gods are sealed. Monsterous animals roam freely, drinking from endless fountains and eating verdant fruits enchanted by the high density of nature mana. This location is subject to many rumors, and it is likely the origination point for several legendary class sigils.
Delving parties to the Garden of Names are infrequent due to the nature of the occupying force.
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Hidden City of Cohu
A flying construction of ancient technology that is only ever sighted rarely for short periods. Dungeon delvers scramble to assemble teams whenever the city resurfaces to hunt and delve into the flying city to retrieve priceless relics for reverse engineering. Much of the magitech found in the dungeon is near-indecipherable and remains a mythic location for users of technomancy. Several databases and rare energy cells have been recovered, each revolutionizing the magitech industry.
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Labyrinth of the Mad Prophet - off the coast of Ataraxia
“Dagon” the legendary prophet foretold of a superweapon in ages long past. The prophet allegedly found this weapon and bound it within his flesh to seal it away from those who would use it to destroy their enemies. He fled to a remote island, building an enchanted maze to hide himself away inside. The spirits took notice of him and further aided his efforts, creating the first known man-made great dungeon.
Many delvers have noted the unique challenges of the Labyrinth. Faith-related classes are often unable to contact their chosen deity or pantheons within the walls of the dungeon, and the creatures within prey upon willpower. Delvers often become trapped due to the ever-shifting nature of the Labyrinth, leading to high fatality rates. Nevertheless, the dungeon is popular among powerful delvers, as relics that arise from the Labyrinth often fetch high prices given their odd abilities.
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The Empty Palace - in the far-off steppes of the wastelands
An enigmatic structure built by the spirits for unknown purposes. The dungeon follows no comprehendible architecture, and outputs many cascades of liquid mercury, tainting the land for miles. Delving teams often retreat due to the inhospitable conditions and irregular terrain. Many delvers have noted that delving in the Empty Palace is nearly impossible without some manner of traversal magic, as rooms within can range from an open, valley-like expanse full of razor-sharp edges, to a small tube filled with mercury that must be crawled through.
A unique oddity of the empty palace is that several delvers have reported receiving personal objects that they had lost years prior as dungeon loot.
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Atmos - The Cloud Castle.
This high-flying, upside-down structure is comprised entirely of cloud-like material. It is infested with what are commonly known as "fog-wraiths", beings made of mist and sinew that have many different forms, most of which possess compound eyes, insectoid legs, and wings. Atmos follows a set path over the ocean, deviating to landmasses occasionally during typhoon seasons. Atmos is the world’s leading source of lightning-related materials, sigils, and relics.
Its arrival over land is seen in some cultures as a harbinger of destruction but also hope, mirroring the verdant growth that happens after its torrential storms decimate entire ecosystems.
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The Infinite Orrery - Orbit
An impossibly large clockwork satellite orbits the planet. Getting to this celestial object takes either a coordinated working of incredibly powerful spatial magic or a legendary feat of flight through skill. The Infinite Orrery is somewhat unique among the rest of the list in that while monsters are incredibly rare inside the dungeon, it is one of the most time consuming and resource-draining dungeons known to have been explored. Infinite cosmic space exists within the dungeon, dotted by comets and planets of varying sizes. Most of these manufactured planets are devoid of anything, but some contain ruined cities of white rock. Once every few years someone goes in and finds a type of strange metal or a spatial relic of some sort.
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