Subscribe
These are some of the original art pieces from the Temple of Demogorgon maps – ‘The Sea Cave’ & ‘The Inner Sanctum’. You can download these from my Gallery website here:
Temple Art
Below is a contact sheet of all the art pieces:
City of The Dead: Calleva Attrebatum
Lonely nights researching old tomes in Winchester library led me to a forgotten road outside the small hamlet of Silchester. Was this the old Roman road that led to Calleva Atrebatum.
Although the day was a morbid grey and threatened rain at every step, I soon stood at an impenetrable crumbling cliff face. No wait, these were no natural formation, these had to be the work of some unknown architect whose works had now been beaten by countless seasons. These were, these had to be, the walls to the City of The Dead.
I followed the walls for awhile but could not find any egress, then all of a sudden I happened upon a small clearing. The spot struck me as very peculiar as it was shaped like an arena or amphitheatre and one could only guess at its function. The day was coming to a close as the weak daylight was fading fast. I decided that I would explore more the following day and retreated swiftly to a local inn. However, search as I might I could not again find the road to Calleva Attrebatum; the City of the Dead it seems once again faded into memory…………..
Temple of Demogorgon – The Maps
The two maps that make up the ‘Temple of Demogorgon’ (‘The Sea Cave’ & ‘Inner Sanctum’) are available from my Gallery website;
or click the links below:
The Sea Cave
The Inner Sanctum
I will probably be doing more Demogorgon maps and art, and may even add a few more levels to this set……..as always I will keep you posted.
**These maps are for personal use only**
Coming Soon……..
Hi folks…
Site is being upgraded and what-not so sorry for the clash of styles, fonts, themes etc….
I am re-emphasising my blog site away from just fantasy mapping to other areas that I am interested in……however, when this site is back up and running I will be posting my Call of Cthulhu maps up in all their Hi-res glory for you to download and play on….free to everyone cause that’s the type of chap I am….
Hope to see you soon……
Cisticola
Call of Cthulhu – The House & The Church
Two surreal maps from ‘The Haunting’:
The first (above & below) is the exterior view of the old Corbitt residence. This is viewed as the players arrive on the scene in the late evening/morning sunshine (what could be less alarming). However, as they approach the house and follow the alley to the front door the scene takes on a more menacing feel.
The second map (below) is the ruins of ‘The Church of Contemplation’ a place of peaceful solitude?
Temple of Demogorgon (The Sea Cave)
Washed into the relative safety of a sea cave, after their small ship capsized in a sudden storm, the small band of adventurers take stock of the sitiuation as the early morning light filters through the small cave entrance. They have ended up on a small outcrop of rock that juts out into the foaming water from the sheer walls of the cave. Upon the rock sits an ornate tentacled plate holding several rotting fish. Then a monstrous sight catches their eyes, and their breath, as if emerging from the sea a gigantic head of a gorgon can be seen in the gloom at the back of the sea cave, its mouth huge and wide and swallowing the sea that thunders down its throat. A sudden realisation dawns on them, there seems to be no other way off the rock except back into the foaming sea……….
Temple of Demogorgon (The Inner Sanctum)
‘With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flyes: At length a universal hubbub wilde Of stunning sounds and voices all confus’d Born through the hollow dark assaults his eare With loudest vehemence: thither he plyes, Undaunted to meet there what ever power Or Spirit of the nethermost Abyss Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask Which way the neerest coast of darkness lyes Bordering on light; when strait behold the Throne Of CHAOS, and his dark Pavilion spread Wide on the wasteful Deep; with him Enthron’d Sat Sable-vested Night, eldest of things, The consort of his Reign; and by them stood ORCUS and ADES, and the dreaded name Of DEMOGORGON; Rumor next and Chance, And Tumult and Confusion all imbroild, And Discord with a thousand various mouths’.
‘Paradise Lost’
….cool excerpt from ‘Paradise Lost’ there…..read it out loud, brings shivers to your neck. Remember, do not say the ‘D’ word, he is a figure from before time, and occurs in many religions, to say his name (it is said) will bring death and destruction, you don’t want him to hear you say his name and stir him in the deep.
Anyway this is the second map, of a 2-set map pack, and depicts the inner sanctum of the temple. The ‘Dreadforge’ glows earilly in the centre of the temple, overlooked by a menacing statue of Demogorgon.
Anyone exploring the temple, has to enter down the mouth of Demogorgon and is spat out through a huge pipe. They have to be quick to get out before they are sucked under, as the water drains down into the bowls of the earth.
Temple of Demogorgon (Re-visited?)
His name causes mighty heroes to tremble in fear and his cult has lurked in the dismal reaches of the world for countless ages. His followers are savage and feral, his worshippers vile and wretched. His name is Demogorgon, and his temples are nightmare realms haunted by primeval forces from a time when the world was young and savage…….This is one of the lost temples built to honour the dark princes name……..
A new map, revisiting an old theme of mine….namely, I am reworking one of my older maps, giving it a good-old face-lift. I am going to keep the basic layout the same, as I have always liked the cool geometry, but it is going to be a larger scale map with a watery theme…..I will update you more on its progress in the next blog…..
The picture above depicts the entrance to the temple, through a stone-carved head of Demogorgon, the mouth of which is devouring the water within the hidden sea cave.
Below is one of my reworked art pieces…..the ‘Dread Forge’……..a vast improvement on the original….but that’s progress as they say….
Call of Cthulhu – ‘The Haunting’
A new project for me, and an area of the fantasy/horror world which has been neglected as far as gaming maps are concerned.
“The Haunting” is at first a haunted house adventure. Set in 1920s Boston, a landlord asks the characters to investigate a property he owns that has a tragic history. It requires a little investigation prior to the player investigators stepping over its threshold, and like any Call of Cthulhu scenario, to be forewarned is to be forearmed, or at least have an inkling of what they might find. In fact it focuses as much on the investigation as it does on the exploration of the house. Once inside the Keeper (or GM) is given opportunity to play up an eerie incidence or two, even stage a bruising encounter with a bed. The climax of the scenario, which takes place in the cellar can degenerate into a very bloody affair, and is the reason that “The Haunting” has a well deserved reputation as a “party killer.”
This little adventure is quite a challenge for me, as it requires not only the production of maps but also the creation of ‘props’, the staple ingredient of any CoC game. The first thing I had to determine was how I was going to capture the mood of Lovecraft’s world, so I opted for dark interiors, striking lighting and to get the feeling of claustrophobia I made all the layouts of the interior maps square and harshly cropped these to the walls. This I hope would focus the players on the dark rooms and give it a dark and sinister feel, even when there is nothing to fear.
The props also had to capture the mood, often mundane objects but with a sinister twist……
The Ice River
……..was gonna call it ‘Snowy River’,but is that not a Australian soap-opera?…or am I thinking of ‘The Man from Snowy River’, which would make that a real place in Australia?
However, before completely going off on a tangent, this is a different style of mapping than I normally do. This particular map was done as an experiment, hand drawn in Biro and finished in Gimp, and for a map that is not particularly complex, it was surprising how long it takes to put each element together (i.e. colour and texture). The trees by-the-way, are created as separate objects and imported into the map in Gimp.
So, was it worth it?
Yes it was, for one thing I felt I had more creative control in the process, rather than using and adapting pre-made objects and textures, I was able to produce a map with a more natural feel. Almost a retro-style of map more suited to the pages of Dungeon magazine. I think the quick illustrative style works very well, I could have drawn this map with a lot more detail but that would have made the whole process much longer and you may have lost the’appeal’ of a simple mapping style.
What’s next?
A city map. That was my main aim for trying out hand drawn maps, to once-and-for-all capture the essence of a fantasy city. The packed in houses, built one on top of the other, with twisting alleys and streets. I think this style of mapping would be well suited to this project.
Here is a link to a few variations posted on the Dundjinni forums: The Ice River
Also:
