General Dungeon Features

Eroded by the wind. Levitating islands. Faint odor of cooked food and dried beer. Brisk and cold.

Monster Encounter Table

Fast giant hawks. Religious bounty hunters. Griffons. Astral Knights chasing a cosmic villain. Air Elementals protecting the sky.

Dungeon Rooms

MAGICAL WINDMILL

Medium built room. Huge copper turbine with a bound AIR ELEMENTAL inside. Noise-amplifying crystals. Bear trap. Shattered goat and horse bones.

Loot: 1D100 feet of climbing rope.

PORTAL TO the PLANE OF COLD

Small outdoor space. White runic portal spewing clouds and smoke floating on a flying platform. Advice-whispering wind. Tattered banners with a heraldic griffin. Faraway hawk scream.

Denizens: 1 playful AIR ELEMENTAL.

THIN TALL SPIRE

Small outdoor space. Gorgeous panorama. Vertigo inducing. Hardy mountain tree. Tattered banners with a heraldic griffin. Supernatural wind with no particular direction.

Loot: 1D4 griffon eggs. A porcelain shield.

NARROW CLIFFSIDE PATH

Small outdoor space. Falling pebbles. Hard to run. Broken bones of fallen climbers. Higher outcrop overseeing the area. Bashed-in astral knight helmet.

Denizens: An adventurous ASTRAL KNIGHT and its retinue of 1D10 SOLDIERS.

Loot: 1 shiny bronze ring worth a purse of silver coins tucked in a wall crack near the ceiling.

WINDSWEPT ROPE BRIDGE

Large outdoor space. Across a deadly 200’ chasm. Can only support 2. Sparrow nests in cracks. New barrel of ale. Everything is scattered as if a whirlwind went through the space.

Denizens: A lost ASTRAL KNIGHT and its retinue of 1D10 SOLDIERS.

Loot: 1D4 hidden scepters.

HIGHEST PEAK

Small outdoor space. Above clouds. Snow covered. Hardy mountain tree. Big bird nest. Bounty notice.

Loot: A porcelain breastplate._

The generated dungeon features implie an old stone structure recently inhabited by humanoids. The plural levitating islands tell me I’ll need to group the rooms in separate island blocks and find ways to link them.

Looking at the encounter table, I notice it has two types of beasts, two types of humanoids, and one magical creature. It feels natural to group the bounty hunters and knights together as a faction. The air elementals would make a good rival faction, as they must be protecting the sky from something. While the hawks and griffons could be mounts or just roaming creatures. There’s a hint of a plot developing.

Looking at the rooms, I could imagine “entering” through the cliffside path, connecting to the highest peak and the rope bridge. It seems perfect as an introduction: the danger (falling) is clearly telegraphed and there are NPCs to drag the players in the dungeon’s conflict. The rope bridge could connect to the only other man-made room of the dungeon: the windmill, on a floating island, which could be the knights’ base. I’m left with the elemental portal and the thin spire. I want the elemental portal to be the base of the elementals, so I don’t want it adjacent to the windmill. The spire could be on the same island however, with the windmill hanging from it. By placing the portal on a separate flying island and making it accessible by gliding from either the highest peak or the spire, I have created a nice loop and the architecture is complete! Let’s call this place Wintermill. The challenge of describing this dungeon is that most of it is outdoors, so nearly all visible at once, but it will make for a great exploration puzzle.

Cunegund is a questing knight from the dream-fortress of St-Nugibert. There are 8 squires in total in the dungeon, including Belfrey. Squires that are not currently with Cunegund are camping with Rottrad in the Windmill (#5).

• Disposition: Authoritative and high as a kite.
• Wants: Establish a base of operation in the Windmill (#5) to close the portal (#6) and restore planar integrity. Obtain mountain poppy.
• Has: Authority over the squires and Rottrad. Access to the Dream-Fortress.

Companion and fellow questing knight to Cunegund. They are the survivors of a previous expedition that saw two fellow knights fall to their death.

• Disposition: Tired and over this mission. These two only care about each other now that Synard and Marion are dead.
• Wants: Synard’s breastplate (#3) and Marion’s banner (#6). A plausible, honorable excuse to planeshift back home.
• Has: Authority over the squires and Cunegund. Access to the Dream-Fortress.

Will collaborate with you or the knights but sabotage either in the end to claim the bounty alone. Rambles about higher states of conscience and not needing money.

• Disposition: Too cool for school
• Wants: The mountain lotus bounty. To transcend of course.
• Has: 3 potions of Featherfall. 1 fake potion of Featherfall (save or sleep 24h). Pitons and grappling hook.

There are 2 hawks in total. They can be observed using the drafts from the portal (#6) to gain altitude during the day. If one were to latch to them as they swoop to attack, they would certainly end up being dragged above the portal. At night they nest atop the snowy peak (#3).

• Disposition: Territorial and aggressive.
• Wants: Food.
• Has: The ability to fly.

Normally nests within the mill (#5) but the knights have taken over. Understands common.

• Disposition: Proud and frustrated.
• Wants: Its egg, which it dropped on a tree (#4) while evacuating the mill, and for the knights to leave.
• Has: The ability to fly you to the portal (#6).

Has at least 4HD and normally hangs by the portal (#6). Always heralded by cold winter winds. Loves to make people fall.

• Disposition: Bored and longing.
• Wants: To find its friend (trapped in #5) and to bring it back to the Plane of Cold (#6).
• Has: The ability to catch you mid fall.

You can see the cliff going up further above to a snowy cloud-covered peak (#3), as well as a long rope bridge (#2) connecting the small plateau to a floating rock spire (#4) with a strange metal windmill (#5) on its side.

On the rope bridge, you observe a human struggling to carry a barrel across.

At your feet, the bones and cracked helmet of a soldier who obviously fell weeks ago from higher above.

If you reach the plateau, you can also see another floating island (#6) spewing clouds. It is too far to jump to, but it may be possible from higher up, like from the peak above or the floating spire.

You risk falling if you go up the path because of the frequent pebbles falling down from above. Every 10 minutes, there is a 1 in 6 chance the barrel on the bridge falls.

Taking time to search the space will reveal that the cracked helmet is made of porcelain, and that a shiny object is stuck between two rocks 90’ above the ground (a bronze ring worth a purse of silver).

The soldiers are Cunegund the astral knight and her 7 soldiers retinue. Their mission is to close the elemental portal on the cloudy island, but they first want to set up a base of operation in the safety of the mill (#5). They have 4 barrels of food and ale that they are in the middle of ferrying across the rope bridge (#2). They just planeshifted from their dream fortress and are willing to transport you there if you help them close the portal.

You can see the vast highland plateau where you came from 200’ below and, in the middle of the bridge, Belfrey the squire is struggling to move a big barrel across to Rottrad the astral knight, who beckons him. Every 10 minutes, there is a 1 in 6 chance that Belfrey or his barrel falls. He is otherwise paralyzed by fear.

You risk collapsing the bridge if you are not careful as it can only support the weight of two people (or one person and a barrel!). Any of the soldiers on the outcrop will tell you that as soon as you attempt to go on it. That is why nobody is helping Belfrey. The barrel contains ale.

Taking time to search the space will reveal that one of the pegs anchoring the bridge to the cliff is in fact a weathered scepter marked as belonging to the wizard Bardinal (magical, like a mace but worth a bag of gold). Removing it will make the bridge collapse and the spire drift away.

Belfrey and Rottrad are trying to set up a base in the shelter of the windmill. They are companions of Cunegund the astral knight but want to abandon this annoying mission. Rottrad has the key to the mill.

You can see a giant bird nest in the tree as well as a small stone landmark in the middle. If you look down, Wintermill Climb (#1) is hidden under the clouds, but the Floating Spire (#4) is clearly visible 90’ away. 60’ away from both the spire and you at a lower altitude, you observe a vortex of clouds. This is the Winter Portal (#6), another floating island.

Taking time to search the space will reveal a bounty notice nailed on the landmark. This notice offers a treasure’s worth of mountain poppy to whoever closes the portal and brings the notice back to the highland clans. The notice will be stolen if Springsun the bounty hunter ever comes across it. A recent engraving on the landmark reads “RIP Synard”. A porcelain breastplate similar to those worn by Cunegund and Rottrad is laid beside it.

The Giant Bird Nest is home to the two Giant Hawks that roam the dungeon. They only nest at night. You could try to ride them or pluck them to fashion gliders to reach the Winter Portal if you want.

You can see another floating rock 60’ away spewing clouds upwards in a whirl pattern. This is the Winter Portal (#6). The clouds cling to the Snow-Covered Peak (#3). You would have a better view if you climbed to the top of the spire. However, you must save against vertigo to do so, as the land is more than 200’ below you.

If you climb to the top of the spire, you have a gorgeous view of the land and you’ll notice the billowing tattered banner</ins of the knights you’ve met. It seems that if you had a way to glide, you could reach the Winter Portal (#6) from here.

Taking time to search the space will reveal 1 griffon egg in the tree branches and a porcelain shield with the knights’ heraldry near the banner. You notice that the winds are very unnatural, oscillating from the windmill to the portal back and forth.

Inside, you can see most of the space is occupied by a huge spinning copper turbine and 3 wall-mounted vibrating crystals. The floor is littered with shattered cattle bones left over by a griffon that has been coming through the window to nest. A clever person could craft kites out of the windmills’s wings.

Taking time to search the space will reveal a long 80’ rope coiled by the door. It will also reveal that the turbine is actually spinning by itself and that the spinning wings of the windmill outside is actually some sort of propeller. Finally, examining the crystals reveals the whispers of a trapped air elemental powering the machine. It is trying to talk to you.

The trapped air elemental was bound here by Bardinal, the wizard who built the mill, and it wants to be free. It can be freed by shattering the crystals with blunt weapons or loud noises. Freeing the elemental will lead the spire to crash 200’ below after 1 turn, giving just enough time for the characters to attempt to jump on and cling to Rope Bridge (#2). The elemental could be convinced to steer the mill to dock the spire to the Winter Portal (#6) in exchange for its freedom.

The mill’s intended purpose was to serve as the base of Bardinal the Wizard’s roaming tower. He was however defenestrated by the elemental in a last act of defiance before it was bound to the turbine. The rest of the tower was thus never be built on The Spire (#4). If the mill is untethered from the cliff by the rope bridge and the elemental is still bound, the spire will start flying away. Sails would need to be installed on the spire to be able to steer it.

You can see the tattered banner of the knights planted deep into the edge of the mote. It was left there by Marion the knight after she glided from the top of the The Spire (#4) to the portal, and before she was knocked over the edge by a strong gust of wind.

By taking time to search the space, you’ll start hearing a whisper in the wind telling you to jump. It is the voice of an air elemental guarding the portal. If you do jump, it will laugh, catch you and bring you back up. You’ll also deduce that the heavy runestones can be lifted and thrown out to close the portal. If you do so, the air elemental will become hostile. There are 10 runestones. Removing one diminishes the portal and lowers the island by 20’ until it reaches the ground 200’ feet below and closes.

The guardian elemental’s mission is to keep the portal open until its friend can go back home. It frequently patrols the valley in search of it, unaware that it is trapped in the windmill (#5) nearby. When it does so, it drags the winter winds down through the highlands, unwittingly bringing hardship to the pastoral clans that live there. If the trapped elemental is freed, they both escape back to the Plane of Cold and the winter portal crashes down.