Posted March 03, 2023 by CadejoNegro
#Dungeon23
The Rat Warren is home to a well-organized band of thieves and cutthroats. The Inescapable Pit of Shadows is filled with the worst of the Empire's criminals, and the meanest, vilest, and most filthy of them joined together to form the Rats. The King Rat is the visible head of the organization and always walks around masked. What outsiders do not know is that each of the Rats takes their turn as King Rat for the week, and all the crucial decisions are made collectively, if loudly and occasionally bloodily.
The Warren is divided into two parts. The entrance area is unusually dark, as the Rats regularly scrape off the phosphorescent fungus that grows throughout the dungeon. Since torches are impossible to keep from being devoured by the pit beetles, and oil is extremely scarce, this makes the area difficult for the uninitiated to navigate. Additionally, it is filled with traps.
There is a large circular room in the center with one exit. This room is always guarded. The mechanism in the center causes the entire room to rotate. The mechanism's lever must be held in position, or the door always returns to one of the two openings on the entrance side. Players have difficulties moving and attacking while the room spins, whereas the guards do not.
Rumors
Image of the rat in the Public Domain: Rare Book Division, The New York Public Library. (1809). Zoologie. Mammifères. 1. Rat d'Alexandrie; 2. Echimis d'Égypte; 3. Hérisson oreillard. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e0-bd9f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
I used the wonderful online One Page Dungeon generator by watabou to inspire the design.