D is for Devil's Playground

For years, stories have been told in Ramai homes and around the campfires of tribal encampments of dangerous creatures and places in the land of Meterra. Terrifying tales of the Evergloom, warnings of the deadly dragons and giants that inhabit the Forbidden Peaks, and stories of the deadly Aehr trolls have served as warnings to children for generations.

But in the past year, those tales have paled beside the horrors of the Devil's Playground.

In the Year of Our Lord 1174, three years after the Arrival, a lonely shepherd boy witnessed an explosion of earth and rubble in a field only a few miles from the capital city of Meterra, Everton. In the wake of that explosion, the terror-stricken shepherd watched as creatures from the darkest nightmares emerged from the ground below and began devouring his flock. Escaping, he warned a nearby group of knights of what he had seen. Without hesitating, Sir Holbert and the knights rode forth to confront whatever evil awaited them, while the shepherd was sent on to Everton to inform Sir Holbert's superiors.

Upon being informed, the Bishop sent a second group of knights, led by Sir Alcide, to the site. What they discovered there was nothing less than a manifestation of Hell itself. The survivors dubbed the cavernous tunnels below 'the Devil's Playground'.

This horrible place was filled with both nightmares and wonders; soon, word of this place spread, and those who were bold, or foolhardy, sought to make their names within by slaying the creatures within...and escaping with the fantastic treasures that were rumored to be there. But the Devil's Playground was not a mere labyrinth full of monsters...

The Devil's Playground proved true to its name very quickly, for in its depths even the rules of nature seemed to be altered to suit its inhabitants. Corridors and passages would appear different depending on which direction one was walking. A passageway that climbed upward for a hundred feet would continue to climb even when retracing one's steps. Corridors would curve in one direction or another, but observers who turned around saw a long, straight hallway. Exploring the ruins became more a matter of survival than anything else, as the underground environment itself seemed to be against the Meterran adventurers. The thick air seemed to resist or reject the light of torches and lanterns. Their movements felt sluggish, and exhaustion would quickly set in after only an hour underground.

Ancient doors would be swollen in their frames, making them difficult to open...then they would close as easily as the gates of the city. Sometimes, they would close of their own volition, even if they were spiked open. On at least one occasion a party of adventurers were surprised by a patrol of hobgoblins. The sole survivor of that group said that the hobgoblins had surprised them because as the party passed a door they could not open despite their best efforts, the hobgoblins on the other side burst through it with no difficulties at all and caught the adventurers off guard.

Finally, another group of adventurers, badly beaten in their attempts to explore, noted that when their torches went out during the battle, their opponents had no difficulty in seeing them, even though those enemies were human themselves! Other reports have confirmed this, and after much consultation and prayer, the Church has determined that Chaos is very strong in the Devil's Playground, and servants of the light must be very cautious in their endeavors, because the dungeon itself is against them.

One of the common features in the Devil's Playground are tapestries and mosaics of historical battles. At least half of these battle depictions have been identified as world events from the European's history (the battles of Thermopylae, Hastings, Salamis, etc.) prior to the 13th century. However, one of these tapestries depicted a battle fought by the current king of Meterra shortly before his coronation, the famous Battle of the Dragon in 1172, where the king, along with his companions defeated the great fire dragon of the Byss Volcano. Despite the recency of the battle, the tapestry appears to be hundreds of years old. Scholars have speculated that the Devil's Playground exists in a different form of time, though even the most learned scholars of magic are at a loss to explain how such a thing is possible.

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Yes, this is a classic 'megadungeon' in the old-school role-playing sense. I wanted to do something different from the usual 'crazy wizard built a castle that fell apart and has a dungeon under it'. Further, I wanted to explain the strange rules of old-school D&D, which include the weird things described above: doors slamming shut but opening easily for enemies, monsters that can see clearly despite a lack of light, low radii for light sources, and frequent rest stops. It was often stated in old-school D&D that the Dungeon Master was opposed to the players, rather than being a neutral referee. It's an unfair advantage, but it's how early games were often played. The DM would still play fair, but he was playing with house money.

For those who are interested in learning more about the Devil's Playground and what sorts of things can be found therein, I wrote a book about it. It's an anthology of linked short stories that take place in this nasty place, where knights, wizards and holy men find themselves in all sorts of strange predicaments. Some of them even make it out alive. But not all.

The Devil's Playground is a sequel to Arrival, and can be found at an Amazon website near you. It's available in e-book and paperback formats. The cover art for both books is by Alex Lechev, who can be found on Fiverr under the alias 'TheGreyGhost'. And yes, the scene on the cover does take place underground. How? You'll have to read it to find out, because I ain't telling.