I removed Remy's tag and changed the header to "WIP," as this isn't quite ready for submission. I will start a new thread when it is.

@Don Anderson Jr., I'm not 100% sure I was following what you were referring to with the "darkened section." If you meant the brown walls, then yes, that was meant to be the caves beneath the mountain. Here's what it looks like with the mountain in place. Everything on this map is meant to be roughly at the same level, with those caves going vertically into the mountain.

But if by "darker" you meant the shaded areas like the spots circled on the map, that was meant to reflect elevation changes descending into lower areas. I may have to do something to make that more subtle.

Working on the dunes, too. I wanted sharpish ridge lines like the dunes of the Sahara Desert, rather than more slopy hills like dunes at a beach, but I still need to extend it a bit so there aren't flat parts on top, and maybe soften the ridge lines a little if a can.

The dark brown is a mountain hillside that the caverns are cut into. That hill can be hidden or revealed with a layer. I forgot to post an image showing the mountain revealed but I will do that tomorrow.

The darker gray is meant to show elevation changes going down but they are more pronounced than I was expecting. They are Solid 10 transparencies but when I added a transparency effect, they turned almost black. Maybe I will try as solid black and then add a transparency effect where I will have more control over it darkening.

Below

No toggles for this level.

Description

Sakherma Ruins

Below

1.     Temple Stairs Entrance: Here, the stairs from the temple ruins above descend to human-created chambers. The northern staircase is blocked by sand, but a glass wall keeps the sand from filling the chamber below. The southern staircase is relatively unobstructed.

2.    Monks’ Cells: These three chambers appear to once have been home to the monks who maintained the original temple. Game Masters: At the Game Master’s discretion, one or more of these rooms may be occupied by the dragon’s humanoid allies – kobolds, dragonborn, or perhaps sorcerers with a draconic bloodline.

3.    Treasure Display: This room is practically cluttered with statues and tapestries. Game Masters: Here the dragon has created a veritable museum showing off its favorite treasures, including a display of magical armaments.

4.    Pond Entrance: At the base of the pond, a mighty glass wall keeps the pond’s water from flooding into the tunnels. Game Masters: The dragon can magically pass through the glass without harming it to bathe in the pond, or for another escape route to the outside surface.

5.    Dunes Entrance: A great glass wall keeps the sand dunes from pouring into the caverns. Game Masters: The dragon can pass through the glass without harming it in order to reach the surface of the desert, or to devoir travelers camping there.

6.    Tunnel Entrance: This tunnel connects the upper and lower caverns.

7.    Main Lair: It is readily apparent, if visitors haven’t already figured it out, that this is a dragon’s lair. Piles of coins, particularly copper ones, form its bed.

8.    Egg Nest: A blue dragon’s egg lies on top of a pile of coins infused with the dragon’s magic to keep the egg warm when the dragon is away.

9.    Ritual Chamber & Treasures: Here the dragon keeps most of its magical treasures. The dragon may also shift into human form to conduct arcane rituals from time to time.

10. Wyrmling Lair: The bedroom for the dragon’s “teenage” child.

This is the top level map.

Toggles: "Roof" layer to show or hide the mountain covering the interior part of the map.

Description

Sakherma Ruins

At the base of the mountains that is the source of the mighty Eknapa River, an ancient people made their home alongside a creek that fed into the river. What they called themselves is no longer known, but their ruined temple has become known to modern people as the Sakherma Ruins.

These ruins are said to be haunted, and often fatal to those foolish to camp near it. Many groups of travelers have vanished utterly overnight, leaving puddles of blood, occasionally, but no bones nor gear nor even a single copper coin.

Game Masters: Unbeknownst to travelers, a great blue dragon has created a lair beneath the ruins. 

1.     Sakherma Creek: The water from the creek that ultimately feeds into the Eknapata River is clear, cold, and refreshing.

2.    Ruins of the Sakherma Temple: The ruined temple includes an outer courtyard where encroaching sand dunes have toppled many of the temple’s pillars. It also includes an interior temple half submerged in the mountainside. The walls of the interior temple are also crumbling and if it ever had a constructed roof, it’s long gone. A once-hidden secret door behind a pedestal where a statue once stood now plainly reveals the passageway behind it. A second passageway just south of the hidden door has opened in the crumbling walls, as has a much larger one in the northeast corner. 

3.    Great Obelisk: The obelisk rises forty feet above the desert sands, perhaps the only part of the temple that seems untouched from the day it was created.

4.    Sandy Dunes: A crescent-shaped hollow in the mountain on its northeastern side provides a comfortable camping area sheltered from the wind. Game Masters: This is the blue dragon’s main entrance; it is capable of burrowing through from the caverns below to devoir travelers as they sleep, or back down through the sands when it returns home.

5.    Hidden Cave Entrance: In the southeastern edge of the mountain, a small cave leads to a tunnel into the mountain.

6.    Temple Interior: A great statue is all that remains of a once-ornate hidden shrine.

7.    Hidden Tomb: The lid has been removed from the sarcophagus by scavenging thieves, but the shrouded body within remains untouched and seemingly well preserved. Game Masters: If the body or its sarcophagus is touched, the body will rise as a mummy to attack the intruders. The following turn, six animated skeletons will claw their way out of the sand to attack.

8.    Glass Wall: A glass wall blocks access from the cavern to the tunnels beyond. Game Masters: The wall was crafted by the dragon using its electrical energy, and because it created the glass, it can magically pass through it without damaging it. 

9.    Sakherma Pond: The pond that feeds into the Sakherma Creek extends beneath the mountain, creating a pool of fresh water accessible within the caverns.

10. Human Camp: The remains of a human encampment are found in a chamber too small for a large creature to enter. The bodily remains suggest that the occupant was old when he died and did not die violently. Game Masters: It’s unclear if the resident here was hiding from the dragon or friends with it. At any rate, it’s clear the occupant wasn’t eaten by the dragon.

11.  Stairs Down: The stairs on the northern side are clogged with sand and are unpassable. The southern staircase is open.

12. Tunnels Down: A great, wide tunnel winds down from the upper caverns to the lower caverns.

Hi Monsen,

At your convenience, I have a pair of maps to submit. This is for the Sakherma Ruins, which is located in Doriant - Gold Coast - Eknapata Desert in the area boxed here:

I will post the FCW files as follow-ups in this thread.

Also, fellow mappers: I have plans to map the big city of Khemtufu and the Temple of Fah, but feel free to dive in anywhere else in the Eknapata Desert if you wish.