Skullpit, the City of Bones

Shattered World

This is part of my ongoing series on the Shattered World setting, which contains pieces you can drop into your own game. It’s based on the Gamer Assembly‘s Shattered Seas meta-setting.

This post introduces an independent island, not yet claimed by any of the three empires.

Skullpit, the City of Bones

Far off the coast of Iziz lies a dark island, still unclaimed by either the Empire of Shadow or the nearby Silver Shields. At the center of this island, Skarr, lies a deep, dark crater, which itself houses the ruins of an ancient city, now known only as Skullpit. Twisted stone buildings claw at the air, and besides the thousands of bones scattered over the twisting streets, deep shafts fall into the depths of the earth.

Those foolish enough to make land on Skarr—and get past the thorn-choked underbrush to reach the city—have reported movement within its long-dead precicnts. Skeletons now shuffle along the streets of Skullpit. Some whisper that a lich has taken up residence here, creating a skeleton army. But for what purpose?

The Temple of the Withered Hand

This square marble temple takes up nearly an entire city block. Thin obelisks rise from its crumbling outer wall, while inside its courtyard stand several pagodas and open-air sacrificial pits. At the center of the complex stands the temple proper: a mass of marble in weird spherical shapes, like a melted soap sculpture of an elder god.

But this is only the top of the building. Once inside the creature-infested building, one will notice the stairs descending to several levels. Each level consists of a circular sacrificial chamber, with doors leading to a circular hallway that leads onto cramped antechambers (some of which still contain useful spell components).

Next Post Previous Post