Thread by @hexcrawl

The Tower of the High Clerist, from DL8 Dragons of War, is a HUGE wedded directly to a mass combat scenario.

This is a major turning point in the War of the Lance and the #Dragonlance Saga adventures.

Let's break it down.

We're continuing our Let's Read of #Dragonlance.

You can find the start of the Let's Read over here if you'd like to begin at the beginning.

We are here. The advance of the dragonarmies is shown here by the orange arrows: They have swept over western Solamnia, but their advance through the Vingaard Mountains has been brought to a halt by the fortress of Thelgaard.

You have to massage the text a bit here to get the full picture, but my understanding is that:

- The blue dragonarmies (led by Kitiara, aka the Dark Lady) rapidly swept over western Solamnia, but were stopped by the citadel of Solanthus.

- While the Knights rallied their defenses, an attack wing from the red dragonarmy in conquered Abanasynia crossed the channel, outflanked the knights, and sacked Solanthus.

- The dragonarmy advance, however, was stopped again by Thelgaard where the knights now hold the pass.

- The blue dragonarmy, however, has sent the 5th and 6th Dragon Flights north to punch through the weakly defended Tower of the High Clerist, sack Palanthus beyond, and end-run Thelgaard.

If the Tower falls, Solamnia falls, and all of western Ansalon will lie open to the dragonarmies.

This is the Tower.

Once known a Dragondeath, it was built during the Age of Dreams within a narrow cleft of the mountains, its walls flush with sheer cliffs to either side.

On the east side we have the Knights Spur, a mini-keep which -- along with the walls and courtyards -- is the only part of the Tower currently occupied.

The main Tower is sealed and entrance is forbidden because (pick one):

- The Knights consider it a holy site.
- We couldn't justify exploring a bunch of tableau ruins from the Calamity if people were actually using the place.

(Tableau ruins are the dungeons where everyone has politely died sitting down or with their skeletons pointing enigmatically at secret lore so that the PCs can explore history as if it were a diorama at a museum / puzzle room. They crop up all the time in D&D.)

(Super excited about that typo I just noticed in the first tweet of today's thread. Huge DUNGEON wedded to a mass combat scenario in case you were wondering.)

The Tower is large enough that not every chamber is uniquely keyed.

N = Officers' Quarters
T = Temple
C = Corridor (with tapestries)
AB = floor trap

Here's the dragontrap we discussed earlier: A dragon orb in Area 35 draws dragons into the Tower.

It's easy for them to enter, but the angled walls make it more difficult for them to pull out or turn around. When their head enters Area 32C, portcullises at 31 and 32A slam shut.

With the dragon now trapped, knights can swarm from the sides and butcher it.

Really cool concept. Very big reward for PCs who puzzle it out (in the form of absolute epic awesomeness).

The attention to detail on the map is exceptional, with side views and other details clarifying the already beautifully isomorphic map.

The cartography here is by David Sutherland III.

If you've watched my Let's Read 1974 D&D videos, you may recognize Sutherland's name from his early work at TSR, including the revised cover of the original White Box edition of D&D.

Sutherland and D&D had both come a long way in 10 years.

Probably Sutherland's most famous pieces is A Paladin in Hell.

He also apparently did the original, uncredited Castle Ravenloft maps (which are sometimes erroneously credited to Diesel, including by me earlier in this thread).

Sutherland worked for TSR, including as an art director, until 1997.

When Wizards of the Coast bought the company, however, Sutherland was not rehired.

He died in poverty 8 years later from liver disease.

But I digress.

The Tower itself narrows as it rises, eventually topping out at Level 16.

This pinnacle is also one of the possible locations of the Goal Artifacts. (Which, if you recall, are randomly distributed.)