Dungeon23 – Week 20

20 weeks! The time is flowing by, and somehow I’m keeping up with the Dungeon23 expectation. Some rooms are drawn very late in the evening, but so far I’ve managed to keep up the momentum.

This layer continues to be a develop into a work space for an international counter-terrorism group. This week we’re building the crucial living and workspaces for the ‘Magnus Ultores’, many of which are still around with nothing better to do than give the adventurers a hard time.

The FreeThinkers and the Nine Corruptions

History (that is to say, real History) is full of names and labels that started out as insults or belittling phrases that eventually became commonly used by the insulted peoples. Either accepting of the negativity or diminishing the power of the abuse by owning the word, people often take the sting of terms designed to cause harm.

So the Nine Corruptions took their name from the slanderous label the Ultores chose for them. This layer of the facility was not made solely to locate and detain members of the international cabal of freedom fighters, but to design the propaganda and generate PR spin that would villainise the terrorist efforts. Though each of the groups had their own identity and objectives, the military might of Magnus Ultores grouped them into one, evil image.

Of the nine groups committing acts of physical, mental, psychological and cyber violence, one was given special mention – the FreeThinkers. This group was not the largest of the terrorist groups, or the most aggressive, but they were the most outspoken.

The FreeThinkers devised a multitude of methods to deliver their message of freedom from tyranny to the masses. From simple pamphlets scattered in public places, to hijacking of news broadcasts, this group were focused on impressing their message on people on a regular basis.

The FreeThinkers tried to show the populous how corrupt, insidious, monstrous the totalitarian governments of this world really were. Telling the stories of terrible acts committed by the armies and special agents of world leaders, and instructed everyone how to end the world tyranny.

When the Magnus Ultores successfully brought down each of the Nine Corruptions, special care was taken with the last of the FreeThinkers. The remnants of the group – the ones that had not been killed on the spot or tortured to death, were publicly executed. It did not matter that these people were not the ring leaders; they were just what remained from the assault on their last hideout. An example was made of them regardless.

The event was broadcast to the world, to demonstrate how the ‘just and virtuous’ governments of the world (who were definitely not military dictatorships) had triumphed against the ‘evil and immoral’ terrorists (who had definitely not been advocating for freedom and democracy).

Week 20 – 140 Rooms Complete

Rooms 14-20 of Layer 5 look like this:

134. Briefing hall
– lines of benches facing a lecture desk and screens
– 1d4 + 1 Ultores sit here, reading archive cases and playing cards. If the adventurers are unaccompanied, they raise the alarm and go for their weapons. They will not fire unless attacked, but it is their intention to detain and ‘assess’ any outsiders.

135. Conference Room
– screens once connected to other branches of the Ultores
– An Ultores Major discusses strategy with subordinates to take control of Layer 4.

136. Lockers
– various belongings of Ultores soldiers, left in disarray
– 25% chance that 2 Ultores will be checking their lockers

137. Communal bathroom
– Showers, mostly still working
– 50% chance that 1 Ultores is present when the group arrives

138. Barracks
– Triple-tier bunk beds, storage chests
– 1d6+2 Ultores soldiers rest here. They are all unarmed, and will flee towards the armoury of danger arises.

139. Common Room
– canteen and recreation room for the soldiers
– 2d4 Ultores Rest here, unarmed. They flee to the armourer if attacked, alerting other Ultores and droids as they go.

140. Kitchen
– ‘Chef’ is a Guard Droid is modified to work all the equipment in this kitchen, and is arguably more deadly thanks to its additional limbs and kitchen implements around the room

In Summary

On every floor, I have ended up adding bedrooms and restroom spaces for the people that live/lived in the facility. Now that that is over for this layer, next week is about added to rooms that really nail down how insidious the Ultores actually are/were. In particular, the propaganda machine and the ‘interrogation’ rooms.

Thank You For Reading

Want to see how my Dungeon23 journey began? Look here!

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