The Treacherous Pathway to Quasqueton
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A brief follow-up to yesterday's post: I later noticed that in this drawing Sutherland may have included the "treacherous pathway which leads up to the craggy outcropping of black rock". It's marked above in red. The portion at the bottom especially appears to be a path, marked by Sutherland with horizontal lines, which curve behind the rocks with the stump. Past these rocks it may then continue up the cliffside to the top. On the other hand, the treacherous pathway is supposed to lead to a cave opening to the first level of the dungeon rather than the watch tower. Perhaps the cave is right behind the rocks with the stump.
By the way, the watch tower is not detailed in the module, but attempts have been made to flesh it out, for example the one here on Dragonsfoot by Shadowshack.
Update: The crevasse to the right might be another location for the entrance cave. I've circled this on the picture.
I thought you might be interested that on my blog I posted pics/storyline of the online skype group I am running which recently spent the past few meetings delving into the depths of Quasqeton. I took some liberties with the setting and storyline and included some old school tropes you will recognise. Let me know what you think if u have a chance .
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that Sutherland intended to depict the entrance to the Caverns of Quasqueton in this illustration. I likewise think it's a great pic to show the players at the outset - only they'll want to explore the tower!
ReplyDeleteI've toyed with an idea that there's a secret entrance from the ground floor of the tower into the "unfinished area" (spiral corridor) which lines up exactly correctly with the map of the first level if we consider that we are facing northwards towards the entrance to the caverns. The design rationale behind the spiral corridor was therefore to delay intruders in case the fortress was under siege and the tower was captured. I favour a simple plan for the tower - 30' diameter and 60' tall - only 2 or 3 floors with an entrance to the roof. It's also a great place for adventurers to rest in between forays, without having to return all the way home.
I strongly suspect that Sutherland based this drawing on a photograph - the flora is too well detailed. The idea came to me during a hike last year, as described in this dragonsfoot thread: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=52989
I'd like to ask Mike Carr what his version of the towee was like but I don't see any links to him on the net. With 6 degrees of seperation...
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