BONECASTLE: a procgen Quarrel + Fable dungeon

The Hook

One week ago, a two-miles wide segment of the forest outside Heisenburg completely vanished, leaving a crater of spongy clay. Last night, a three-hundred foot tall spire of bone appeared in its centre. Dare YOU investigate?

The Truth

TOROUTIS, an ancient SKINWIZARD (boneless lich), has been processing the slumbering body of an antediluvian behemoth, extracting toxins from its body and blood to safely remove slabs of godsflesh.

The bonecastle is an extruded side-effect of the process. It serves as Toroutis’ residence for the next fortnight before it will snap at the base and slough into unreality over the next decade. While the bonecastle stands, it acts as beacon for mindless undead, who slowly converge on the spot.

The Procedure

Bonecastle is ten storeys tall, numbered from Ground Floor to Ninth Floor. It exists somewhat between realities as a result of the hypernormal behemoth material, meaning that each floor is rolled at random. However, the space is subject to a quantum lock phenomenon ─ so long as a particular floor is being observed, it will not change (bonecastle natives do not trigger this state).

Floors two, three and nine are key to the extraction process and use a separate generative procedure.

Helical staircases lead between floors. There are no landings: floors must be traversed to reach the next staircase.

Key Rooms [floors 2, 3 + 9]

Roll 2D6:

• [2] TOROUTIS in WAR FORM in an arena-looking room
• [3–5] TOROUTIS in DISGUISE as an elderly man playing patience
• [6–8] SEPSIS NODES collecting spent behemoth lymph. D6 receptacles in bloom. Test your LUCK for beneficial or valuable solution; otherwise the suspension is poisonous or corrosive.
• [9–11] TOROUTIS’ SKIN HOARD. Personal collection of interesting skins. Of suspect value.
• [12] TOROUTIS’ NON-SKIN HOARD. Sundry treasure and treasures. Thousands of coins and a dozen far-pearls.

TOROUTIS — SKILL 9 — STAMINA 12 — rending claws D6↑ or flaying formula: target tests mettle or loses 2D6 STAMINA and as many inches of skin; if target succeeds, spell attempts to work on the next closest person until everyone has passed or the spell has stuck — looks like a palette-swapped Oldoran Zagor

Other Rooms [floors G–1 + 4–8]

For room type, roll D6+floor:

1. MIRROR GALLERY A dozen equidistant ridged frames with varnished bone mirrors. Entry through 6 o’clock; secret exit through 11 o’clock.
2. “CORAL” TRENCH Foot-deep trenches filled with rainwater, where silver sharkminnows feed on organic scraps still connected to loose metatarsals.
3. CHAIR PILE Discarded vinyl thrones, snapped off at the base.
4. PLINTH Upon a pedestal, a fine filigree kylix worth 140ŋ.
5. NO ROOM, ONLY TUNNEL It’s like an ossified vein.
6. CHASM into floor below.
7. PRECURSOR CENOTAPH
8. IRIDISCENT OSEOLITHS stacked in a precarious pyramid. Each the size of a small boulder and worth 7ŋ.
9. TATTOO LIBRARY with the free-hanging skins obscuring sightlines.
10. GALLERY displaying marrowfoam sculptures.
11. POD-STYLE BUNKS for dormant HALFSTEPPERS.
12. or higher STILL FRESH MARROW needs to be cut through.

For room contents, roll D6:

1. D6+1 FRESNOE HALFSTEPPERS acting as white blood cells
2. STACK of D6 FUSED SKULLS each at a different angle, watching 15% of the room
3. LIGNIFIED RIB-MILLIPEDE a long abandoned project gone to rot
4. LUKEWARM HARUSPICY still fresh enough for one (1) profesy
5. SINEW SHIBARI SCAFFOLDING impedes forward exit but can be harvested for biorope (as silk)
6. SKELETON KEY unlocks any bone door, locks any door

FRESNOE HALFSTEPPER — SKILL 8 — STAMINA 4 — patella strike D6↓ — imagine Fresno Nightstalkers, right, but they’re skeletal