The Lowward Gaol (Patreon)

Every month going forward, I will post at least one map that I’ve underpainted like this one. Starting in March, these coloured maps (and the old school blue maps) will only be available to patrons who have signed up for the Patreon campaign. The regular sepia-tone and black and white maps will remain free and available through the blog.

The Low Ward sits downhill to the immediate East of the castle ward. The proximity to the castle (and the lack of morning sun as the castle mount blocks the sunrise) has made this into not so much a slum but a lower class neighbourhood. Like the other neighbourhoods besides the High Ward, Castle Ward, and Guild Ward, the sewers in this ward run down the middle of the street and occasionally empty into larger drainage ditches which in turn go under the castle mount and then out to sea beyond the castle. The Low Ward is also home to the main jail in town, a six-cell underground structure built into the castle mount.

This Lowward Gaol is only used to house prisoners who are expected to remain in custody for a moderately long period of time. Important prisoners are kept in the castle dungeons, and those only needing to be held for a day or two are kept in the watch tower. This gaol is damp, foul-smelling, and quite unpleasant. The cells have drainage canals that don’t really work unless a bucket of water is used to push the mess down. These small canals link between the cells (through metal grates) and then to the sewer proper (which is why this place smells so foul).

The sewers themselves are quite “modern” for the era – wide and shallow canals lead underground often with a raised stone path beside them to allow for maintenance workers to travel here (although hunched over as the tunnels themselves are arched and low). The inflow points to these sewers from the city are all blocked by metal grates that are not hinged or openable – access is supposed to be via the maintenance access ways such as the narrow locked passage from the gaol itself.

This map obviously exists for those classic moments in fantasy CRPGs where you either discover a back way into the gaol from the sewers, or you need to escape from the gaol by using the sewers.

The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 7,200 x 10,800 pixels (24 x 36 squares). To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for the recommended 10′ squares that fit the furnishings shown) – so resizing it to either 1,680 x 2,520 or 3,360 x 5,040, respectively.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2026/01/21/the-lowward-gaol/