The Ziggurat of Shadows – Main Level & Isometric (Patreon)

At the edge of the city, beyond the ruined necropolis, sits the heavy stone ziggurat of shadows – made of massive grey stones that had to be hauled from a quarry weeks away. The dark grey stones sweat in the rain and creak and pop in the sun. The priests who tend it to this day speak of it as a monument originally meant to worship the lords of the old city. They claim that these lords were struck down for their insolence and pride, and now the ziggurat is dedicated to the gods that smote them and the tales of human excess and pride.

The truth is that the ziggurat is much older than that. When settlers found this site, the ziggurat was already standing in the swamplands at the head of the river. The settlers built around it because the land here was dry and solid, never questioning why. None asked why the swamps had not reclaimed it.

But living near the ziggurat brought its own troubles. Animals wouldn’t graze on the hill the ziggurat stood upon, and then those born within the shadows of the structure were nearly blind, with pale eyes and dreams filled with cold light and voices from afar. So the settlement moved down the ridge that the ziggurat sat upon, to where the land was less dry and less solid, but also seemed less cursed. To put a barrier between themselves and the cursed structure, the settlement’s graveyard and later necropolis were built between the residences and the building.

But that was many ages ago. The settlement is now a thriving trading port, the swamps mostly drained as the harbour was dredged. The new priests who have moved into the ziggurat know nothing of its past, but attribute the curses to the gods who smote the lords of the old city. Over the years they have found the secret passages within and continue to use the structure to preach moderation in all things to avoid the curses of the heavens.

This map shows the exterior and bottom floor of the Ziggurat. This level is used to welcome those who would petition the gods for moderation (especially after particularly long spells of ill luck, ill health, or other afflictions). Many documents of the current city’s history are kept here, as well as the birth and death rolls of the populace. The secret chambers on this level are mostly used for storage, but a ladder in the middle chamber leads upstairs to a small chapel of contemplation.

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) wide. 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) – so resizing it to either 1,680 x 2,520 or 3,360 x 5,040, respectively.

https://dysonlogos.blog/2026/03/11/the-ziggurat-of-shadows-main-level-isometric/