Nightmare Groves of Runalt

Ancillary nightmares that spring off from Runalt’s main nightmare, seeded by him on purpose by sending portraits of himself into the wilderness. Born of and prey upon greed, ambition, and the want to be remembered forever for these traits.

These nightmares manifest as mazelike groves (I often generate them with this tool) whose walls are made of immaculately trained trees, whose branches terminate in human hands. Some of the hands hold small silvery rings (worth 10 coins each, or 40 to someone with an interest in nightmare objects specifically, 2d10 in total through the dungeon) with which they tempt the players to come closer. On a first entry the hands give up the rings with little struggle, but subsequent ventures will playfully hold them out of reach — which can give the beasts of the dungeon an opening to slay them. At night, the hands pass lit candles between themselves to light paths for the players, but will use this to try to lead them into ambushes and snuff the lights in moments of danger. The trees themselves do not fight and the hands are easily smashed.

The crown of these nightmares are Skull-Faced Fiends (stats available in the monster document on Johnstone Metzger’s patreon), remnants of Runalt’s reptile house, the crown jewel of his menagerie. The anchor is guarded by a Lord of Fiends (as described in the same document) attended to by two Interred Servants (stats as Silent Accusers from the same). The anchor of these dungeons is always a “trash crown,” a mockery of Runalt’s own crown which the Lord of Fiends wears.

The anchor is hidden at the bottom of a staircase behind the painting of Runalt, which starts in a random room held against the wall by the tree-hands. Every turn there is a 1-in-4 chance of it being moved to a new room, passed along by the hands, in a random direction. If it is pried from the hands, a stone staircase full of the stink of pooling paint thinner and lizard leads down to a few small stone rooms where the Lord of Fiends, a treasure stash, and the crown are contained.

Any who see the painting know at once that this is “Runalt, the King,” even if they don’t know what that means. The painting itself can be entered by adventurers, who can talk to and with the representation of Runalt within. He is haughty and demanding, expecting the adventurers to perform tasks (namely the capture of other mortals to bring to the nightmare) in exchange for a reward. He can manifest one reward per month, creating in the real world something that the players desire, though with the visual qualities of being painted and thus marked as having been produced by magic. He struggles to recall specific memories of the real Runalt’s life, grows frustrated when interrogated about them, and can be dispatched with little effort at which point the painting will fall from the wall and reveal the staircase behind it.

Note that paints and thinners are very flammable.

I generate the treasure in the bottom of the dungeon as a monstrous 1 hoard using the rules in &treasure, but I always draw the trade goods from those in Runalt’s castle (which as many things do needs a post of its own): iron ingots, drugs, powdered spices. For example:

Runalt Dungeon Between Thickets And Northmost Collaboration
40 loose coins
280 coins in trade goods (3 iron ingots, 2 doses of drugs, 2 bags of powdered spices)

Encounters per the TNU rules:
Die size 6, dungeon level 1 (can increase if left to grow unchecked)
Special event for 2-3 rolls: A painting of a specific material desire of a randomly chosen adventurer is conjured into being and paraded in front of them by the tree-hands. It will tempt them into ambushes and try to waste their time until the whether they inspect it cautiously or try to take it.

When the countdown die reaches 0 and guarantees an encounter with the crown, it is in the form of a painting of the old reptile house from which Skull-Faced Fiends emerge. If routed, they will try to retreat back into it.

Encounter list (d4):
1. 1d4+1 Skull-Faced Fiends.
2. A lone glass thief, trying to rob the dungeon.
3. 2d4 Interred Servants (stats as Silent Accusers)
4. An interloper from outside: roll on the appropriate encounter list for the area the nightmare is in.