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The Wizard's Lair


As much as I have been enjoying building the stronghold of Beorganskilti, the modular dungeons lend themselves more to what I really like, and that's interior decorating. Which sounds awfully flaky when applied to a dungeon, but what I mean is adding those touches which make the room look lived in, like shelving, beds, fireplaces with burnt logs in them...




Here's an aerial view of the wizard's room and antechamber.

The two rooms are built around a ¼" foamcore base with Hirst cobblestones glued on that. That brings the base up to 1" so the fieldstone bricks match perfectly to the edge, and have a good area to glue to.

I find if I put a sheet of light board over the cobblestone, weight it down with lots of D&D manuals and let it dry overnight, it doesn't warp.

The wizard's lair over the lower part of the dungeon, which has a 4-cell prison, an expanse of exposed sewer (where dead bodies are thrown, among other things).

The gaping doorway in the antechamber will have a double-wide set of stairs leading down to the lower level.





Here's a close-up of the cells. I made doors out of square brass tubing frames, rusty thin rod for bars.

There will be a cross-piece above the door, just haven't got that far yet. The door "hinge" is a rod soldered to the one side and long enough to stick into the floor and the overhead cross-piece, making it functional.

The piers are made from the circular stair centers (Hirst tower mold) and the octagonal bases are cast in a plastic cake base from some family birthday party. There's everyone ooohing and aaaahing over gifts, and I'm like, "Can I have that cake base??" Fortunately, my family is wonderfully understanding about my flaky foibles...

This is the wizard's lair with attached guard/storage room. It's going to have a bunk (hinged to the wall, supported by chains so it can be flipped out of the way during the day). Somehow I want to make a brazier. A table with cards, a chair... There's a shelf that you can't see, there will be a woodpile to keep the wizard's fire going, and some kegs of beer, food supplies, etc.

Here's a close-up of the guard-room... there will be 3 stairs
going down to it. It sits atop a small room on the lower level -
I used the Hirst bridge mold for the arch.

This is the right end of the lower room... Notice the skeleton under the right arch.


This is the other end of the lower room, with a friendly bone pile
to greet unwary adventurers.


Here's the backside of the storage room/lower level.
Note the wooden shelf on brackets
(from the Wizard's Tower mold, I think).



The stairs leading from the guard/storage room to the lower level require passage on a narrow railing-less walkway... I think the Building Inspector would not pass this!!

The stairs are a single unit, which dovetail into the walkway. I glued up a combination of long fieldstone bricks - 2" 4" 2" 4" - which I molded and can now cast them as one piece. Turned around, one fits into the other. And the 2" width allows two RPG characters to pass each other or walk two abreast.

Check out The Wizard's Lair Page 2


The Gallery has pix of other modular dungeon pieces


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