1-12: Treacherous Roads

 1-12: This area has more traffic than some of the other empty quarters, primarily because of its location between the Onion Fort and the Temple of Janus. You are far more likely to encounter Janussaries here than other regions, and as a result, oddly less likely to encounter goblins, who avoid the Janussaries like the plague. 

Janussaries will absolutely stop to investigate any activity they see or hear, unless they are on some urgent task (like returning to the Temple with more "recruits"). 

1-12 accesses the four surrounding territories; 1-5, 1-11, 1-13 and 1-19. 

1-11: The Onion Fort

 1-11: The Onion Fort. 

Standing alone on this broad plane of glass dunes, an enormous, onion-shaped edifice, with slits and cracks and firing ports, and a single, always-closed gate. This is the town of the goblins, where they bring all their loot. 

Within the fort, goblin town is 'organized' by competing gangs, ruled by goblin thugs and bosses, with King Boss at the center. The goblin leaders are stronger, each with individual “mutations” they’ve gained from consuming shards. But none are so mighty as King Boss Goblin. Outside of the High Priest of Janus, King Boss is the most individually powerful creature in the Mirrorverse.

The goblins make maximum use of death architecture; traps, pits, murder holes, imprisoned creatures let loose into controlled locations. The town is separated into individual, fortified complexes shaped from the glass-goo. They are as fearful of each other as they are of outsiders. 

King Boss Goblin is crafty and wise, there’s no point in letting people wander in and risk his personal safety when he could throw many goblins at the problem and escape in the chaos. 

1-10: Southern Bank of the Great Plateau

 1-10: Southern Bank of the Great Plateau

The three southern tunnels from 1-3 exit here along a long smooth slope. A faint road or path crossing this territory seems to get more use on the eastern side of the territory (the route most goblins take to get to their town and their Boss. Another path leads due south, but it seems less used as well. 

This area accesses 1-3 via the tunnels, or areas 1-9, 1-11 and 1-17 via roads. 

1-9: More Open territory

 1-9: More Open Ground

Much like area 1-7, the only features here of note are the roads which cross the territory in each cardinal direction. Random encounters! 

The road extends north to 1-2, east to 1-10, south to 1-16 and west to 1-8. 

Note that the northern and easter routes take you back to areas that can access the goblin hunting den and/or the vast plateau, area 1-3, depending on whether one takes toe overland or underground route. 

1-8: Goddess of the Crossroads

 1-8: The Crossroads

Much like 1-7 and 1-9, there is little of note in this broad expanse of glass dunes besides a road that runs East-West. Another road extends from the north to the south. Where the two meet is a shrine; a three headed goddess whose faces point in each cardinal direction except north. 

This statue represents the Threefold Goddess Hecate, goddess of magic, travelers, the Moon, and the crossroads. Since most travelers here are either devotees of Janus or insensate creatures, there's very little need for Hecate to have an active presence here, but given that *some* travelers are like you, the party, and may have incomplete personas, it is possible to gain some small boon here. It may be a point in the right direction, a cryptic clue, or possibly even a shard, but it will be granted only once. 

Random encounters do not occur near the shrine; it is a safe place to camp... assuming you have the time. 

The roads extend north to 1-1, south to 1-15, west to 1-7 and east to 1-9. 

1-7: Open Road

 1-7: The Open Road

A worn path snakes its way across this expanse of glass dunes, extending from relative east to west. Towards the middle of this stretch there is a fork in the path leading south (to 1-14). 

Other than random encounters, there is nothing of interest in this area.

1-6: The Quicksilver Lake

Note: Things got busy this week, and I did not get terribly far with this project beyond a few doodles and workshopping encounter lists and creature abilities. I confess to a bit of writer's block, but I need to give myself a break, because every single "room" can't be an entire adventure unto itself. In keeping with this truth, I will ad some more "open road" areas. 

1-6: The Quicksilver Lake

As the party descends into this area, the glass ground takes on a sodden feel, implying the presence of liquid. But the center of this area, a low point for this region of the map, is filled not with water but quicksilver. Or something like it. Over the ages, weird magical energies rendered from shards have coalesced into a thick, inert liquid, like mercury but without the, you know, brain damage and death and stuff. 

The good news is that this liquid is very dense, so it is quite easy to float or swim across it. The bad news is that it is occupied by oozes, who have no problem disguising themselves against the silvery backdrop. Among these one will find crystal oozes, oblexes, gray ooze, metallic ooze and slithering trackers. These creatures typically lurk near the shore, waiting for the approach of a living creature such as an amalgam, striking out and dragging them into the lake where they have the advantage. And if a large meal attempts to wade in or cross, well! So much the better. 

Even creatures  made entirely of glass will float, so it's feasible that even a large amalgam would chase a tasty morsel out onto the lake. Note that all lake movement is difficult terrain, unless you somehow managed to rig up an oared vehicle of some kind.

Area 1-6 borders on 1-5, 1-7, and 1-13. 

1-5 The Glass Dunes

 1-5 The Glass Dunes

An expanse of gently rolling glass dunes. Not much to look at, but this area will have a few hazards and a random encounter table. This area provides access to 1-6, 1-12 and, of course 1-5. 

While not exactly "trackless" this area is dull, inhabited by the meekest fauna of the mirrorverse - the lesser amalgams. Whether this is because they tend to originate here or because viable shards are few and far between, no one  knows. Or cares. Basically a desert here. 

Encounters, while rare, are possible. And given that this is an area where glassfalls tend to occur, you can find some weird stuff. I'll figure out the chance of encounters later. Whatever the average is, it's lower here. When they do occur, roll a d8: 

1. Medusa - miffed at being caught out by her own gaze attack, she is highly defensive and vulnerable. She has already figured out that her gaze doesn't work here. 
2. Wind chimes. Someone assembled a mobile or large set of wind chimes out of a 10 foot pole and some string. Weird but innocuous, might draw monsters. Occurs once then treat as 4
3. 1 medium amalgam
4. d2 lesser amalgams
5. Quickglass - looks just like the glass grit/gravel everywhere else but it's liquified. Slows the party down one way or the other. 
6. 1d3 basilisks - incredibly hungry and not smart enough to realize their gazes don't work here.

Not every area was going to be exciting! 

1-4 Goblin Warrens

I'm busy today, so I'm pre-posting this area. 

    

1-3 The Goblin Hunting Warrens and Wolf Supermoon

    The tunnels from 1-2 (and 1-4 and 1-10) lead into a tangle of glass goblin hunting warrens. Here the goblins wait and hunt the minor amalgams, watch for new shardfalls, and otherwise pass the time in relative safety. Two rooms serve as storage and dormitory. When the goblins decide they have enough material, they set out for their lair to make offerings to the Goblin Boss. 

    The goblins have learned the trick of extracting a gum-like substance from living amalgams and using it to craft wicked traps. The floors and walls of the tunnels are unusually smooth compared to the terrain outside. Some sections of the tunnels have pits covered by a thin layer of glass, which the oblivious may blunder into. Some have cunningly inlaid glass covers to "sneek toobs" or small rooms the goblins may flee into. Collapsing ceilings and walls are also common, but require a lot more work. 

    Within the tunnels, there are 2d6 glass goblins. If less than 4 are present, the rest (1d8) are away on a hunting/scavenging patrol and will return within an hour, as they dislike wandering out of sight of the warren entrances. 

    At any given time, The goblins will have collected 1d6 shards (to be returned to the Boss). 

    The warren has 3 exits leading to 1-4 and 1-10. 

1-2 The Sinkhole and Glass Warrens

 A wide, shallow depression in the floor, around and across which scuttle smaller Amalgams, hunting for shards, chasing off competitors and milling about. Beyond, you see the slope of what appears to be a high  ridge or mesa of piled glass gravel. Several openings pierce the bank and appear to recede deeper into the mountain. 

The Sinkhole

The shallow depression is a semi-stable formation covering a sinkhole. The smaller amalgams may walk across it with  impunity, but the larger amalgams, such as those from 1-1, would trigger an avalanche of glass. The small amalgams know this and so tend to linger in the area, as they can run across the sinkhole and hopefully lead the larger Amalgams to their doom. 

Each lesser Amalgam yields 1 shard if harvested correctly. 

The glass bluff extends into 1-3. It is a warren carefully dug by the glass goblins as a camp. The entrances are arched; meticulously balanced shards of glass braced against one another to stay open. The interior of the tunnels are similarly shored up. These entrances are fragile, susceptible to physical shocks, causing a landslide if significantly disturbed. 

There will be 1 or 2 goblins within the recesses of the entrances, watching out for large Amalgams and waiting for the smaller ones to let their guard down. The rest of the goblins are in 1-3, resting and preparing for the next raid. Then the goblin raiding party will attempt to capture as many of the small Amalgams as possible for harvesting. It's not an easy job. 

Each goblin will yield 1 shard. This goblin raiding party has collected 1d6 shards. 

Ascending the glass bluff will yield a long-distance view of 1-1, 1-8, 1-9, and the surface expanse of 1-3, though it increases the likelihood of drawing attention from the penumbrae...

1-1 The Eye of Oroboros

 Orologium of the Ormenians. 

1-1. The Eye. 

An enormous lens with a dark, slitted iris like that of a predator stares blankly from the slope of a hill of broken glass. It stands unnaturally erect, not fully supported by the heaps of glass shards which surround it. Beyond this lens and this hill, there is a gulf, loose shards of broken glass sliding and tumbling toward the edge, falling off into nothing. The eerie half-light of this level reveals nothing in the empty air beyond this point. 

The largest of the Amalgams on this level linger here, gibbering, moaning and digging among the glass scraps. There are 1d3 here at all times. They will attack anyone they see, though they are cautious of their kinfolk. 

The Amalgams know the Eye is a gate, but they must be of sufficient power to pass through it. Thus they scour the floor for any shard-bearing creatures and gobble them up, returning to the Eye to attempt entry. 

The Eye is a one way gate to 12-31, but it only allows passage to sufficiently powerful creatures, say CR12 at least.