Thistletop structure [**SPOILER**]

[Samirah]

Hi everyone,
maybe my question is really stupid, but I can't figure out what the original structure of Thistletop was.
I mean, level 1 is the result of Lamashtu's clerics excavation, right?
So, where was the original entry to the complex? Below level 2? In that case, why a stone door and a trap in E1-E3? What was in front of the door if clerics dug the stair centuries later?
Do I miss anything?

Thanks in advance for any reply!

[Askren]

The "island" that Thistletop fort sits on is actually the giant head of an even more giant statue of the Runelord who is the primary villain for the entire adventure (The guy on the cover). The accessible floors are in the top of his head, so it's probably safe to assume that there is more habitable structure contained within the statue, though it's long destroyed and inaccessible now.

[Samirah]

Askren, I had your same thought, but there's something I just don't get.
If the Thassilonian complex was beneath and the stairs from D15 to E1 have been made from Lamashtu clerics, why is there a door in E1?
The structure at this level is not so damaged as to suggest a twisting of the structure itself.

But ok, maybe my question is a little nitpicking. :P

[jhilahd]

I guess a better question is, what do you want it to be?

I know what you're thinking, and I fall into this trap too. I want to fall in line with canon, or what is written way too often. But the truth is, it's your game. Do you want another level to explore or exploit? Add it. But I'd do it after this, and maybe as a side trek.

But I'd make it risky to say the least. It's below sea level, it is underground in an ancient statue. Regardless of how well the head has survived, the buried portion(s) is breaking down. The residual magic is weakened and it is becoming structurally unsound. The X that inhabit it now have created side tunnels/rooms away from this part. They too are swayed by Lamashtu and are horribly mutilated in their features and outlook.

Sorry... rambling. The long and short of it is, that it is up to you. But doing so kinda speeds up the reveal of Thassilon to the players.
Just my two cents. :D

[Askren]

Samirah wrote:

Askren, I had your same thought, but there's something I just don't get.

If the Thassilonian complex was beneath and the stairs from D15 to E1 have been made from Lamashtu clerics, why is there a door in E1?
The structure at this level is not so damaged as to suggest a twisting of the structure itself.

But ok, maybe my question is a little nitpicking. :P

From the AP book:

It was 200 years ago that a Varisian cult of Lamashtu
fled here from the east to avoid being slaughtered by the
advancing Chelish army. Taken with the unique shape
ofthis small island, the cultists established a church of
Lamashtu atop it, expanding into the ground below and
excavating the chambers on this level. Near the end oft hat
excavation, they discovered the intact second level below,
but in opening it, they also unwittingly released a hellcat
that had been trapped in area E2 for thousands of years.
The cultists were quickly slaughtered by the outsider,
which had gone insane after its long impisonment...

So the book seems to indicate that the structure of the second dungeon level was already there, as I mentioned, and it was discovered when the worshipers of Lamashtu excavated the "island" two centuries prior. The above-ground temple was destroyed at some point and replaced with Thistletop Fort, which is a wooden structure of some military use to someone in the past.

[Samirah]

Ok, I understand all your points of view and I agree.
Surely my poor English does not help to better explain.
I was just imagining these poor clerics who dig and, from the solid rock, here's a door!
I found a simple solution but it may work: the entry was in front of that door, but it was visible only from the sea. So the clerics found the dungeon open wide upon the sea, they sealed the opening with rocks and debris, so the only way is D15 down to E1.
It doesn't matter about lower levels existing in ancient time.

It 's definitely a subtlety, but I'm SURE one of the players to ask something about it. I try to be ready for all their tricky questions.