Kargash: Beholder City
by RobinI created these locations using the various Beholder D&D books (of which I tyrant was the most important)
The 72 miles hex map i used was found on Wombat's website. The website appears to be from John Walter Biles, but you'll notice that the maps are in a subdirectory called FrenchSiteMaps. Shawn Stanley remembers the site, now no longer up, which was run by Thibault Sarlat. He noticed that some of the maps in the folder have his name on them, and Thus suspects that all of the maps may have been created by Thibault, not John.
I used this map (the only detailed hex map at that moment on Skothar) to be able to create a 24 mile hex map, as presented above. together with the inset of the master set map, the region/locatyion of the Kargash region is made clear. the names of the areas are created by me.
the map uses Kardash in stead of Kargash....this is a mistake...sorry..probably a gremlin in my PC....or it may be assumed to be the human translation of the beholder name. as such Kargash and Kardash are the same and used by the variant species/cultures.
Beholder City
A Beholder city is made up of many of these Wasp’s nest style dwellings, plus other constructions and places for the common use of all citizen Beholders.
Over time, the cliff sides of a Beholder city become so infested with lairs that their origin as natural cliffs become obscure. Examiners, acting as structural engineers, make sure that the cliffs are not so heavily dug out that they will collapse; otherwise, these cliffs look entirely artificial.
The Above map shows the small city of Kargash (on the Mystara continent Skothar)—population 2000—located on a volcanic, mist-shrouded tract of land far from any settlements or trade routes. Once upon a time, the city was nothing but a small river canyon. However, a Hive Mother named Kagg discovered the area and pronounced it perfect for settlement. It has gradually become one of the largest eye tyrant cities ever recorded.
Arragon Volcanoes
This line of the continent Skothar lies upon a deep crevice of geological unstable matter. Deep below the lower cells of the planetary creature (megalith) continuously deplete, and new cells are created on top of it(instead normally below this wound). probably this wound was created in the Great Rain of Fire incident 3000BC, and the massive radiation even affected the Creature we know as the Planet Mystara other then causing it to massively tilt permanently.
In fact the northern Part of the area is slowly and steadily pushed down by the growth of the cells south of it, creating mountains there, and lots of volcanic activity on the overlap zone, where these cells meet
It is due to these volcanoes that the area still exists, as the magma pours out of the holes of Mystara, they flow north and Eastwards, creating new continental matter, that again is slowly used to create mountains.
Arragon Volcanoes
In fact the whole area is geological fresh matter, with clear ridges, “canals” of hardened magma, between the local hills that were pressed up a little against the mountains. The latest eruption 1004 AC, caused the great woods to become the Burned wood. the burned carcasses of the ancient trees are still abound. Further areas of interest are the bombardment fields, here the area is littered with pyroclasmitic bombs of earlier eruptions. The beholder like the region, for its instability, difficulty for ground-bound creatures to pass, and the overall feeling and sensation of destruction and chaos.
The beholders get their slaves from the Tangor tribes on the other side of the mountain. The Tangor have named the Mountain range as Tembo Taboo, what means forbidden area. Most of the Arragon volcanoes are currently active, and slowly erupt their ashes and magma in continuous streams in underground tunnels toward the North and East. The other volcanoes are either dead or currently inactive. The whole area is riddled with magma tunnels, and many giant worm are attracted to the fresh matter, riddling it further, with their tunnels. Almost any kind of worm can be found here. No other important races are found here, except spiders and other large lowlife, but there are no other sentient races in this desolate dying part of the world, other than a handful of subjugated humanoids (Orc, Troll, Kobold).
A Khih (or Kargash) River
Beholder engineers diverted some of the river’s run-off; now it flows with considerable less force. The waters of the Khih feed the lake and provide liquid for the entire city population.
B Kargash Lake
This strikingly beautiful area of the south end of the city is a place where infant and adolescent Beholders and Beholder-kin sport. Iit is also the home of a handful Eyes of the deep. Their own lairs are watery caves dug deep in the lake bottom.
The river flows North from the lake and on to the sea (Kardash Bay), giving the Eyes of the deep easy access to ocean water.
C Dwellings
Scores of tube lairs line the cavern walls and some are above another. The city is so old that sections of the cliff face between the Beholder lairs have been completely smoothed by artful wielders of the disintegrate power. Nothing grows on these slopes.
D Collapsed Area
Through Examiners-engineers try to make sure that new b=buildings do not endanger the structural integrity of the cliff, they don’t always succeeded. This area shows where a large lower lair collapsed, destroying the lair above it when the rock between the two lairs collapsed. Though the accident killed many Beholders, the collapsed area has not been cleared as a lesson to other builders.
E Council Chambers
This is the only constructed building in the entire city. Inside is a set of chambers where the Grand Council performs its deliberations. The building itself looks like an ancient temple, with decorative columns supporting the roof. The council mothers convene at the center of this open-air area to do their business. There are ten council mothers in Kargash.
F Performance Circle
This is a theatre blasted out of the living stone by the Beholders. It consists of a series of 8 broad steps (each large enough to hold the largest of Beholder-kin) surrounding the stage, or lowest portion. From the stage, Beholder storytellers recount the tales of their victories. Rock slabs are also brought down to the stage for bombardment artists.
G Parade Route
This is the stretch of canyon floor used for new Beholder parents to demonstrate the existence of their new offspring.
H Pyramid of Enemies
Some cities have a wall of enemies. Kargash follows a different path—the Pyramid of Enemies. Prisoners are brought here and told that if they get to a certain height on the pyramid before a predetermined amount of time, they can go free. If the frantic prisoners reach the agreed height, the waiting Beholders turn them to stone (several Beholders at the same time decrease the failure due to multiple chances to fail the necessary saving throws). For this reason, most of the victims on the Pyramid of Enemies are looking upwards, searching for a salvation that they will never find.
J Jousting Field
Directors practice cavalry maneuvers on their crawlers in this area. When not in use by directors, lensmen use the jousting field to train to train on weapons combat.
Only three other (now empty or almost empty) beholder cities have existed on Mystara. Their operating era and locations are; Ill’th Khinax 2755 BC-1750 BC warred against the 2nd Empire of Morgreth on Brun, but fell from warring factions within the city—over 2000 beholders and Beholder-kin (see the Eye of Doom, Eye of Pain, Eye to Eye AD&D adventures), Zelphim 565 BC-325 BC on the northern part of Skothar—very well recorded slaughter records located; 1504 Beholders, 342 Hive mothers, 1100 variant beholders slain, warred against hordes of humanoids (combined, Jennite human, Orc, Ogre, Troll and Giant, and was almost wiped out of existence, currently no more than an abandoned city functioning as a single hive (32 Beholders, 1 Hive Mother, about 15 beholder-kin), and Ash-phrax deep within underground Davania, of which it is unknown which breed did build the city and which of the two Davanian Beholder Breeds did destroy it. 255 AC-280 AC. It contained over 500 beholders, although the remains are over 1100, apparently both breeds lost here. It is now completely abandoned.
I searched and located some old maps of mine in my compilation/creation archive and two maps in my beholder research are detailed on Skothar.
keep in mind that Beholder borders do not follow any other borders.