ARDIS VALA — Complete Master Index indexes the mega-dungeon of the Ardis Vala gesta (campaign-cycle), the active cycle, whose fallen imperial city lies on the surface: ten levels, fifteen sublevels, five exteriors, twelve factions, four architectural traditions, figures and resources.
| Type | Index |
| World | World of Archontos |
| Spanish entry | ARDIS VALA — Índice Maestro Completo |
The post-Hiatus reordering
Four changes after the fifteen-year Hiatus:
- Sir Sixto, the lost knight, became Pope Alejandro Sixto, supreme church authority.
- The Varumani were defeated: the Troll Lifts and Court of the Thegn lack troll rule.
- The whole domain lies under Ravenloft, an active demiplane: ruby throne, religion of Baret, mist.
- The cross-gesta Castle of the Prism is the Palace of the Prism of the return after the Hiatus, now the Pope’s seat.
Exteriors
Ritornello, Azure Keep and Gosterwick (key figure Lady Alexia Basileon); Cliff, Waterfall and Long Stair; Ruins of Ardisvala (many entrances); Great Pyramid of Thoth (entry to the Halls of Thoth); Watchtower.
Main levels
- L01 The Basement: initiatory, no factions.
- L02 Howling Caves & Well of Light: priests of Thoth, baboons, library.
- L03 Halls of Thoth: center of the dungeon, 5+ factions.
- L04 Forum of Set: resurgent cult of Set.
- L05 Obsidian Gates and Midnight Road: rudishva tech, Hall of 40 Pillars, Great Chasm.
- L06 Troll Lifts and Arena: three peace zones; social and political.
- L07 Court of the Thegn: Varboka, Varumani, passports.
- L08 Nether Reaches: wild west, no factions.
- L09 Floor of the Great Chasm: fungal forests, Priscians, Old Father.
- Ziggurat of Kauket: culmination; Heqeti and the demon Kauket.
Sublevels
See Sub-levels of Ardis Vala. Tombs of Light; Hall of the Altars; Lesser Caves of the Baboons; Goblin Warrens (King Weskenim); Caves of the Lizardfolk (Skreel lizardfolk); Drowned Canyon (major aquatic connector); Flooded Vaults; Caves behind the Waterfall; Pits of Kaliyani (Tsilliv); Bastion of the Knights of the Scar of the Sun (taken by the companions midway through the first cycle) and their Citadel; Tomb of Isadora (the undead Lady Isadora); Workshops of Kerbog Khan; Lost Chambers of Arden (major historical connector, rudishva shuttle); Chamber of the Lighthouse (the AI Akala, AKL-600, and teleporters); Retreat of the Druids.
Factions
- Children of Deino: Halls of Thoth; Lady Deino, witch, the beastmen’s “mother”.
- Fishmen: isolated.
- Goblins: Goblin Warrens; King Weskenim, Great King.
- Halflings of Plumthorn: Halls of Thoth entrance; Phlebotomas Plumthorn, chief and poisoner.
- Heqeti: Ziggurat of Kauket and Court of the Thegn; Reepsiq, Great Tongue.
- Kaliyani: Pits of Kaliyani; Tsilliv, of Consortium Twelve.
- Kerbog Khan, sorcerer-warlord: his Workshops.
- Priscians: compound on the Floor of the Great Chasm and several levels; Nerub Null, archmage.
- Cult of Set: Forum of Set; Stephania, High Priestess.
- Skreel lizardfolk: Caves of the Lizardfolk.
- Knights of the Scar of the Sun (Sun-Scarred): Bastion and Citadel; Master Malakita, beheaded midway through the first cycle.
- Varumani: Troll Lifts and Court of the Thegn; Varboka, First Thegn.
Architectural traditions
Heqeti (~3,400 years: Ziggurat, Court of the Thegn); Rudishva (~3,000: Obsidian Gates, Troll Lifts, Ziggurat changes); Archontean (~1,000: most levels); Varumani (modern: changes to Troll Lifts and Court).
Supporting figures
- Halls of Thoth: Sir Simonet (lone Sun-Scarred); Trocadero (mad wizard, dead); Count Skleros (beastman commander); Count Trisko the Natty (LRCP); Lord Parmes (ruler of the fungal forest of the Great Cavern).
- Forum of Set: Belisarius the Overseer (Set’s second); Marius Junienos (second priest); Gunnar (Chief Slaver).
- Troll Lifts: Thegan Whitemane (Inn of the Lost); Lord Carcalus, Señor de la Arena (“Lord of the Sand/Arena”); RAJ-750 (insane rudishva AI).
- Court of the Thegn: Hraskaya, Vedraya One-Eye, Gavra, Igrippa, Ashoka, Glif (clan chiefs, Varboka’s staff); Caudatssa (Heqeti, Upper Temple); Cinna Minux (vampire).
- Howling Caves: Gerrilad the Grey (druid lord of the baboons); Sisko, Trefko, Umsko, Yamki (intelligent baboons).
- Floor of the Great Chasm: Walid (ogre mage); Celsus Torquatius (Sekhmet’s vengeance); Rivvep (Kaliyani sorcerer).
- Nether Reaches: Laocoon, Lord of Shadows; Oubaste (high priestess of Bastet); Zhorak (undead dwarf spirit); Eustachius the Cantor (Singing Grotto); Vatapi, Ilvala, Tataka (rakshasas posing as rudishva).
- Obsidian Gates: Psalor Ki (rudishva vivisector); Oziman (“avatar of Thoth”, in fact a demon); Gog (exiled lesser Varumani); Killik (goblin chief of the Wet Caves).
- The Basement: Lankios the Hermit (280-year-old paladin).
- Also: Sir Circalculo (Sun-Scarred).
Artifacts and resources
- Pale Green Horn (rudishva vault, Obsidian Gates): brought to the Ziggurat, it summons Kauket; access codes exist only in RAJ-750 and Akala.
- Shining Lighthouse: rudishva alien ship; Bridge Quarters in the Troll Lifts / Floor of the Great Chasm, Engine Room in the Court of the Thegn.
- The Egg of Ritornelo: bomb egg that razed Ritornello fifteen years earlier.
- Trocadero’s cursed necklace (fungal rule), auctioned in the Forum; the three keys of Lord Carcalus (“little tags”); Sortian eyes (Priscian teleport system).
- Arcanum Forge: Sortian forge restored by the Priscians.
- Solar Rings (Sun-Scarred): sunlight, feather fall, jumping, water breathing.
- Throne of Lord Tarmis (Fungal Forest); Tablet of Sekhmet, guarded by Celsus Torquatius.
- Quill of Thoth: records knowledge; Bayrum used it in Numa Pompilius’s ritual.
- Dual Key: Alúmine’s key of moral attunement, linked to the Midnight Road.
Outside the dungeon: the Palace of the Prism (flying fortress, cosmic prison); from the return after the Hiatus, Sunless Citadel (sunken Balmora castle), Valdemora (Decio’s village) and Estellara (neighboring inn); Ritornello (razed city, background to the return); Custodes Oculis Solis (order of the Pope’s custodians).
Open threads
- The Beacon: sought by Varboka (deposed after the Hiatus), the Heqeti, Kaliyani, the AIs and possibly the Pope.
- The Palace of the Prism: prison of an elf lord older than the vampires; the Pope now rules it, or is its darklord, under Ravenloft. At the return’s close the companions are on trial.
- Argus / Ardipithecus / Arquipiédrus: the fallen paradigm revealed on the return; possibly a primordial ancestor of the abyss; linked to Valerius’s petrified demonic companion sword.
- Cinna Minux: keeps a hidden dominion; possibly a relative or predecessor of Malakita; connected to Caladan (vampirized).
- The bomb egg: the Seekers share responsibility for razing Ritornello; the anonymous bomber was a radicalized Sortian heretic; the egg came from RAJ-750’s weapons module.
The Seekers
Seekers of Ardis Vala: Caladan (vampirized by Malakita); Bayrum Quar’amon Cristalia (part drow, scribe); Alúmine Manwe Finwe “The Miraculous” (rockseer elf, bladesinger); Valerius Utrecht (paladin-inquisitor, successor of Roderick); Sixto (human warrior); Melvino Calvino (technological penguinoid); Numa Pompilius; Decio Balmora (woodsman of Valdemora, from the return); Argus (fallen paradigm, from the return).