You recently received a call from someone who wished to remain anonymous that girls have been disappearing after going to Mephisto's Club House, a grimy exclusive club ran by a slimy owner. That doesn't mean he is guilty necessarily, but a good private investigator must remain open minded to the facts. It's also a bad neighborhood and has poorly lit alleys where God knows what happens. The owner's car was also stolen on this very night for whatever reason, so he is more focused on his woes and doesn't feel too chatty.
So you decide to sit at a table and wait for one of the pretty waitresses to serve you. The band is not bad, but not your style at all... too loud, and the mosh pit is looking pretty violent. Your PI office is no pasha's palace, but anything looks nice compared to this place. You think you may have already seen six cockroaches crawling around along the walls. The owner is not coming to give you more info, so you decide to sneak upstairs and use the bathrooms. Aside from the nauseating smell of cigarette smoke and urine, nothing really stands out.
After going to do your business reluctantly, you notice there is no one up here at the moment and decide to pick the locks of the staff only rooms... still nothing on missing girls... wait! In the male change room on top of a locker, you find within the pages of a porno magazine a note written by one of the girls working here, one you've already talked to that didn't say much. The letter reads as follows:
"Hey Chris,
I don't know what our boss is up to, but I haven't heard anything from Cindy in like a week! He doesn't let any of us into the basement, not even the line cooks to get more stock for the supplies upstairs! Plus, he spends an awful lot of time in there... I really want to know what that smell is coming from down there. I mean, not that this place smells great anywhere, but have you not noticed that fowl stench emanating from that door? I think I want to have someone look into this, but please don't tell anyone, it's our little secret, okay? We'll talk about it when we finish our shift tonight at your apartment? Looking forward to it hun.
Yours, Natalie."
So, this is interesting. Perhaps it's time to check out the basement, where everyone keeps their dirty little secrets...
A Word From the Inkarnator:
This started off as an exercise on creating taverns and light and shadows then turned into this horrific place. Believe it or not, in my youth, I've worked at a biker bar that could easily get that dirty sometimes. Someone told me this map would fit into a Call of Cuthulu tabletop game, but either way, if you are running a modern game and want to clone this, go nuts! I'm not running anything these days and I would rather it serves someone a purpose, so clone it, change the name, keep the same one, whatever!
PS: Here's a private challenge between us ;) Try and find my signature (first signed piece). Anyone who finds it, comment on my Reddit post bellow:
Credit Where it's Due:
Mati, thank you for your videos and all your hard work. If anyone has not checked the following vids, I truly recommend you do, for they were invaluable assets to making this piece:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn-ohT1GkcQ&t=322s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgbwOLRspa4
Midway through making this piece, I saw another artist's work that really inspired me, Tuberculosis9, a person I am now following as a result. Amazing eye for lighting and atmosphere that really helped me refine it. Again, I tried not to rip anyone, but here is the map I now speak of, the Dirty Dancer:
https://inkarnate.com/m/JkKbzr--the-dirty-dancer/
A very special thanks to Dreadmaps for your keen eye and sound suggestions when I had a tough time getting another perspective!
Otherwise, I probably could have kept going with the detailing, but I have another gig I really want to get to, so that's it for this one! Hope you like it friends!
- KKXIII -
