Month: July 2026

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Vatican City: The Sacristy – 2nd Floor

If you’re wondering if you missed the first floor, you didn’t. I started with the second floor because it connects with the main floor of St. Peter’s Basilica. If you recall, there are quite a few steps leading up to the entrance of the basilica, so its main floor is higher than that of other buildings. It’s a little confusing and I’d estimate that there’s approximately a 100% chance that I’ll get emails asking if I connected the ground floor of one building with the second floor of another by mistake, but there’s nothing to be done about it.

Anyway, I’m going to push ahead and draw the other two floors of the sacristy next. I’ve got quite a bit done on the first floor and the third shouldn’t take too long after that.

All right, I’ll be back before long with some more Vatican!

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Vatican City: The Sacristy (Work-in-Progress)

Here’s the linework for the sacristy, or at least the middle floor of it. There’s a level above this and a level below. There’s an attic as well, which I’ll draw if I find out there are rooms in it. If it’s just bats and insulation, I’ll probably skip it.

The sacristy is where the clergy and choristers get ready before a mass. The vestments, chalices, candles, censers, and various other clerical equipment are kept here. This is also where the Vatican Treasury is located, as well as the Vatican Secret Archives. Today, most of the archives are in the Vatican Library and can be browsed by academics, but before that, they were all kept here.

By the way, here’s a fun fact: a few years back, Pope Francis changed the name of the Vatican Secret Archives to the Vatican Apostolic Archives, presumably in an effort to stop the spread of conspiracy theories and Dan Brown novels.

Well, there’s your Vatican update for the moment. I’m gonna get started on coloring this thing. If you’ve got any questions or thoughts, let me know!

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Circensis: The Underworks

Here in the lower level of Circensis, there are some crypts, guard posts, a stable and a few other things. There are also a few disused chambers where the town’s poorest residents sleep.

I added a small tunnel leading into the underworks from the house in the upper left, which I thought might create some interesting possibilities. Maybe the party has to sneak into or out of the town and meets a group of smugglers who know about the passage. Or maybe a group of raiders finds out about it and sneaks in under cover of night. You may not have a use for it, but it’s there if you do.

With Circensis finished, I’ll be getting back to the Vatican. I’ll be drawing the Sacristy next, which is just south of St. Peter’s Basilica. This is where the passages at the bottom of the basilica map lead. Sacred relics were (and are) kept here, as well as the treasury. It also contains the workshops of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the group of maintainers and restorers responsible for the upkeep of the basilica.

All right, that’s about it for now. Hope you like how Circensis turned out!

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Circensis: A Town Built on the Ruins of an Ancient Amphitheater

Well, this place turned out a bit bigger than I expected, but I think it was worth the effort. I’ll be drawing a map of the underworks next, which won’t be nearly as elaborate as this level, but will have some interesting stuff going on. It’ll also give this place an entrance.

As you can see, some of the amphitheater’s tiered seating still exists, making it clear what this place used to be, although most of it has been leveled off and built over. The walls of the ancient city that this was once a part of are scattered around nearby and were probably picked apart to build the town.

As I said, I’ll be drawing the lower level of Circensis next (and I’ll have DM notes for patrons with that). Then, it’s back to the Vatican. Anyway, this town-built-on-an-amphitheater seemed like a popular idea, so I wanted to ask how you think I did with it. Let me know what you think!