Temple of Araushnee-in-Shadow

Do yourself a favour, gadfly, and ask no more questions of The One Who Mourns, let alone where we once worshipped her.

— Anonymous elf in Volsinii

Once a shining beacon of worship for a now forgotten elven deity, the Temple of Araushnee-in-Shadow is now a dilapidated underground ruin in the foothills of Cretan Hills in southwest Sevaria. Once, the temple was a majestic place of worship for Araushnee, elven goddess of fate and consort of Corellon Larethian. With the death of that mighty head of the elven pantheon at the hands of the Hollow, Araushnee went into mourning; as the goddess wept for her lost love, she shunned the light in her grief and the once bright temple that honoured her changed to follow suit. Eventually her worshippers would abandon the temple in the early days of the Godsmarch as elven society withdrew from the world. Although it would still get occasional pilgrims coming to pay their dark lady due respect, it soon fell into disuse and disrepair.
Hundreds of years later, the temple has been reclaimed by nature and sunken under the ground and covered over. After so much time, the location of the once magnificent temple has been lost to the ages and almost no sign of the expansive complex remains above ground, with only a few roof collapses providing entry to the temple itself to those who stumble upon it. The now dark tunnels have become home to various varieties of vermin - including, quite often, the ratlings of Deepbranch.
Despite being lost to the ages, stories of the temple still occasionally crop up in the circles of religious scholars and treasure hunters. Both agree that somewhere deep in the darkened corners of the lost temple no doubt lie the remains of the priesthood of Araushnee, both records of rites and untold relics. Several expeditions have been dispatched to track down the temple but have, thus far, come up empty handed. Those elves who make their way into the cities of men in Estlund rarely, if ever, give any hint to the location of the fallen temple - and many even seem reluctant to talk about the deity it once revered.

RUINED STRUCTURE
Early Godsmarch

Founding Date

Unknown

Alternative Names

Spikey One's Cave

Parent Location

Cretan Hills