Eredi Temple

Structure

Exposition

After leaving Ironpeak the adventurers went southwards deeper into Vamena Forest. Their travel to the ruins of the city took a day and half. Everything went fine during the day besides them finding the body of a Vanguard soldier. During the night however they were attacked by several plantlike humanoids and a will-o’-the-wisp. The adventurers handled this nightly visit well and could continue their journey the next day. When the group arrived at Vamerlith they saw that the city was mostly covered in trees and roots after years of neglect but some buildings were still standing. They had to search the remainder of the day to find any evidence of the temple but after some time they found an illusion at the lower section of an old building. They went past the illusion and saw a long staircase going down before them.

Rising Action

Blood in the Water

18th of Irami’el 1245 AE
After going through the illusionary blocked entrance the group found themselves in the ruins of an old Avaronian building. This part of the building was still well intact due to it being underground. Once they were fully inside they felt the warm moist air and could hear voices nearby. As they were not so quiet they were quickly heard by the people inside. Dimble was the only person in front and pretended to be studying and admiring the ruins. The confusion this caused was enough for the rest of the group to quickly deal with the two cultists.
In the corridors and chambers they were exploring they did not directly find any other cultists but they could hear noises coming from farther away. They did find many frescos on the walls depicting the old days of the Avaronian Empire. A bit further however they could hear voices coming from what appeared to be a large warm bath. The adventurers attacked and overwhelmed the bathing cultists causing the entire bath to be filled with blood. Once they were further down the temple they could hear a loud scream and chanting. But before they found they source they stumbled upon a library. Unluckingly their were still cultists inside that had to be dealt with. During the fight however Dimble managed to break one of the shelfs which caused an avalanche of books to drop on the ground. Dimble then tried to painstakingly ensure the safety of the books.

The sacrifice

After clearing the cultists in the library they heard that the ritual was nearby. Dimble found a small tunnel that allowed him to get a view to the sacrifice. After returning he told them that a man was lying on a table and a humanoid snake was standing before him with several cultists. The group decided that Dimble would remain in the small tunnel from where he would start a surprise attack. Directly afterwards the rest of them would charge in.
The plan worked and the adventurers dealt quickly with the cultists. But the humanoid snake kept standing and was able to complete his ritual. Several snakes slithered around him and he bursted into flames. Once the fire diminished a fiery form of the humanoid snake stood before them. Eventually they managed to kill the creature. Afterwards they found a luxurious room with a private bath and a suit of elven armor. Finrod wanted to take the armor but was quickly attacked as the armor came to life. In the room they also found several books where they learned that the humanoids snakes were actually Selefer, a race everybody thought had dissapeared millenia ago.
The group decided that the luxurious room was a good place to stay for a couple of hours to regain their strength. Before they could complete their rest however the adventurers heard several footsteps in the corridor. They decided to follow them deeper down. It appeared several slaves were being escorted by some guards. After a short fight they freed the prisoners. Among them was Hesione who told the adventurers that they had found out about the cult and wanted to mount an attack. The Vanguard walked in an ambush and many died either during the battle or as a sacrifice later on.

Climax

Fiery Magic

Deeper down the structures were much older, even from before the Avaronians. An enormous heat welcomed them as they walked into the large cavern surrounded by ancient structures. It did not take long for several Selefer to appear and a battle ensued. To their surpires the dragon egg that they had been carrying hatched. A small bronze dragon was born. Nearby they found several other slaves that they managed to free as well. The main temple itself was accross a bridge above a chasm. The intense heat came from a lava stream at the bottom of that chasm. Reluctantly they crossed the bridged to enter the temple.
The first room they entered was a large chamber filled with ancient fresco’s. The information on this walls would be priceless for historians who knew almost nothing about the Selefer. On the fresco’s the group could see  religious images of the creation of the race, a war between strange humanoids with no faces, the expansion of the  Selefer empire and large scale wars. Several other races were depicted as well : Gnomes, Dragonborn, Giants and Elves. It would take time to study this in detail, time they did not have.
They continued onward and entered a large chamber with a portal at the end. Before the portal Arkud Bloodgrip was awaiting tehm. He did something to the portal which caused it to react violenty with flames going in all directions. Afterwards he revealed his true Selefer form and attacked the group but not before summoning a giant snake.  The fight that followed was hard with several members on the brink of death including Hideo. After both the snake and Bloodgrip were killed the elemental portal started to act even more erratically. Hideo tried to use a shield to keep the elemental energy from exploding but only partially succeeded. The rest of the energy soared towards Finrod causing him to take a fiery form after which he became unconcious. This event reawakened the hidden powers of Pyromancy within him. When he woke again the adventurers returned to the surface where they put a camp for the night but not before completly exploring the rest of the ruins. Dimble Cloak even managed to gather some interesting books.

Resolution

After exploring the remainder of the temple the adventurers returned to Averton where they learned that the chamberlain had recently left towards Vamena Forest. Given that the chamberlain had a forked tongue the group asssumed that he had gone to the temple to got through the elemental portal before it was destroyed. They decided to let it be and continue their journey towards Ostend where the Shadow Fangs had send their diamond supply to.

Parent Plot

The Snake God