Sometimes adventurers have it easy; they locate a dungeon, enter it and emerge with their objectives fulfilled. But yet life is not so obligatory at all times. At the border of two fiefs lay the ruins of a pagan temple, believed by scholar-monks to be dedicated to the worship of the moon and stars. Its location has been known for era, but adventurers are forbidden to enter there, even though the serfs around the area have been constantly found murdered, ritual style.
- The border between the two fiefs is a topic of contention and the pagan temple lies smack within the area. The area has timber and ore mines, and the two lords are unwilling to give it up. The late King (for the current one is too useless to care) has issued that the area to be forbidden to all. To enter the temple, the adventurers must seek the consent of the two lords first, or risk igniting a war between the two fiefs.
- “Do you not known of the ancient pact?” a scholar-monk on the subject, from another fief who is apparently unaware of the situation. “The temple grants the land fertility and protection against the faeries, but in return it will ask for sacrifices. Well, ask is not the right word, but it will just take. Though in the past those marked for the sacrifice will not cast a shadow under the moonlight, and they knew their days were numbered and would set their houses in order. For those people, that was a honor indeed.” Is that the real reason why the nobles refused to act? What if an adventurer’s friend or ally was marked, or if the lord’s beloved son himself was?
- The pagan temple is in fact a base of operations for a group of rebellious dukes and barons who wished to overthrow the current King. Sorcerers in their employ has lay down numerous wards and traps – even a few Elementalists from Thuland have joined the cause, with promise of land and power for their warlord-kings. The ritual sacrifices were performed as a red herring and the noble lords are using the excuse of border contention to keep curious by-passers out. Now, however, what if a real power lies dormant within that temple, or a powerful treasure indeed does? And what if there is an unactivated portal deep within the temple?
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