The party entered the Sunken Temple to find Taban and rescue Grandfather Zitembe. Vogal solved the puzzle of the entrance hall with waterskins and the puzzle of the garden by mixing two liquids into a green draft, which the party drank. At the Gorge of Teeth they destroyed two girallon zombies and crossed one by one on Vonara’s broom, and a disembodied voice asked each of them whether their flight served Order or Chaos. In the last chamber they found Zitembe alive, chained and floating beneath a colossal stone scale.
Recap
The entrance hall
It is the twenty-seventh of Flamerule, 1492 DR. The party stands at the entrance of the Sunken Temple. They arrived by the Feywild transport of Lady Sansa, given in exchange for Vonara’s memories. They mean to locate Taban and to rescue Grandfather Zitembe, whom they do not believe to be truly dead.
The entrance hall is a grand chamber dominated by two colossal statues. One is an obsidian tyrannosaurus rex, for Order, and the other is a jade displacer beast, for Chaos. Pressure plates at the statues’ feet require balancing.
Vogal balances the plates using waterskins. The statues bow, and the massive stone door opens. The statue of the tyrannosaurus rex growls a low warning but does not animate.
Taenae seems strangely enamored with the statue of the displacer beast, which echoes the form she took when she was returned to life.
The garden
The outer sanctum is a surreal garden of bioluminescent flora. At its center is a gazebo with seven crystal cups of colored liquid. Taenae spends time harvesting rare toxic and medicinal plants from the garden beds.
The altar demands that they “Drink from the Green Cup,” but the cup is nearly empty.
After intense debate, Vogal mixes the yellow liquid, which is like honey, and the blue liquid, which is saltwater, in the silver cup. The party pours the resulting murky green brew into the green cup and drinks the mixture. The gazebo collapses or melts away and reveals the path forward.
The Gorge of Teeth
The Gorge of Teeth is a seventy-foot chasm filled with churning black water and jagged spikes. A single frayed tightrope spans it.
Two girallon zombies, chained to the ceiling, awake and attack. A significant battle follows. The party fights the undead apes while navigating the treacherous terrain, and the girallons are destroyed.
Rather than risk the rope, the party decides to ferry across one by one on Vonara’s broom of flying. In the middle of each flight a disembodied voice demands an answer of the traveler: “Does your flight serve Order, or Chaos?”
Taenae answers Chaos, for the hunt. Glade answers Order, for the balance of nature. Vogal answers Order, for loyalty. Vonara answers that it serves neither Order nor Chaos. Inete answers Order, for fate. Takhesis answers Order, and names the Architect.
The Heart Chamber
The party enters the final domed chamber. A colossal stone scale hovers in the center. One side glows gold, for Order, and the other oozes shadow, for Chaos. A beam of ritual energy connects the scales and hums with power.
Grandfather Zitembe is floating, chained beneath the scales. He is emaciated, and bioluminescent moss is draining his life force.
Taban has not revealed himself yet, but he is here.
Aftermath
- Zitembe had been found. He was alive but in critical condition.
- Taban had not yet shown himself.
- The two girallon zombies were destroyed.
- Taenae had the plants she harvested in the garden.
- The party stood in the Heart Chamber, before the scales.
Appendix
Present
Taenae · Vogal · Takhesis Calva · Vonara · Glade · Inete.
References
People: Taban · Grandfather Zitembe · Lady Sansa
Places: Sunken Temple
Other: Broom of Flying