Map-a-Week: The Haunted Temple

Okay, this is the Map-a-Week that came out 25 years ago: The Haunted Temple. It looks innocuous enough, I think. I'm going to put it somewhere near location 8 on the Journey map. It's out of the way, which makes it easy to put whatever I want inside without worrying about affecting other things in the region.

So, this is an old temple that was abandoned for some reason, and now it's haunted. Well, that suggests ghosts, doesn't it? So yeah, I'm going to put those templates to good use here. At least one, anyway. We have 19 locations to stock, so let's get to it. I'm going to make this a dungeon for 5th-level characters, I think. That seems reasonable.

1. Fountain. The gates leading to the temple are old and broken; the right gate is rusted in place and can't be closed unless a DC 25 Str check succeeds. If the gate is closed, it makes an utterly horrific shrieking sound that can be heard a long way off, and will definitely attract predatory creatures in the area.

The fountain itself has fresh water, but there are no animal footprints nearby, suggesting that the animals avoid this waterhole entirely. Indeed, animals won't be found nearby, and druids will sense the 'wrongness' of the place. By the fountain is an old stone bench that, despite being out in the open, isn't covered in bird droppings; in fact, there aren't any at all.

2. Grand Staircase. This rounded staircase leads up to the next floor. Beneath it there is a short passage that leads to the door to #6, and to the left of the entrance is an open doorway to #3. The room is covered in a thick layer of dust, but the stairs are as clean as the day the temple was built. The two alcoves are empty except for a shelf about four feet off the ground in each one.

3. Atrium. There are five alcoves in this chamber, and one additional exit in the north wall. The five alcoves each have a shelf four feet off the ground, upon which is a small icon of a long-forgotten deity. The icons are made of different materials; from the southeastern alcove going counterclockwise, they are: wood, stone, pewter, alabaster, and ivory. If any of the icons are disturbed, there will be a rush of wind and the icon will glow, releasing a mephit (roll 1d10 to determine what kind). The mephit will immediately try to touch the other icons to bring in more mephits, defending itself as necessary.

4. Vestibule. This room has two staircases, one leading down and the other up to the second floor. There are also several chests of drawers and a wardrobe. Inside the wardrobe are five green robes with golden thread patterns. These robes are worth 75 gp each to a scholar or collector. The drawers contain several vessels of gold and pewter worth a total of 400 gp. However, if the wardrobe or drawers are disturbed, all lights in the room are immediately extinguished, and a shadow mastiff is summoned to the room and immediately attacks any intruders.

5. Temple. This room contains an altar and several braziers. The altar is made of granite and has a faded blood-red stain over the entire top. The braziers closest to the altar are made of ebony wood and silver; the ones around the outside of the room are made of gold and ivory. They are firmly attached to the floor and cannot be removed without destroying them. Inside the altar is a secret compartment, inside of which is a small box. Inside the box is a divine scroll with magic circle against good and hold person spells, along with a jeweled dagger with a bloodstained blade worth 1500 gp if cleaned.

Opening the secret compartment without speaking the proper prayers will summon an hellcat (52 hp) that will defend the altar against all intruders. However, if the hellcat sees the shadow mastiff in #4 (or vice versa), they will attack each other, ignoring intruders until one of the two is killed and dismissed to its own plane.

6. Outer Temple. This area used to be covered, but the exterior of the building has rotted away, and this area is now open to the surrounding forest. There are two sets of steps leading down to the forest floor. Not far into the woods are several piles of bones. These bones are animated by the dark mystical energies that infuse this area, and each pile contains five Medium-sized skeletons that will rise if disturbed and attack the disturbers.

That will do for now; I'll try to fill in more at a later time and stock the rest of it. But this is a good start.