The Abyssal Temple

13th-17th of Simdis, 28 AoR - Abel, Aezrah, Helsimir, Spark, - and later Korae - set out to explore a Vexen ruin.

With our group gathered together for our journey, we prepared supplies and planned out our route. Our goal was to reach the marked Vexen ruin that was just south of the Aspiring Peaks. But on our way north, we passed by the Vexen burial ground that was explored in early Brynholm. On my last adventure, I had discovered a way to open magical seals within Vexen ruins, and we wished to pass by this initial location to see if there was anything that could be opened within it. Spark unlocked a chest in the burial ground, but there was nothing else of note within the area. With the catacomb sufficiently explored, we set our sights to the north and continued our travel.
On the 15th of Simdis, we awoke in the Planum Abasu to find that Aezrah was missing. Helsimir, Spark and I gathered our camping supplies together and followed a trail of footprints that seemed to belong to our missing elf. After searching for almost two hours, we found him and inquired about what happened. Aezrah explained that he had a strange dream while he was meditating. He seemed to have wandered in his sleep, because the camp was nowhere to be seen when he woke up. We discussed Aezrah's dream for some time, and then we continued our way north in search of the ruin.
I spotted a rocky outcrop among a thicket of trees, and we moved in to investigate. As we moved through the trees, we crossed a trail of footprints that moved towards the west. As these plains are at least a day’s travel to any civilization, this was an unusual sight indeed. As we examined the rocks, we found a smooth granite set of double doors. Helsimir identified the symbol of fire that was seen around the previous Vexen ruin. Perhaps this is the symbol of the Vexen Empire? Their culture did revere numerous fire deities after all.
There were no handles or indications of how to open the smooth granite door. I placed my hand against the doors to try to open its seal. They opened before us and air was pulled into the stagnant vacuum of the ruins. As I entered, I heard a strange voice whisper into my mind, “Vexe Nilthan. Vexe Muldan.” - or “None except the Vexen. The Vexen thrive.” in Daelish. The interior of the temple was almost pristine. The stonemasonry was nicer than much of what exists today. As we entered we saw a defaced statue, with its torso and face chipped, scratched, and marred. We later learned it must have been a statue of Rogald Den Vexer. He was the last emperor to rule the Vexen Empire, and was maniacal according to ancient records. His people hated him so much that they defaced or destroyed every known statue of him after his death. Various ancient statues exist that show the appearance of previous emperors, but every known statue of Rogald has been defaced. Therefore, no one really knows what he looked like.
There was a set of scribblings near the statue in Vexen that Helsimir was able to decipher. The initial passage was old and fading and read as follows:

Dear traveler, nothing but woe lies beyond these halls. This is the Abyssal Temple, where our emperor forced us to profane in the names of the unholy underdeities. Our kin were forced to serve them in their vile rituals, all under the control of the emperor. Those who resisted were killed by their brethren or consumed alive by fiends. Those who gave in themselves became wretched abyss spawn. These halls are littered with traps designed to kill their own creators should they not spend their waking moments attentive. It is with our final breath we seal this place off so that none may endanger themselves. If you are reading this, we beg you to turn around and seal this place, our tomb, lest you make our sacrifices in vain. There is nothing here for you. Only death and grief.

And there was newer text of a different nature just below:

Only grief? Only pain?

Ahh, but there's so much more to gain!

They never mentioned the silver and gold,

waiting to be claimed by the strong and bold!

This was a holy place after all,

and the gods desire treasure both big and small.

Come into our temple, and curse your makers.

Your rewards are wealth and relics, any takers?

Stain your soul and worship the dark,

and on this world you will leave your mark.

Just remember to give what is due to the fire,

or face my wrath, the master of the Empire!

Needless to say, this disturbed me. Spark explained that ‘give what is due to the fire’ is a passage that was written in the Vexen burial ground explored shortly after our guild was founded. After a previous Vexen encounter, I had a haunting dream that also mentioned that phrase. I believe that there may be more to this phrase than its initial implication - that it is merely a religious incantation in their culture.
We discussed the nature of these passages among ourselves. The first was obviously written by people who were trapped within this temple, and Helsimir shared some of what he learned when researching the Vexen dynasty’s last emperor. Rogald Den Vexer was insane to put it lightly, and he instructed his people to build labyrinths filled with death traps so that he could watch his people die for entertainment. He forced his people to worship him and various fiends. Helsimir's research was enforced when we discovered ancient Vexen scrolls later on that held prayers to various demon lords like Baphomet, and Orcus. The Vexen emperors before Rogald were actually benevolent rulers, but they were all outshined by his wickedness as he scorned his ancestors and dismantled the empire that they had built. The second passage seemed to be written by Rogald himself. And with that knowledge, we hesitantly moved deeper into the Abyssal Temple.
Upon entering the very next room, fleshy spawn and fiends emerged and began to attack us. In my attempt to hold back the tide of enemies, I was knocked unconscious in the ensuing battle. After the fiends were slain, I was severely injured and other companions were running low of their magical resources. As we had no sort of time limit and we already arrived at this ruin later on in the day, we decided to rest within the first room of the temple for the night. While we were not harmed during our rest, things were... uneasy. As Spark kept watch in the opening room of the temple, the statue within the room seemed to move. At different points of the night, it would stare at him or pose differently as Spark shifted his gaze about the room. As Aezrah came out of his elven trance, he continued the watch into the night. The statue continued its poses. It glared at Aezrah, motioned him to be quiet and restored itself to a pristine condition before becoming defaced again. When we all woke, the statue was in flawless condition with a haughty smile. We saw a proud man with bushy hair and a bushy beard. Helsimir identified the statue as one of Rogald Den Vexer. This statue was definitely tarnished some hours ago, but now it was the only known statue in existence of the most hated Vexen emperor. When we prepared ourselves, we continued our descent into the depths of the Abyssal Temple.
The temple continued straight for some time, and we worked our way down its side passages as we continued deeper. We found a study with an abundance of Vexen scrolls - where Helsimir found the demonic prayers among scholarly notes. There was a message of the table in Vexen that read as follows:
You're going to fucking die and It's gonna be great. Good luck.
We had already encountered numerous traps - before and within this room - but this put us on an even higher alert. The next room that we entered had scattered treasure and a mimic that we locked within the chamber instead of fighting. As we prepared to go deeper, Korae arrived behind us to aid us in our exploration of the rest of the temple.
The next chamber housed a statue that grasped a decapitated head by its scalp. The head was emitting necrotic energies, which were being used to preserve some semblance of life within it. It was the head of a human male with long hair and appeared well preserved. Spark poked the skull with mage hand - and it awoke from its death-like stupor. Its eyes glowed as it resumed its feigned form of life. It seemed conscious and intelligent, so Helsimir opened his mind to speak with it telepathically to bypass language barriers. The head did not answer questions clearly, but instead warned us against the dangers of the temple. According to him, he was placed here in his immortalized state by Rogald Den Vexer to serve as an example to those who would oppose the emperor. He explained that the sole purpose of this temple was to strike fear and inflict pain on the Vexen people. Rogald relished in casting people within this temple to watch them suffer and darken their souls. Spark and I offered to kill the head to end his misery, but he assured us that it was impossible - the curse that preserved his life was too powerful.
Helsimir conferred with us about the nature of this place. All of these traps and warnings must be tricks to turn people away. There is no way that this place was built for nothing but suffering. There must be something that they are trying to protect within its depths. Other party members agreed with his idea. I did not agree, but I kept my conviction to myself. Though it is an unpleasant truth, some people are truly this heinous. This is not a caricature of some fairy tale evil as some historians may suggest of Rogald Den Vexer. This is evil incarnate. The others wished to continue searching the temple, and I knew that I must be their shield against the dangers ahead.
There were a few illusionary doors. One led to a chamber filled with treasure and two skeletal minotaurs, and the other lead to a torture chamber stained in dried blood. After investigating the illusionary passages, we entered a larger room that was almost hexagonal in shape. There was a dark jagged crystal with a golden plaque just below it. Helsimir translated it for us once again:

Behold worms, you stand before the sinner's stone.

May it stand as a monument to the beauty of sin and imperfection.

This is as far as you will proceed, only those whose hearts are black may go forward

Place your hands upon this monument and confess your dark deeds out loud

Face your sins. Overcome them or let them overcome you.

Only then shall you see this temple's deeper sanctums.

While Spark was excited to confess his ‘juicy’ sins to this dark crystal, I felt hesitant about admitting secrets within this demonic temple. Helsimir urged us to see this through to the end. One by one people stepped forward to admit their sins as dark fibers swirled up within the powering crystal. When they looked to me, I was unsure of what to do. As an Absolver I carry the sins of others so that they may be pure, so I did not believe that I carried a shortage of sins. But as I thought, no shouldered sins of others entered my mind, only a mistake that has haunted me since my childhood. When I admitted my fault, black fibers poured from my hand unceasingly as the dark crystal powered itself and the chamber shook violently. The darkness gave form to abyssal creatures and our next trial began.
When we overcame our judgement, a wall vanished and revealed a passage to the temple’s inner sanctum. As we approached the next room, an ethereal voice entered our minds and spoke words in Vexen that we could not understand. A statue of Rogald Den Vexer stood before us in this sanctum. The statue before us was undefaced and stood proudly. As per usual in this temple, treasure and haunting passages sat before us. A golden plaque read as follows:

You have made it here, congratulations on your survival.

As your reward, you will be given this small respite.

All that is here is yours, though what lies beyond may be beyond you.

Proceed at your own risk, though know no mercy awaits.

Only by embracing the darkness of all three passages will you inherited the heart of the temple

The passages along the sides of the room were labelled For Those Who Worship Madness, For Those Who Worship Undeath, and For Those Who Worship Savagery. We headed the temple’s warnings and decided to return to the guild as we were injured and low on resources. The temple’s previous tests showed no mercy themselves, and I can only imagine what kind of greater dangers would lie ahead. As we approached the temple's entrance, there was no light ahead. The door to the temple was sealed behind us. The statue of Rogald was gone, and where it stood was writing that read:
See you soon.
I asked Korae if he saw the statue when he arrived after us. He calmly confirmed that he had, and when he explained what the statue looked like, my heart sank. The statue of the Vexen emperor was pristine - painted with red and gold colors and possessing two large horns. I had failed to realize it before - the statue was not merely haunting us, but it was transforming. And when that thing left the temple, it sealed the door behind us. I examined the doors - there was no physical way to open it from the inside. The door had renewed its magical seal. I prayed that I could open it from the inside like I had yesterday. I placed my hand on its surface, and as it unlocked, I breathed a sigh of relief. There was a set of footprints that left the temple and marched to the northeast - from our statue friend that had awakened no doubt. Aezrah examined the tracks, and they appeared to be made by a human of normal weight, not a heavy stone statue. We were in no state to pursue whatever was released, so we made our way back to the guild with treasures in tow.
I fear for what we may have caused... Stay safe my friends.
-Abel Holgaard