Battlemap
Temple of the Unfailing Rooster
A cracked bronze bell hangs over the nave, and every loose feather shivers whenever it trembles.
The Temple of the Unfailing Rooster was built around a bell said to announce danger before it arrived. Its priests once guarded the surrounding farms, but a failed prophecy left the sanctuary sealed, its rites twisted, and its guardian still waiting for a threat that never came. Adventurers entering through the old nave find four chambers branching toward shrines, a robing hall, and the locked sanctum.
Cold, damp air clings to the skin, carrying the smells of wet limestone, old incense, and bird droppings. Thin daylight reaches the entrance, but the inner chambers glow with weak amber flames that sputter whenever the temple's unseen bell trembles. From deeper within come soft scratching, distant chanting, and the occasional frantic flutter of wings.
☠ Threat
The sealed sanctum is ruled by Orsavo, the last high priest, who has become a gaunt vessel for the temple bell's prophetic spirit. He believes every living creature in the valley is part of an approaching catastrophe and seeks to ring the bell with blood, forcing its warning across the countryside. His visions are genuine but distorted, making negotiation possible only if the party proves the bell has already spoken falsely.
History
The Temple of the Unfailing Rooster was raised by farmers who believed a red jungle fowl had warned them of a raiding band. Priest Hekmat, a practical builder from the nearby terraces, shaped the sanctuary around a bronze warning bell and promised it would never fail. Years later, the priests began brewing prophetic oil from poisonous flowers. When the bell's warnings turned against them, they sealed the sanctum and left their order to decay in place.
Encounter Table
CRA pair of oversized rats wearing scraps of red altar cloth and dragging a stolen votive chain.
A blind temple vulture with a bronze ring around one leg, driven into the halls by the bell's psychic distress.
A soot-stained acolyte ghost that repeats the final line of the altered prophecy and points toward room-3.
Rumours & Whispers
A bell beneath the hill rings before accidents, but anyone who follows the sound never comes back the same.
The temple priests promised that no rooster would ever vanish from the valley, which is why locals still leave feathers at the old road marker.
A noble family paid to have a prophecy changed, and the original words are hidden somewhere behind the temple's locked doors.
The shrine water shows the face of whoever is about to betray you, though it has shown a different face to every witness.
At dawn, black-feathered rats crawl out of the hillside and carry scraps of prayer cloth into the fields.
Quest Hooks
Quest giver: Pavo, a broad-shouldered goatherd who refuses to enter the temple after losing his flock near its doors.
Shepherds report that every rooster within a day's walk has vanished, while a bronze ringing is heard beneath the hill before dawn.
Three potions of healing and a silver trade token worth 25 gp.
Quest giver: Eleni of the Reed Shrine, a soft-spoken acolyte with a cracked clay rooster pendant.
A local shrine keeper wants the temple's bell recovered before Orsavo completes a ritual that will frighten nearby villages into abandoning their fields.
A blessing that grants advantage on one saving throw against fear, plus 40 gp in offerings.
Quest giver: Doros Pell, a tired clerk carrying a water-stained ledger and a signet he cannot legally use.
An old family record claims the temple holds proof that a noble ancestor forged the prophecy used to seize several farms.
A legal deed to a small orchard and a favor from the clerk's patron.
Corridor Notes
Small clay votive birds line the walls, most cracked or missing their painted eyes. Several have been recently moved, leaving clean marks in the dust.
A hairline trail of black candle wax runs beneath the locked door toward Room 2. The wax is warm despite the surrounding cold.
Loose feathers collect in every corner, and a faint greasy scent marks places where temple rats squeeze through the masonry.
Half-erased prayers praise the temple as a place where no believer would ever fall. The final word of each prayer has been scratched away.
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