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Dungeons
Temple · Medium · Level 4 · Hard

Aethelgard's Dry Step

A line of black water climbs the ziggurat's lowest stair, carrying a single funerary coin uphill.
Rooms
12
Foes
15, CR 1/8 to 2
Traps
3
Treasure
366 gp
123456789101112Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Lower Landing

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Two Tharizdun cult fanatics have reached the statue chamber in and are trying to prise the relic from its pedestal.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    1d4× Mire DeadCR 1/4

    When: They emerge when loud combat echoes through the halls or when a room's grave goods are disturbed without a prayer being offered.A pair of shambling dead in sodden burial wrappings, their mouths full of swamp reeds.
  2. 2

    Drowned MassCR 1/2

    When: It follows the sound of splashing water or a creature carrying an open flame.A wet, translucent mass of drowned hair and bones that drags itself through cracks beneath doors.
  3. 3

    1d3× Cult RunnerCR 1/8

    When: The runner appears after the cultists in have been alerted, attempting to carry news from the entrance toward .A Tharizdun scout with a spiral-marked hood and a pouch of stolen funerary tokens.

Rooms

12
1

Lower Landing

treasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A broken stair climbs to a squat stone landing beneath the ziggurat's first tier. A locked bronze-bound door blocks the way inward, and mist pours from its seams as if the temple were breathing.

Features

  • Carved scales along the stair edges have been polished smooth by generations of mourners.
  • The bronze door bears Kelemvor's balanced scales and a keyhole clogged with black mud.

What the GM knows

Treasure

Burial Offerings18 gp in mixed coins and a silver funerary bead

A small funerary bowl has been wedged under a stair stone. It holds old offerings untouched by the swamp.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The lock can be picked with thieves' tools () or opened with the old warden's key, kept in . Forcing it requires a Strength check and makes enough noise to alert occupants of .

3 doors: W (locked), E (locked), N (locked)

The place

What it is

A stepped ziggurat rises from a drowned marsh, its upper tiers hidden by fog that never lifts.

Atmosphere

Cold mist crawls ankle-high through the temple, tasting of peat, wet stone, and extinguished incense.

The threat

Two Tharizdun cult fanatics have reached the statue chamber in and are trying to prise the relic from its pedestal.

History

Dragonborn wardens raised this ziggurat to Kelemvor over a natural rise in the marsh, using its deep foundations as a crypt and a place to judge the honored dead.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1"The fog around that stepped ruin never parts, not even when the marsh winds blow. Folks say it follows anyone who speaks the dead aloud."
  2. 2"Aethelgard Xul-Vrahel went into the temple alone and left the whole country underwater. I heard he was a coward, but my grandmother called him a keeper."
  3. 3"There are lights beneath the ziggurat. The dead are carrying lanterns, and something in the swamp answers their names."
  4. 4"Black-robed pilgrims have been buying old burial tokens in town. They pay double and ask where the Dragonborn temple lies."

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Light in the FogA local ferryman's child vanished after following blue lights into the marsh. The tracks lead to the ziggurat, and a child's voice can be heard faintly near the prison in .From: Mosi, a marsh ferryman who keeps count of every passengerReward: A silvered handaxe, 50 gp, and the ferryman's knowledge of safe routes through the swamp
InvestigationThe Missing JudgmentA funerary tablet has been stolen from a village shrine. Its inscription is one of the keys to understanding the ward in , and cultists may already have it.From: Tavi, a keeper of the village deadReward: A charm of Kelemvor granting advantage on one death saving throw, plus 75 gp
ContainmentThe Waterline RisesThe swamp is spreading toward nearby farms. The cultists must be stopped before they disturb the relic and tear open the seal.From: Kesh, a hard-pressed marsh reeveReward: A writ granting the party salvage rights to the temple's upper tiers and 100 gp

Corridors

4

  • Passage between and

    Dragonborn funerary reliefs show the dead walking toward a black river; fresh cult marks have been scratched over their faces.

  • Passage between and

    A narrow channel carries dark swamp water through the floor. Pale fingers of mist rise whenever someone speaks a name aloud.

  • Passage between and

    The walls here bear deep claw-scrapes and fragments of old chain. A muffled, rhythmic thump comes from the direction of .

  • Passage between and

    A cracked stone gutter drains toward the sealed lower chambers. The water flows uphill for a few heartbeats whenever the relic stirs.

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