You find a circular temple chamber lined with soot-dark reliefs of hooded worshippers. At its center, four stone disks stand before an altar, their carved words catching a faint amber glow. Three inscriptions ring the altar, and a shallow black bowl waits beneath a red crystal. Warm air smells of ash and old incense; each disk gives a dry stone click when turned, while thin lines of light connect the disks to four numbered sockets.
You step into a round temple chamber where soot-dark figures watch from the walls. Four stone disks stand before an altar, and a red crystal glows above a black bowl. Warm air carries the smell of ash. Three inscriptions encircle the altar, while four numbered sockets wait in a row.
The inscriptions are legible without a check. Let players turn the disks and test ideas freely before committing. The numbers mark the sequence from first to fourth, and each disk's click makes its current position obvious.
Give the group a few minutes to compare the three inscriptions. If they stop making progress, offer the tier-one hint; escalate only if they remain stuck. Wrong attempts create visible, nonlethal feedback, so do not impose a real-time countdown unless the scene needs urgency.
You find a circular temple chamber lined with soot-dark reliefs of hooded worshippers. At its center, four stone disks stand before an altar, their carved words catching a faint amber glow. Three inscriptions ring the altar, and a shallow black bowl waits beneath a red crystal. Warm air smells of ash and old incense; each disk gives a dry stone click when turned, while thin lines of light connect the disks to four numbered sockets.
The inscriptions and numbered sockets are visible from the entrance. Characters who inspect the disks see that they can be turned independently and that each has the same four stopping points.
Set the four rites into the numbered sockets, from first to last:
1. ____ 2. ____ 3. ____ 4. ____
The available rites are Name, Veil, Ember, and Bell.
The players must arrange the four rite disks in the numbered sockets from first to fourth, using the inscriptions to infer the order. Turning a disk is effortless and can be done without an ability check; the group may discuss and change the arrangement freely until someone declares a final sequence. When they commit, compare the sequence to the answer key. On a wrong attempt, the crystal flashes, the bowl exhales incense, and the party suffers the stated consequence; on a correct attempt, the disks lock into place, the red light turns gold, and the altar opens. Investigation, Religion, or Arcana checks can reveal how the apparatus works or clarify ritual context, but never replace or conceal the written clues.
The puzzle activates when a creature turns any rite disk or touches one of the numbered sockets.
| DC | Check | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Investigation | Notice that each disk has four detents and that the numbered marks on the altar indicate the order of the rites. |
| 12 | Religion | Recognize the four words as stages of one ritual, but not determine their order without interpreting the inscriptions. |
| 13 | Arcana | Understand that the red-lit lines are feedback from the altar and that a wrong sequence is being recorded as a failed offering. |
No hint given yet.
The disks lock into the correct order. The red crystal turns gold, the incense smell gives way to clean rain-scented air, and the altar slides aside to reveal the reliquary and inner passage.
On each wrong sequence, the red crystal flashes and releases a wave of disorienting incense. Each creature in the chamber makes a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 psychic damage on a failure or half as much on a success. After the third failed sequence, the altar locks for 10 minutes, then resets. The characters can continue, and the temple does not become impassable.
The cult's first high priest, Ilyra Voss, built the altar to ensure that every acolyte learned the rite's order rather than merely memorizing a chant. The four stages represented the cult's belief that a name must be offered to the hidden power before the veil is lifted, the flame is kindled, and the final witness is summoned. For generations, the altar served as both a ritual focus and a test of discipline; a wrong sequence was meant to frighten novices back into careful study, not kill them.
For a less resilient party, remove the psychic damage and have a wrong attempt impose only a brief wave of dizziness and a one-round disadvantage on the next ability check made in the chamber. For a more challenging version, have the altar's light fade after each wrong attempt and require the party to solve the same sequence while a visible threat approaches; do not add more clues or make the solution ambiguous.
Treat the puzzle as a reasoning challenge, not a test of player memory. Keep the inscription text available to the players and let them write down the relationships. Checks can clarify the apparatus or ritual context, but should not gate the clues. A wrong attempt is a chance to telegraph consequences, not a reason to punish experimentation.
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