The inset on map 3.1 depicts what is left of the shrine at ground level.
Maps
54. Temple Ruin
This was apparently a large temple of some sort. Once a major building, all that remains are the back wall and enough of the roof to shelter the altar. All else seems closed off by fallen debris. Several pillars have fallen and they litter the floor. Sunlight filters through holes in the roof, thirty-five feet overhead, which is a maze of chips and cracks. The back wall is covered by a bas-relief of a giant bat-thing, nine feet tall, with a wingspan of twenty feet. In front of this wall is an altar stone, carved to represent a mass of squirming rats, weasels, and worms. On the front of the altar is the head of a screaming bat. Jutting above the altar on either side are a pair of sharp-edged, metal bat-wings, eight feet long. The floor in front of the altar is worn smooth.
Field of Rubble
The temple area is filled with debris that offers no obvious passage to the interior. In the center of the south edge is an area where rubble is heaped over an opening that seems to lead down deeper into the debris. It is shaky and can be collapsed easily-any force applied to the heap by a creature with Strength 15 or higher will bring the rocks down. This rubble can also be caused to collapse by hurling a weighty object at it or using a spell such as thunderwave to create the needed force. Those within 10 feet of the collapse must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage from falling debris.
Climbing elsewhere on the debris causes a minor collapse, dealing 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage to each climber. Each climber must also succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be buried by the debris, taking 7 (3d4) more bludgeoning damage. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the debris engulfs the digger completely, and the trapped character can’t breathe until dug out. Struggling out on one’s own requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check, and doing so takes 1 minute. Any of these sorts of collapses open no access to the inside.
Fragile Roof
Each time a creature ends its turn on the portion of the roof that remains standing, there is a 20 percent chance that the roof beneath its feet gives way. The creature falls 35 feet, to the rubble below, taking 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage.
Trapdoor Entrance
If the characters begin their investigations of the hidden shrine by arriving at the temple, they need to find a way in. One route is by way of a trapdoor in the floor about 10 feet in front of the altar. A character can discover the seam of the door with a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. Any creature that walks across the top of the door has a 1-in-12 chance of triggering it, for the mechanism is old, and long disuse has made it unreliable. Any skilled character’s reasonable attempt to keep the door from opening works. Forcing the door to stay open requires a successful DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check. The trapdoor opens onto a slide that emerges above the pit in area 53. Anyone who slides down the tunnel to the hidden hatch at the other end is dumped into that room.
Secret Entrance
The second way to enter the tombs below is through a secret door hidden behind the left wing of the giant bat-thing carved upon the wall. A character can locate the door with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check.
The door can be opened if a character places a limb into the mouth of the carving. If this occurs, the mouth clamps shut; the teeth puncture the limb, dealing 11 (2d10) piercing damage; and a giant batwing folds out from the wall to reveal the passage. A creature trapped in the bat’s mouth is grappled (escape DC 12) but doesn’t take further damage.
The mechanical nature of the latch becomes apparent to any creature that examines the mouth of the bat sculpture and succeeds on a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check. If the check succeeds by 10 or more, the creature deduces that the function of the mouth can be activated by placing any object (not necessarily an extremity) into it. This information can also be obtained by a creature that examines the mouth further and then succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check.
Once the wing has moved to reveal the secret door, it veils the lower half of the carving’s face and the bat’s black eyes start to glow. Any character who looks at them must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be paralyzed. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each minute or whenever it takes damage, ending the effect on itself on a successful save. The effect ends after 1 hour, or earlier if any magical light is shone on the altar.
Development. After the secret door to the shrine is opened, a giant hyena moves into this area. It makes a lair behind a fallen pillar to the east, waiting to ambush any who emerge back through the door.
Hinged Altar Trap
Close inspection of the altar reveals handholds along the front side and hinges at the back, indicating that the altar can be lifted from the front and tipped on its side. This can be accomplished by the combined effort of up to three characters with a total Strength of 30 or higher. If the altar is lifted quickly by characters in a standing position, the metal wings whip through an arc from the sides of the altar to the front center about 4 feet off the floor. Each wing’s leading edge is razor-sharp. Anyone in the path of a wing must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 13 (3d8) slashing damage. If a wing misses its first target, it sweeps past that creature with the possibility of striking another creature along the same path.
If the altar is tilted by characters while they are in a kneeling position, the wings whistle harmlessly overhead. The other way to avoid the trap is by being careful in the lifting.
The mechanism for the trap is inside the altar. Characters who lift the altar slowly and look underneath it can easily spot the levers and joints that connect with the bladed wings. The characters can prop the altar up, enabling someone to crawl under and disable the trap. Doing that requires 10 minutes of work and a successful DC 15 Dexterity check using thieves' tools.
Treasure
Beneath the altar is an 8-foot-deep pit in which are many items of value and two bodies cut in half. The treasure is very bulky. Resting on and buried in a pile of 20,000 silver pieces are the following items: fifty silver chased goblets (worth 5 gp each), twenty gold-plated statuettes (10 gp apiece), forty embossed silver chalices and servings (5 gp each), eighty pieces of jewelry (5 gp apiece), fifty mother-of-pearl pieces (1 gp each), a jade placard bearing the image of Zotzilaha (100 gp), and a marble statue of a reclining figure (50 gp).
It is very likely that if large portions of this treasure are taken, Zotzilaha finds out about it and sends a vampire or a giant bat to seek retribution.