The Moonless Temple

Adventure Overview

The Moonless Temple is a short, combat-focused adventure for four 2nd-level characters. It can be completed in one session and contains only two encounters.

Gregor, bartender at the Wooden Spoon Tavern, asks the adventurers to investigate an abandoned temple two days to the southeast. Travelers have seen smoke above the ruin and heard chanting after dark. A group of cultists has occupied the old shrine and begun performing unholy rites within it.

The adventurers must reach the temple, confront the cultists guarding its entrance, and stop their leader before the final rite is completed. They may keep whatever they recover from the temple. In addition, a priestess of the Moon Goddess will pay them 50 gp when they return with proof that the shrine is safe.

1. The Wooden Spoon

Gregor speaks to the party during a quiet part of the evening. He is broad-shouldered, practical, and more concerned than frightened. He learned of the activity from two woodcutters who passed near the temple three days ago.

What Gregor Knows

• The temple once belonged to the Moon Goddess, but its clergy abandoned it decades ago.
• A worn forest road leads southeast and ends near the ruin.
• At least four people have been seen around the temple. Gregor does not know their exact number.
• Priestess Celandra, who tends a small shrine in town, has offered 50 gp to anyone who makes the old temple safe.
• The party may keep anything they find, provided it does not belong to a living traveler.

Gregor provides simple directions and enough bread, dried fruit, and water for the four-day round trip. He cannot offer payment of his own.

2. The Journey Southeast

The old road winds through low wooded hills. The party sees faded trail markers bearing a crescent moon, but nothing threatens them along the way. Near sunset on the second day, they smell woodsmoke and find bootprints crossing the overgrown road.

A character who succeeds on a DC 11 Wisdom (Survival) check notices several sets of recent tracks and the pawprints of a very large dog. On a failure, the party still reaches the temple but does not know about the dog before seeing it.

3. Encounter One: The Courtyard

The courtyard is occupied by three Temple Initiates and a Cult Hound. Two initiates stand openly near the fire. The third is behind a broken column about 30 feet away and joins the fight at the start of the second round. This delayed arrival keeps the opening from overwhelming the party.

The Warning

The tallest initiate, Venn, raises one hand and orders the party to leave. He initially claims that the group is merely sheltering in an abandoned building.

• “This place has no priests and no master. Turn around.”
• “We have harmed no one. You have no authority here.”
• “Take another step and the hound will decide how welcome you are.”

A character who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check recognizes that Venn is stalling while another cultist slips toward the temple door. A DC 13 Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, or Persuasion) check can convince the guards that the party is leaving. This allows the characters to withdraw and approach again under cover, but the cultists will not peacefully admit them or abandon the temple.

The initiates attack if a character approaches the doorway, openly accuses them of conducting rites, or refuses a final order to leave. The hound obeys Venn and attacks the closest threatening character.

Tactics

• The two visible initiates keep close to the courtyard walls and throw knives until forced into melee.
• The hound tries to knock down one lightly armored target, but it does not attack an unconscious character.
• The third initiate joins at the beginning of round two. A character with passive Perception 13 or higher is not surprised by this arrival.
• When only one initiate remains, that initiate surrenders if offered mercy. The hound stops fighting if Venn falls and no other cultist uses an action to command it.

4. Inside the Temple

The entrance opens into a dusty vestibule. Defaced murals show silver-robed priests watching the phases of the moon. A short corridor leads to the sanctuary. The cultists have strung a dark curtain across the corridor, so the adventurers can hear chanting without immediately seeing the entire room.

The party may take a short rest in the vestibule. The chanting continues, but the final rite cannot be completed until moonrise in roughly two hours. If the characters make excessive noise or shout into the sanctuary, the enemies inside prepare for their arrival but do not come out.

Sanctuary Features

• Dimensions: The sanctuary is roughly 45 feet long and 35 feet wide.
• Pews: Cracked stone benches provide half cover to a crouching creature.
• Braziers: Two braziers cast bright light. A creature can tip one over with an action and a successful DC 11 Strength check, creating a burning 5-foot square. A creature entering the fire or starting its turn there takes 2 (1d4) fire damage.
• Ritual circle: The painted circle in front of the altar is difficult terrain.
• Side chamber: A curtained preparation room behind the altar conceals the cult leader at the beginning of the fight.

5. Encounter Two: The Broken Rite

Two Temple Initiates chant beside the ritual circle when the party enters. The cult leader, Malrec the Veiled, is completing the rite in the side chamber and is not initially visible.

Staging the Fight

1. Opening: The two initiates attack. They use pews for cover and try to keep the characters away from the altar.
2. The leader arrives: Malrec enters at the beginning of round three, or immediately after both initiates are defeated, whichever happens first.
3. Changing objective: A character adjacent to the ritual circle can use an action to erase part of it. After two successful DC 11 Intelligence (Arcana or Religion) checks, Malrec loses his Shadow Bolt action and cannot complete the rite.

This structure gives the characters time to deal with the weaker enemies before Malrec enters. Malrec fights aggressively while the circle is intact. If the circle is broken and he is reduced to 6 hit points or fewer, he offers to surrender and reveal the temple’s treasure.

6. Treasure and Conclusion

Once the cultists are defeated or driven away, the unnatural chill in the sanctuary fades. The cult’s ritual has desecrated the temple, but it has not awakened anything beneath it. The building is safe for Priestess Celandra and her attendants to reclaim.

Temple Treasure

A locked chest in the side chamber can be opened with Malrec’s key or a successful DC 12 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools. It contains:

• 32 gp and 85 sp
• A silver crescent pendant worth 20 gp
• Two potions of healing
• A Moon-Touched Dagger (a magical dagger that sheds dim silvery light in a 10-foot radius while drawn; the bearer can suppress or restore the light as a bonus action)

Malrec carries 7 gp, the chest key, and a page describing the rite. The page is sufficient proof that the cult was conducting unholy ceremonies.

Possible Follow-Up

A black wax seal on Malrec’s ritual page depicts a tower beneath an eclipsed moon. The symbol is not used anywhere else in the temple. It can be ignored, or it can point toward the cult’s larger organization if the group wants another adventure.

Enemy Statistics

These simplified statistics include everything needed to run both encounters.