H5. THE HERETICAL TEMPLE OF SHARADA (Level 3-6, better at 4-6)

The Silent Regulator

Once a sanctioned Sharadan temple, this site became the center of a heretical doctrine: that mandalas could be consciously regulated, throttled, or redirected, not merely tended. When the Church moved to suppress this belief, something went catastrophically wrong.

The temple has not been ritually desecrated by enemies.
It was abandoned in panic.

What Went Wrong Here (Choose One or Layer Them)

Overreach
The priests successfully activated the Mandala Regulator, briefly stabilizing multiple ley nodes at once. This drew the attention of something older than the gods.
Heresy Exposure
Sharada’s Shadow Aspect manifested, not as corruption, but as unfiltered insight. The priests learned truths the pantheon forbids.
Demonic Interference
A bound intelligence exploited the regulator’s operation, twisting its function and anchoring itself beneath the temple.
Deliberate Suppression
The Church sealed the site, erased doctrine, and allowed the guardian entity to remain as a warning.

The Demon Beneath the Temple

Name: Āvaraṇa-Ketu
The Veil That Knows

Sanskrit-derived, meaning Obstruction of Insight
Not a rampaging destroyer
A cognitive demon, feeding on suppressed knowledge, denial, and regulated truth

Intent:
Āvaraṇa-Ketu does not want freedom.
It wants operation.

If the Mandala Regulator functions again, even briefly, it grows stronger.

It whispers:

“You already regulate everything.”
“I only remove the lie.”

It believes Sharada’s worship was incomplete without it.

6. CATACOMBS OF THE VEIL

(Formerly the Catacombs of Kartoeba)

This meandering network of dark, slime-slick passages spreads beneath much of the Lost Valley. Numerous concealed entrances open into the catacombs from ruins, sinkholes, and collapsed shrines across Hutaaka. You should determine their locations as needed.

Only the tunnels immediately beneath the Temple of Sharada are mapped (Plan H6). Unless the party is following Āvaraṇa-Ketu’s slime trail (see Event HE7), navigation is impossible. Characters automatically become lost, wandering for 1d4+1 hours before emerging through a different secret exit elsewhere in the valley.

These tunnels were never meant for travel.
They are pressure-release channels.

Meandering Tunnels

The catacombs are rank and lightless. Stagnant, oily water drips constantly from the ceiling, coating the walls and floor in slick residue. The stone is rough-hewn and uneven, bearing tool marks that were never smoothed away.

The acoustics are wrong.

Sounds echo too slowly, or not at all. Occasionally, a faint slithering noise seems to come from just beyond the edge of vision, followed by an inexplicable chill.

The passage twists away into darkness. Water drips steadily.
Nothing moves.
And yet, something feels very close.

All passages radiate evil if detected. The sensation intensifies the nearer the party is to Āvaraṇa-Ketu’s containment zone.

Optional Encounters

For every half-mile travelled (or at the GM’s discretion), there is a 1-in-4 chance of an encounter:

X) Green Slime
The walls or ceiling are coated with green slime, which attempts to fall on passing characters. There is only a 1-in-6 chance to notice ceiling slime unless characters explicitly look upward.

Y) Ochre Jelly
A small stone relief of a jackal-headed figure is set into the wall. As the party passes, an ochre jelly oozes from the statue’s open mouth and attacks the nearest character.

Z) Carrion Crawler
The passage opens into a wider cavern.

Relief washes over you as the tunnel broadens—
then freezes as eight pale tentacles slide into view.

H6. UNDER THE TEMPLE

This section of the catacombs lies directly beneath the Temple of Sharada (Plan H6). Several green slime (X) and ochre jelly (Y) hazards are present here and marked on the map.

When the party first enters this area, Āvaraṇa-Ketu is lurking at the indicated location.

The demon is aware of intruders almost immediately. It hunts intelligently, attempting to approach from behind or above, using the tunnels’ acoustics and darkness to its advantage.

During combat, one observant character may notice a silver harmonic bar partially embedded in the demon’s body near its maw. This is the key required to open the sealed reliquary chamber (H5i). Removing it prematurely may have consequences.

H6a. Dark Pit

A continual darkness spell shrouds this 20-foot-deep pit. It is 20 feet across, with a narrow 2-foot-wide ledge on the east side.

Any character falling into the pit takes 2d6 damage.

Āvaraṇa-Ketu’s slime trail continues on the far side, leading into area H6b.

H6b. The Veiled Lair

This cavern is ankle-deep in viscous slime. The air is thick with a sour, metallic stench that burns the back of the throat.

The pit from the main temple (H5b) is visible overhead as a dark, circular opening in the ceiling. A northern secret door stands partially open, jammed by rubble fallen during the temple’s collapse.

This chamber is not a lair in the traditional sense.

It is where containment failed.

H6c. Observers’ Gallery

A narrow balcony runs along one wall, 20 feet above the cavern floor, protected by a double thickness of iron bars set directly into the rock.

This gallery once allowed priests to observe containment rituals from a position of safety.

A passage leads upward from here into the crypts (H5h).

H6d. Empty Cavern

This bare cavern contains only a stone trapdoor set into the floor. A ladder leads upward to area H5i, the sealed reliquary chamber within the temple.

Nothing guards this room.

It was never meant to be defended.

GM Notes: Purpose of the Catacombs

These tunnels were designed to channel, isolate, and starve failures of mandala regulation
They are not natural caves
Āvaraṇa-Ketu is not imprisoned here by force, but by design constraints
Killing the demon resolves an immediate threat but destabilizes the system

The catacombs exist to make one truth unavoidable:

The Temple of Sharada was not abandoned because it was wrong.
It was abandoned because it almost worked.

78 Temple of Sharada