Archway 3, Room 27: The Chamber of the Vampire Queen Altar to Orcus
The central passage way leads you to the grand temple dedicated to both the Vampire Queen and to Orcus. Though one only needs to look at the walls to see the main veneration here is to Darlessa the Vampire Queen.
There are bodies of shadow elves, centuries dead covering the floors. There is not enough here to determine what killed them.
The columns of this room are all carved to resemble the Vampire Queen as if she is holding up this temple. The back wall is dedicated to a large statue of Orcus, though his features here are more shadow elf in nature.
In front of the statue of Orcus are Urnu and Runu from earlier in the adventure (Room 13). They are standing admiring the statue. When they hear you come in they turn and ask you to come and admire it with them. When the party gets to them there are three shadow elves dead on the ground.
They tell you that they killed the guards, adherents to an ancient religion forgot even to the high elves. They point to the statue and claim it was carved from a single piece of stone and that the artist apon completion marveled at it for many days straight unmoving. At the end of the seven day he took out a knife and cut his own throat knowing he would never do something again as magnificent. (if asked how they know, they will say it is a common enough story among shadow elves.)
They point to one ruby eye remaining. They will show the party the way to next level, they have no desire to get involved with the Vampire Queen, but they want the eye. They can't get it themselves due to a religious taboo that prevents them. (this is mostly true).
They is trapped and difficult to get too.
A thief will need to climb the statue and find and remove the two traps guarding it.
The eye itself will need to be pried loose.
Urnu and Runu want the eye. It is very magical and has a strong aura of necromancy about it. They tell the party they wish to return it to their own homeland where it can be put back where it came from. This is all true, but the eye is an evil artifact all the same. They promise to show the party where the secret exit is.
If the party agrees they take the eye and they show them to Room 30.
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