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Felarya - Bowel Temple/ The Gargoyle By fountos -- Report

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Located somewhere in the cliffside crags of the Malyra Fen is the Temple of Bowels. Its Massive underground pathways are hewn straight out the rock without a single bit of masonry employed in its construction. The entrance to the Temple resembles a gaping giant humanoid mouth with its tounge outstretched. Immediately after the entrance the tunnel decends a few stories via stairway. Upon entering this passage an average sized human would notice that the scale of the temple is a bit larger than usual, with individual steps being about a foot and a half in height, almost all stairs in the temple are also strangely curved.

The entry stairway leads into a large central chamber. The walls here are all lined with grotesque depictions of various felaryan predators some now extinct in much of the world, all depicted with their mouths a gape. The largest of these gargoyles are the humanoid ones and are the only ones that touch the ground, each with sharpened teeth and their tongue outstretched and mouth stretched open to an extent unnatural to all except perhaps a Naga. Each of these heads, 10 in number, contain a pathway leading to its own complex set of paths.

In the middle of the central chamber is a deep pit lined with a wall carved to resemble a stomach wall with eyes, noses tongues and mouths peaking out from its creases. On the wall of the pit closest to the entrance is a massive carving a six eyed demon with with its hands grasping onto the squared floor above. Two dragons emerging from the demons head like horns flank a stairway that crosses in front of the demons face to a circular platform with another stairway leading downward into the demon's mouth. At the far end of the main chamber is an enormous statue of a half human half scorpion hybrid with his hands flat against the ceiling, as if supporting it, His head is pointed down looking the demon directly in the face. The wall behind him is covered in a wall covered entirely by insect carvings Through the rest of the temple typically depicts creatures and the insides of beasts, the roof above the pit and the scorpion statue depict planet like spheres dotted in between by thousands of dim glowing blue starry dots.

towering out of the pit are three giant candlestick like structures, a short fourth one with a different design is located between two large engraved pillars towards the temple entrance and is surrounded by a pool of liquid. Each candlestick has a floating orb above it surrounded by a blue flame. the liquid beneath the one candlestick by the entrance also glows a slight blue. The rest of the temple is lit very dimly by a faint violet light that emanates from every eye shaped carving in the temple.

Throughout the temple are domes with many deep crevasses and holes that also glow violet from within. These mounds are connects to a network of small tunnels that are all attached inside the temple walls. These mounds and tunnels are home to hundreds of thousands of a single species of what seems to be an enchanted beetle, about the size of a human hand, with the same violet glow shining from between the crevasses in their exoskeleton. typically you can see 3 to 10 of these in a large room of the temple working away at a spot on the wall or calmly traversing along the temple floor. They will even crawl right by a visitor of the temple without paying them any mind or perhaps giving a curious glance and then moving on. The bugs have small but extremely hard and strong mandibles that can break the hardest bedrock, They also secrete a clear purple-tinted resin from their mouth that hardens completely in about an hour. A close examination of the temples surfces will show the beetles handywork, as every carved inch of the temples stone interior is covered in the tiny toothmarks of the bugs is and covered in a thin protective layer of resin. Even the hanging tapestries present in some of the temple rooms are made from a silky fibrous version of the resin produced by larval stage beetles which can often be seen hanging on the tapestries.

Venturing deeper into the side rooms of the temple the floor becomes increasingly uneven and the carvings more organic, However, unlike the Tenembra maze there are no actual living walls, though the stone is carved to resemble flesh in some loctions. As you go deeper into the temple the carved gargoyles and eyes only become more numerous. All through the deeper regions or the temple there are locations where the beetle resin is secreted thickly encasing some object, a treasure or dead creature in a perfect state of preservation, The objects are lit from behind by glowing carved eyes carve in the wall behind the resin, as if put it on display. Some of these displays are absolutely massive and could not have possibly been brought in through the front door or fit through the narrow passages. But on close inspection, something like the skull of a giant humanoid encased here will actually be many many fragments that were reassembled into their entirety within the resin. No bugs are ever seen entering or leaving the main entrance of the temple which may mean there may be some well hidden entrances where artifacts are brought in from the forest above, but it is not known how far the beetle network extends outward from the temple location.

The deeper you go into the temple the more ancient the artifacts on display become, some of them extinct animals or items from long dead civilizations, the most noteworthy items sought after in this temple are those items which have written on them methods for long forgotten spells or crafting instructions, or even secrets about other parts of the Felaryan world and its history. The deeper parts of the temple also tend to contain the more valuable objects and information. It is possible to remove a treasure from the walls of the Temple, but it is very ill advised. Chipping or burning away the resin tends to attract the attention of the beetles by either the noise or fumes, which upon seeing you trying to remove a treasure will hiss loudly. At which point you'd better kill it immediately or run because what comes next involves the beetle spraying you with resin and an army of its kin rushing to your location, which usually results in you yourself becoming entirely encased in resin and being dragged off to become part of the exhibit! The Beetles can also become aggressive if an adventurer uses any light source larger than a candle while exploring or makes and excessive amount of noise, or, of course, injures one of the bugs. though the first two seem to be minor offenses here and if they are corrected quickly after the initial hiss a nearby beetle gives off, no aggression will occur.

Other than the Beetles, the Temple is entirely devoid of any form of life including any other monsters, and is kept in pristine condition by the bugs. However this place is hardly a casual museum to visit. The greatest danger here is the violet gaze of the gargoyles. Near to the entrance of the Temple the onlooking eyes give only a slight feeling of unease, difficult to see as distinct from a typical feeling of cautious apprehension. But as you progress into any path with a mouth shaped entrance the feeling will increase and increase as you venture deeper. The eyes of the gargoyles seem to draw out the deepest and darkest memories from ones mind at first it seems just a distraction and a strange thought. The resurfacing memories become more vivid as you go deeper and seem to leak into reality and begin to cloud ones sense of judgement and ability to rationally deal with navigating the dark temple, and in your dazed condition you may find yourself falling into a deep pit or screaming madly at nothing and agitating the beetles. Theres also a tendancy to begin to hear deep and mournful chanting in your head and see the gargoyle's eyes turn red as the effects worsten, when in reality the room remains silent and the gargoyle's eyes remain violet. If it goes so far that the hallways appear to twist and warp and the gargoyles begin to come alive, your're brain is on the very edge of permanent damage so scrambled that escape is nearly impossible. By far the most dangerous path in this regard is the tunnels that lie beyond the demons mouth. The mental assault within this area is much greater than anywhere else in the temple and is said to almost on par with having your soul digested by a succubus! But it is within these paths that the most valuable treasure and information lies, it is said that only one truly at peace within themselves can traverse this area and obtain the knowledge within.

There is some mercy in this temple though, the area around the four blue candles seems to have a calming effect that reverses the effect of the gargoyle's stare. The liquid beneath the first candle also will melt away the beetle's resin if it has not hardened completely, otherwise it must be smashed or scraped off carefully . However as nice as that might be, the world outside is far less forgiving as this temple is located in an extremely dangerous region of the upper Malyra Fen, teeming with giant predators and is Miles and miles from any safe civilization of littles.

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