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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeremy E Grenemyer" data-source="post: 7510547" data-attributes="member: 12388">XGtE Magic Item Backstories set in Cormyr. Item the Fourth: Candle of the DeepContinuing along with the idea of Inherited Traits and Accidental Enchantments for magic items, we have next on our list Candle of the Deep, from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, p.136.• Among the temple ruins still standing in the vicinity of Monksblade, in Cormyr, one may find the remnants of the House of the Sea. • Few stones remain to mark where the grand façade of the House of the Sea looked south, towards the coast and the Dragonmere beyond. Rare is the worshipper of the Queen of the Deeps who visits the old temple ruin. • The cornerstones of the temple remain, as do lines of broken stone walls north of the façade. Within this space the ground alternates between sodden brown soil and grey, broken flagstone. White patches surround the base of mangroves and other saltwater plants that flourish in the ruin, obscuring the wet ground and dangerous footing underneath.• As the tide comes in along the Dragon Coast to the south, saltwater appears along the north face of the temple façade and begins to pool on the ground. At high tide, all the ground where the temple once stood is covered in water a foot deep. • Local legend holds that the true temple to Umberlee lay beneath the ground. Likewise, that the entrance to the True Temple appears somewhere within the boundaries of the old temple when water covers the ground. • The temple ruin stands on (relatively) high ground. It’s said adventurers have used magical means to fly over the temple to spy the entrance to the True Temple (the <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?473088-Adventuring-Company-Names-and-What-They-Are-Up-To/page2&p=6888852#post6888852" target="_blank">Company of the Bottled Fiend</a> is thought to have done this). If such an entrance exists, it’s likely to be obscured by the tangled nest of saltwater plants that grow in the ruin. • Within the True Temple, no saltwater may be found so long as the tide to the south is high. As the tide recedes, water begins to pool within the maze of chambers below ground. • The water pools slowly, but its elevation rises quickly as low tide approaches. Finally, the water fills the cellars immediately below the temple ruin, where one may find a pair of secret doors that open into spiraling stairways that lead down to the True Temple. • Just before low tide, the cellar entrance disappears. The ground above remains sodden. It is impossible to hear the cries of anyone trapped below ground before water steals their ability to speak forever. • The bodies of such unfortunates can be recovered, but Umberlee looks coldly on anyone that defiles her sacred places or fails to leave proper tribute. Such persons will have become Sea Spawn (Volo’s Guide to Monsters, page 189) in the time that the entrance is closed. • These Sea Spawn exist only to choke the life out of invaders despoiling the True Temple, and so add to the ranks of its guardians. • Among the treasure one may recover from the Sea Spawn are whatever gear they carried in life. If any lanterns, torches or candles are found, these all operate as Candles of the Deep if submerged under water of any kind, but for no more than twelve and one half hours. • A handful of sages are aware of the rumors surrounding the Temple of the Sea and the True Temple beneath it. Speculation abounds as to what other Inherited Magical Traits the True Temple confers.</blockquote>

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