Help me come up with some window dressing for a temple of Demogorgon

[Kunimatyu]

I'm doing a one-shot for in a few weeks, and since I've never really messed around with it before, the Demogorgon-Orcus rivalry seemed like a fun one to play with.

Before the adventure starts, a half-fiend ogre Thrall of Orcus and his zombified white dragon ally have -- through a combination of hostage-taking and other unsavory activities -- convinced a local St. Cuthbert church to put out a call for adventurers. (I'm using a standard Greyhawk setting to keep things simple.)

You see, a temple of Demogorgon was recently uncovered in an earthquake in a nearby swamp, and our intrepid pair of villains attempted to gain egress, but were quickly repelled, since the temple is laced with wards against the followers of Orcus. Hopefully by getting the church to recruit some adventurers to clean out the temple, the ogre and his dragon can follow them through the now-broken wards and collect their prize.

The temple is actually a vault of sorts, designed to protect <insert Orcus-artifact here> from despoilers. Demogorgon stole <artifact> some time ago, when Orcus disappeared, and now that Orcus is back, he's directed his half-ogre servant on the the prime to collect it. Unfortunately, Demogorgon took precautions at the time to protect the temple -- not only are there wards against Orcusites, but there's a portion of Demogorgon's essence(an Aspect of Demogorgon from the Minis Handbook) guarding the artifact directly, along with a series of guardian creatures with the Divine Guardian template from the Advanced Bestiary(basically, a template to make a creature an immortal guardian), probably some advanced amphibious chokers and either a chuul or lifeleech otyugh.

So I've got the ideas for the encounters, but I'd like the temple to be more than just a series of fights. That's hopefully where my fellow ENWorlders come in -- what should a temple of Demogorgon be like? I figure that water and and evil tentacled things are a good bet, but beyond that, I'm not really sure what to do.

What would be an interesting structure for a temple of Demogorgon? What sorts of traps would be laid for intruders(and the divine guardians can freely dimension door within the temple itself)? What sort of "feel" should it have?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[WayneLigon]

Fountains and pools

'Pillars' composed of a cascade of water from floor to ceiling.

The Pool of Drowning - a central part of the temple, normally empty. It looks like a big empty pool with steps going to the bottom. Short chains and shackles line the walls. Sacrifices are put here and then the pool fills, drowning the people slowly. Their struggles and gasping is pleasing to Demogorgon.

A huge globe of water where an aboleth priest of Demogrogon has slept away the centuries in magical slumber. Awakened when the temple is disturbed, he can move the massive globe of water via a special ring imbedded into his forehead. Give it a 40' fly speed.

Trap: synthetic seaweed hangs in a doorway like a drapery. If someone not bearing the symbol of demogorgon steps through, it animates and attacks like an assassin vine.

Pool full of transparent leeches, hundreds of them, virtually invisible thanks to their jelly-like bodies. Treat them like a swarm, who attack anyone who falls into the pool. As they drain blood, they become visible.

 

[fafhrd]

Have you looked at The Lost Temple of Demogorgon in Dungeon 120? It sounds like it would be a near perfect fit, artifact and all.

 

[BOZ]

you could always put up a portrait.

 

[Li Shenron]

What about some devious lesser traps? Something perhaps not deadly but impairing, with gruesome horrible effects (I was thinking that Demogorgon may enjoy hurting the weakest of his own followers, just for the pleasure of hurting, but without losing them).

BTW Boz, that could be the best picture of DG I've seen yet... where is it from?

 

[Imret]

Take as much or as little of this as you need.

I'd say it should feel dark, damp, and unsettling. The air is thick and moist and not so much stinking as tasting like brackish water. Water drips from the ceiling or runs down the walls. Fires won't burn for more than a minute, and magical light functions at a quarter of its strength. Every breath should feel like you're drowning by degrees.

The entire complex is knee-deep in water, and things slither through it. They're barely an inch or two long, horrible to look at (the thing in my head is somewhere between a squid, a jellyfish, and a toad), and so fast the party doesn't see more than a head or tendril of one for most of the time in there. They're totally harmless, but they won't know that. Distant sounds of sudden splashing, inhuman keening, and a sharp crack! as something eats one.

There are no 'doors', only openings in the walls at random heights - mostly underwater - for the otyugh and chokers to slip through. Make sure the monsters use this to ambush.

Rooms built for two contrary purposes and left that way.

Traps should startle, terrify, and cripple. A blade that swings from the ceiling to strike at an outstretched arm. Bear traps under the water. "Pits" that are simply a sudden strong current that snatches a PC, drags them under and slams them into a wall thirty or forty feet away. Paralysis and knockout poisons on hidden dart traps, so they'll simply drown. Searing Light traps, with Orcus being all about the undead and all - it's possible they'd dazzle PCs in the dark environment.

The walls are covered in crude carvings of tentacled things, double-headed things, and a bizarre flowing handwriting that visibly moves if a PC attempts to decipher them...Will save to avoid being shaken?

If I get any more, I'll add them.

 

[BOZ]

BTW Boz, that could be the best picture of DG I've seen yet... where is it from?

www.merzo.net - lots o' cool there!

 

[Zappo]

I've got a Temple of Demogorgon in the Abyssl Campaign. Not sure that it is already in the linked version, but you could check it out and search the text for "temple of insanity".

The temple is shaped like a pyramid, with the top part replaced by an immense statue of Demogorgon. There are several entrances, but most of them are fake, or trapped. The central room is lit by rutterkin... their heads have been set on fire forever, and they have been nailed to the walls. There are multiple ceremonial rooms, each with an altar on which unspeakable sacrifices are performed.

 

[Li Shenron]

www.merzo.net - lots o' cool there!

That was indeed a cool site, but no demons... only starships!

 

[BOZ]

look deeper... click the "Links" button, then check out his galleries.