Temple of the False Serpent

Inside the small yuan-ti village on the island of Urukayxl is the Temple of the False Serpent. It was built by the Ki'Nau in honor of Uk'otoa and later taken over by yuan-ti who rededicated it to Zehir, the Cloaked Serpent.

Description
The temple is a five-sided pyramid with three different levels. The top layer is in the form of a pentagon with a fountain, the second holds a small orchard, and in the last lives the warden.

Exterior
The temple is a five-sided pyramid that levels at the top. On each side is a stairway, and there is a massive stone structure at the base. Its construction appears ancient, and fairly simple in design. At the top of the temple is a worship terrace with statues of snakes holding torches at the corners. On top of these statues is a golden idol with a carved divot on the inside to hold the torch. In the center of the top of the temple is a stone tablet with metal rings bolted into it, and the tablet is heavily stained, indicating it is used for sacrifices. The trap door has a handle and a latch that locks behind it.

Pentagram Chamber
The interior has one shorter wall that makes the chamber inside close to a diamond-shape. There is some sort of green growth in the corners of the chamber, as well as tunnels six inches in diameter that descend. Inside the chamber is a fountain, two load-bearing pillars, and a staircase leading from above. One of the steps on the stairs is trapped, and turns the stairs into a 45-degree angle slide when triggered; after a few minutes the stairs revert. The walls are decorated with intricate carvings and additional stone to represent snake creatures and a great snake god: Zehir, the Cloaked Serpent, who the yuan-ti believe transformed them into their snake forms. These carvings were made over older carvings, presumably to Uk'otoa.

In the center is a raised platform with a two-tiered fountain The basin of the fountain has two snakes carved in relief, both with empty eye sockets. When the eye sockets are filled with rubies, the fountain shifts and reveals a spiral staircase to the chamber below.

Small Orchard
The orchard is a large, four-sided chamber. It has no windows, and the fruit seemingly grows in the dark. It smells of vegetation, fresh soil, and fermenting and rotting fruit. The trees in the orchard all appear to be the same species, a fruit tree with green-yellow colored fruits. The fruit is sweet and tangy, with an iron aftertaste, and it has a hallucinogenic effect.

On the south, west, and north walls are huge stone tablets with carvings of Zehir that are similar to those in the pentagram chamber. At the base of each of these tablets is a hole about a foot wide and five inches tall, each leading to other chambers.

When under the influence of the hallucinogenic fruit, Caleb and Nott were able to see bright glowing symbols on each wall:
 * Eastern wall, "The sacrifice feeds the fountain".
 * Southern tablet, "The fountain feeds the garden".
 * Western tablet, "The garden feeds the warden".
 * Northern tablet, "The warden guards the false serpent".

Southern and Northern Rooms
These rooms are used as hatcheries. Along the ground are clusters of one-foot tall reptilian eggs nestled into the dirt and surrounded by fermenting fruit. When the Mighty Nein visited the temple, they saw a decomposed humanoid corpse in the southern room.

Western Room
The western room is about 15 by 10 feet, with stonework carvings in the walls depicting the temple and surrounding village. There is a lever that opens all the tree rooms and moves the fountain back up. The spiral staircase goes down about 60 feet into a lower chamber.

Warden's Chamber
The chamber is 60-feet high and, initially, had two inches of water on the floor. It has three large intricately carved load-bearing pillars, a small well, and two raised platforms. There are three large carved murals on the walls which were made by the Ki'Nau. This chamber serves as a lair for the guardian of the temple. There are runes that run from the ceiling, down the walls, and across the floor to the well.

The pillars have ancient draconic runes and various swirling and serpentine patterns. The well is 70-feet deep and leads to a spherical chamber filled with cold saltwater. The walls are covered in either algae or grime.

The Murals
The murals are colored, though the colors are very faded. All three murals show crowds of people clustered around the base. Above them, there are three larger humanoid figures with haloes, and then the murals each depict one of three creatures:a huge bird, a giant coiled serpent, and a massive worm.

The Bird The huge bird has purple, black and red flaming wings. It has three eyes, which are depicted in the mural as onyx stones.

The Serpent The giant coiled serpent is scaled and has fins, and in the mural, the eyes - three on the head and many across the body - are made of amber. Its mouth appears lizard-like. Behind it is a giant tidal wave that appears about to crash down on the crowd below.

The Worm The curling thick worm has folded skin and tooth-like scales. It is depicted burrowing into the earth and creating mountains. Its mouth contains a ring of teeth, and it has three eyes made of ivory inside the mouth.T

The Mighty Nein, Avantika, and Jamedi entered the temple in their search for how to unseal Uk'otoa. Upon entering, Nott triggered the trap on the staircase, and the party slid into the chamber, where they were immediately noticed by four snake people.

After the Mighty Nein, Avantika, and Jamedi dealt with the four snake people, they continued down into the temple. Nott figured out the puzzle of the rubies, putting them in the eyes of the snakes with Mage hand and revealing the stairs to the next chamber.

Nott then ate the fruit in the next chamber and began to hallucinate. She communicated the symbols to the group. Caleb then ate some fruit as well to help decipher the symbols. While he was doing so, Nott became entangled in asssassin vines and was knocked unconscious. Eventually the party was able to figure out the layout of the temper, and Nott crawled into the Western chamber, where she figured out how to use the lever that opened all the room. Beau then led the party to the next chamber.

In the subterranean warden's chamber, they found a yuan-ti abomination that was laying guard to the true guardian: a large hydra. The Mighty Nein fought the hydra and were, after much effort, able to kill it.

The Mighty Nein and Avantika took a moment to breath following the defeat of the hydra. Fjord and examined the murals on the walls and Caduceus noted that the pillars had a magical aura to them. Fjord tried again to ask Avantika about the third "chosen" she had previously mentioned. She dodged the question, instead inviting him to discuss it over a glass of wine later. Caleb and Nott, still under the influence of the fruit, saw that the runes in the room glowed. Caleb determined the runes were abjurative in nature but could not discern more.

Avantika abruptly jumped into the well, and Fjord followed her. The two raced towards a divot within the well, and Avantika beat Fjord to it, placing her hand with the Cloven Crystal within it. When she did, her body seized up with a yellow glowing light. When she pulled her hand back, she was bleeding profusely, and the crystal was inside the divot on the floor.

The runes began to glow brighter and the walls began to crack. Avantika began to swim towards the surface; Fjord reached up and tried to grab her, but she evaded it and he was able to convince her it was accidental. The well then began to flood the temple, with everyone but Beau and Jester fleeing to higher ground while they waited by the well for Fjord and Avantika.

Once the whole party was in the top floor, three yuan-ti entered the chamber from another door. The rising water filled the entire chamber. Caduceus cast Spirit Guardians and rushed at the yuan-ti before they could retaliate. An underwater battle ensued and the party killed the yuan-ti, but as they all prepared to flee, both Jester and Caduceus ran out of air and began to drown.

Fjord grabbed Jester, kissed her, and gave her his own air supply, putting himself in danger of drowning to save her. Jamedi and Avantika grabbed Caduceus and pulled his unconscious body towards the exit. Beau, Caleb, and Nott teamed up to help Jester get to the trapdoor and unlock it. As soon as the door was unlocked, a geyser of water pushed everyone out of the door. The party was then able to stabilize their unconscious members and flee through the jungle.