NA-12 — Ancient Suel Temple - Plot

Beneath a skull-cut hill lies a desecrated Suel temple whose Ruby-Order halls and law-bound mechanisms still hum with ritual logic. A forward Howling Moon detachment has seized the upper level as a raiding den and is quietly stripping Suel brass and relics before formal Temple oversight arrives. The party’s House Asbury commission is simple on paper—recover the Asbury treasures and free Thuldon Rockspitter—but the site is garrisoned, alarms are layered, and the deeper level still bristles with Suel wards and blood magic echoes. Success here advances the Asbury cause and exposes fault lines between orc clan politics and Temple command.

Role in Noble Ambitions

This is Chapter 12 of the NA arc: the first true dungeon where the oath to Lady Elinor Asbury turns from politics to peril. It pays off NA-03: The Oath of Asbury Raoan riddle as practical navigation cues, and it frames the campaign’s moral stakes: keep your word and return Asbury’s heirlooms—or take the gold and become oath-breakers with consequences.

Primary objectives

• Recover Sword of Asbury, Stone of Asbury, and the treasury (cart) from the vault route.
• Rescue Thuldon Rockspitter, a captured dwarf smith.
• Escape with proof of Howling Moon occupation.

Failure/choice branch

• Keeping the treasure brands the party oath-breakers and redirects to an alternate conclusion path in NA. Returning it unlocks the next courtly arc.

Factions, Politics, and Motives

Howling Moon Detachment (on-site)

• Urzhag Grey-Howl (only werewolf here): wants first pick of Suel relics to curry favor with Chief Zorgrek—and to keep Commander Deggum out of it until it’s too late.
• Vhakra the Blood-Singer (shaman): controls alarms and morale with rites; uses silence and spiritual weapon (fang) to shape fights.
• “Old Tusk” (ogre) anchors the main choke.
• Rankers are ordinary orcs; no other lycanthropes by clan edict (“the Gift is for chiefs”).
• Doctrine: funnel over hazards, layered alerts (taps → howl-whistles → beacon), strip relics fast, write nothing down (tally-bones only).
• Why the secrecy? If Deggum learns the site is Suel, he claims it as Temple property and inserts “Temple guards.” Urzhag/Vhakra want the credit and leverage with Zorgrek.

Temple of Elemental Evil angle

• A field order points Howling Moon at a “stone-nest of the old man-gods,” authorizing desecration and occupation; the margin note promises Urzhag/Vhakra first pick and “no Temple counters” until Deggum arrives. PCs can weaponize or forge this document for social leverage with orcs.

House Asbury

• Lady Elinor’s commission: recover heirlooms and treasury to stabilize Asbury’s future; keeping the oath matters politically and morally.

The Ruby Law: A History of the Ancient Suel Temple-Complex

An old Ruby-Order (Wee Jas/Lendor-coded) training-and-ritual complex built to test measure, cadence, and number: judges’ murals, metronomic chambers, six-count drills, skull iconography, and “balance” devices that oppose chaotic impulses. Orc desecration has smashed faces and smeared wolf spirals over glyphs, but the underlying law-ritual still responds to correct symbols, counts, timing, and silence. (Use this to reward players who match themes.)

The Dungeon at a Glance

Level 1 — Skull’s Throat & Ruby Halls

NA-12: Level 1 - Suel Temple of the Skull

(intended for level-1 parties to infiltrate, not to “full clear”)

• Feeling: occupied outpost, active response clock; noise pulls squads in layers (rounds 2/4/6 checks).
• Terrain: red-tiled corridors, barracks blocks, ogre choke, elite cells, kitchen-forge, library, north court with frescoed “Measures,” boss court.
• Play: stealth and short, decisive engagements. If two PCs drop, “mercy valve” delays next commitment 1 round (internal orc squabble).
• Proof & treasure path: vault route to carts with Asbury pieces, Chest of Rao contents, and documents that tie raids to the Fens.

Level 2 — Ruby Praxis & Fallen Temple

NA-13. Level 2 - Suel Temple Crypts of the Ruby Law

(tuned for level 3+)

• Feeling: quieter but deadlier—law-puzzles, numerology, metronome cadence, collapsed ways, and Temple chamber desecrated by orc rites.
• Guardians: Shadows trapped within the arch at Room 20 by the shaman’s desecration; they seek release to attack once the altar is reconsecrated/cleaned.
• Navigation: pits, ring-rooms (spar/praxis), secret balances, and law-timed doors keyed to symbols and counts.

Mission Flow (DM-Facing)

Approach & Breach

• Skull mouth pickets, ogre anchor inside; response clock starts with noise (check at rounds 2 / 4 / 6). Silencing a horn or taking the ogre early shifts morale.

Inside the Halls (Level 1)

• Hit-and-move. Free captives (Storm-Eyes scout, human ranger, gnoll deserter) for advantages/feints; they can buy you time or knowledge of vents/paths.

Boss Pressure

• Urzhag + Vhakra commit only if the clock favors them; if Vhakra drops or silence blocks his control and Urzhag is bloodied, they cut and run, burning icons to deny relics.

Treasure & Proof

• Vault 21 holds Asbury pieces, Chest of Rao contents, and proof of occupation (warhorn, runed crate bands, slagged sketch map toward Fens).

Exfiltration

• Cart drags at half speed unless handled; survivors may fall back into collapsed lower tunnels, allowing PCs to escape with objective in hand even after near-TPK.