The Amber Temple
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
In Curse of Strahd, the Amber Temple is the so-called birthplace of the Dark Powers. An ancient prison created to store vestiges of by-gone evils, it is now "curated" by the amnesiac lich, Exethanter, whom happily shares the forbidden secrets of the temple to all comers.[1] The vestiges herein offer temptations of power to those who seek it, though for each boon there is a cost to be paid.[2] It is here that Strahd made a vile pact with the Dark Powers to become a vampire and, in so doing, sealed his own fate.[1]
Cold
Sitting upon Mount Ghakis, it is eternally cold inside the temple. Existing at a perpetual state of below freezing temperature, characters who enter the temple face exposure to extreme cold.[1]
Dark Gifts
The Dark Gifts of the vestiges here present boons of supernatural abilities or dark knowledge, but each comes with an attached flaw or minor physical transformation that may not be undone with anything short of a wish or divine intervention. In addition, each dark gift has a high chance of corruption to evil. Player Characters who become evil in this way fall under control of the Game Master.[2]
The Dark Powers Defined
Although purposefully left undefined in previous versions of Ravenloft, Curse of Strahd a the vestiges, old spiritual remains of deceased entities of malignant natures, held in the Amber Temple. They are dark entities that can be communed with and offer gifts of power tainted with associated defects. They can be directly communed with, as Strahd did when he [[murdered] his brother Sergei von Zarovich in return for the immortality of undeath. When he made the pact, the Dark Powers turned Barovia into his prison on the Shadowfell. The Dark Powers continually feast upon Strahd's evil.[1]
Notable Inhabitants
- Amber Golem guardians
- Exethanter[3]
- Flameskull guardians animated by Exethanter
- Helwa, leader of a small party of mountainfolk hunters, taking shelter here when out hunting[4]
- Khazan (Formerly)[5]
- Neferon (arcanaloth guardian)[6]
- Vilnius and his quasit familiar, intruders who hide from the guardians[7]
