Session 64

he Child’s Prophecy — The Temple & the Sable Mirror

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🌍 SETTING OVERVIEW

Location:

Monastery of Silent Memory, perched on the cliffside shores of the Sable Mirror, a vast, still lake east of the trade town of Danu.

The Sable Mirror:

A massive, black-water lake whose surface reflects the sky too perfectly, like polished obsidian. Locals say it reflects more than the present—glimpses of the past, future, or what shouldn’t be.

Tone & Atmosphere:

• Dreamlike, holy, and unsettling
• An uneasy calm hangs over the lake
• Water drips where it shouldn’t
• Reflections sometimes move… differently
• Prophecy and fate are pressing in like tides

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🏞️ PART I: The Monastery of Silent Memory

📍 Location Description:

Built into the black-stone cliffs rising above the Sable Mirror, the Monastery of Silent Memory is a crescent-shaped complex of domes, open-air halls, and stone terraces, where wind and water sing constant hymns.

• Marble tiles, water channels etched with runes
• Murals faded by moisture—many feature a child with no face or a mirror that bleeds light
• Bells that only ring in dreams

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🧕 MONK Aylin

Role: Caretaker of the child; prophetic dream-interpreter

Appearance: Wiry, silver-eyed woman with tattoos of moon phases on her hands

Manner: Gentle, devout, anxious but devoted to duty

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🛏️ Scene: Dream Observations

The Child:

• Pale, androgynous, 6–7 years old
• Sleeps uneasily, speaking in dreams
• Does not speak when awake

Dream Ritual:

Each night, the child is placed in a silver-rimmed stone bed beneath a skylight that reflects the moon’s light through a water lens above.

What Happens:

• Voices echo from the child’s mouth—some overlay, others speak in strange tongues
• Arcane runes on the walls flicker and glow faintly when certain words are spoken

"When the mirror drinks the moon,

the voice that is many shall call,

and what was born without place

shall speak of collapse."

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📚 Investigation in the Monastery Library

Area: Molded shelves, damp scrolls, cracked tablets

Tablets of Note:

• “When the Moon ran backwards, the Mirror bled truth.”
• “A child, born outside the turning of stars, shall be voice and void.”

Skill Checks (DC 13–16):

• Arcana: Language is a proto-divine dialect—maybe tied to the Far Realms or Primordial Truth.
• History/Religion: The temple beneath the lake is older than the monastery itself, possibly built by those who first studied time as a divine force.

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🚶 PART II: Ritual of Descent

🌌 Ritual Preparation (Optional Mini-Quest)

• Aylin asks for two things to activate the descent to the temple:
  1. Mirror Oil made from lake reeds + starlight essence (a short skill-based fetch)
  2. A night where moonlight fully reflects on the lake (“When the mirror drinks the moon”)

📜 High Priestess Ilyra

Role: Overseer of the Temple Network around the lake

Appearance: Proud, veiled elven woman, with a coral circlet and eyes like cracked quartz

Attitude: Wary of outsiders; reverent about the prophecy

Meeting Scene:

• Found at the Moonlit Platform, a raised dais over the lake
• She reads the prophecy aloud in Celestial, and flinches when the last line is spoken

“We feared this would return,” she says. “The temple beneath… it’s not just ruins. It’s a memory. And memories drown.”

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🧙 PART III: The Guardian of the Depths

📍 Location: Hidden dock near a half-sunken statue, accessible only by boat or cliff path

The Guardian:

• Appears as a gaunt, fish-eyed man in kelp-wrapped robes
• Voice echoes as though underwater
• Demands a trial of worth

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🧩 Choose 2 of 3 Trials:

1. The Mirror’s Riddle (Puzzle) "I am not what I reflect, yet without me, truth is blind. What am I?" Answer: A Mirror (Correct answer grants +1 to Wisdom saves in temple)
2. The Sacrifice of Comfort (Moral)
   • Players must each leave behind a personal comfort or luxury item (DM’s call).
   • If none do, temple becomes hostile or curses follow them
3. The Unanswered Question (RP)
   • “If this child destroys the world, will you kill them?”
   • Not about the answer, but the party’s reasoning
   • Compassion or conviction = Boon: one PC gains Prophetic Insight (can reroll 1 failed save in temple)

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🌊 PART IV: Temple Beneath the Sable Mirror

📍 Access: Via submerged gate in the cliffs revealed under moonlight

• A shimmering dome of moonlight opens the path
• Water drains as they descend (magical bubble, Control Water, or Water Breathing)

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🏛️ Temple Description

• Walls of obsidian-veined stone, slick with moss
• Symbols spiral inwards like vortexes
• Light behaves strangely—reflections appear before objects

Hazards:

• Water pressure surges (Con save DC 13 or gain a level of Exhaustion)
• Mosaics of cities collapsing, stars falling
• Time-bent ghosts of former priests whisper wrong prayers

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🧟 Encounters (choose 1–2):

1. Moon-Spliced Guardians
   • Reskinned Water Weirds + illusory duplicates (Displacer Beast-like movement)
   • Defend the central mirror pool
2. Reflected Selves
   • Each PC must face a twisted version of themselves
   • Fight OR talk to them—these echoes speak of possible futures

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🪞 FINAL CHAMBER: The Sable Mirror Core

🌑 Chamber Design:

• Round, submerged space with domed ceiling open to lake above
• A pool in the center reflects cities burning, void storms, and the child, older, surrounded by dead stars

As Moonlight Touches the Mirror:

• The child speaks through the water, voice echoing:

“I was not born. I am what time forgets. I am not one. I am many.”

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🎯 Player Actions:

• Record the Prophecy (Arcana or Religion DC 18): Grants key lore about future events
• Interrupt Resonance (Dispel Magic or similar): Causes temporal backlash
• Observe Fully (take the risk): See future visions, but unleash a rift surge

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💥 Backlash Options (Choose 1–2):

1. Temporal Fracture: Players see older/younger versions of themselves, possibly offering advice or accusations.
2. Rift Horror Emerges: A Moonspawn Horror (homebrew or use Star Spawn Mangler) climbs from the mirror
3. Chamber Floods: Skill challenge to escape or stabilize the collapsing ruins

• Moonspawn Horror (homebrew variant / reskinned Star Spawn Mangler)
• Reflected Self (echo version of PCs)
• Guardian of the Depths (lesser guardian, non‑combat or soft combat)

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⭐ Moonspawn Horror (Aberration, CR ~5)

This is essentially a reskinned Star Spawn Mangler from Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. aidedd.org+3dnd-5e.fandom.com+35ecompendium.github.io+3

Moonspawn Horror

Medium aberration, chaotic evil

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 71 (13d8 + 13)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (–1)	18 (+4)	12 (+1)	11 (+0)	12 (+1)	7 (–2)

Saving Throws Dex +7, Con +4

Skills Stealth +7

Damage Resistances cold

Damage Immunities psychic

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, prone

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Deep Speech

Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Traits

• Ambush. On the first round of combat, the Moonspawn Horror has advantage on attack rolls against a creature that hasn’t taken a turn yet.
• Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, the Moonspawn Horror can take the Hide action as a bonus action.

Actions

• Multiattack. The Moonspawn Horror makes two claw attacks.
• Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage. If the attack roll has advantage, the target also takes 7 (2d6) psychic damage.
• Flurry of Claws (Recharge 4–6). The Moonspawn Horror makes six claw attacks against one target. Either before or after these attacks, it can move up to its speed as a bonus action without provoking opportunity attacks.

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You can rename it Moonspawn Horror, Mirror Spawn, Reflected Horror, or whatever fits your flavor. You may also add a lair or burst effect (e.g. “mirror rift surge” on a recharge) to give it extra flare.

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👥 Reflected Self (Echo)

These are weaker “echoes” of the PCs; they mirror the class, but use scaled-down stats and a twist.

Reflected Self

Medium aberration (or magical construct), neutral (or hostile)

Armor Class = same as PC’s, or 13 + Proficiency bonus

Hit Points = about ½ or ⅔ of PC’s HP

Speed = same as PC’s

Abilities / Skills = mimic the PC (same or slight penalty)

Vulnerability / Weakness: takes extra damage from radiant or force

Behavior: fights as the PC would—uses same spells, same tactics, but may have one flaw (e.g. can’t use certain item).

Special Twist: When a Reflected Self is reduced to 0 HP, it shatters into mirror shards, possibly dealing 1d6 piercing to adjacent PCs.

You can flesh out each (for 4 PCs) quickly in play:

• Use PC’s spells, hit/damage scaled down by half or minus 2.
• Give them a trait: “Mirror Echo” — when they take damage, the PC also takes 1 damage (psychic) unless they end their turn at least 10 ft away.

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🛡️ Guardian of the Depths (Lesser Guardian)

This is more of a “gatekeeper / trial boss” than an all-out fight. Use a weaker stat block.

Guardian of the Depths

Medium humanoid (or aberration), neutral (or lawful)

Armor Class 15 (chain or magical guardian armor)

Hit Points ~ 60 (8d8 + 24)

Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	12 (+1)	16 (+3)	12 (+1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)

Saving Throws Str +6, Con +6

Skills Athletics +6, Perception +5

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing from nonmagical attacks

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, + one ancient tongue

Challenge ~4 (1,100 XP)

Traits

• Amphibious. The guardian can breathe air and water.
• Guardian’s Resolve. When at half HP or below, gains +2 to all saving throws until healed above half HP.

Actions

• Multiattack. Two attacks: one with spear, one with shield bash (if applicable).
• Spear. Melee or thrown (range 20/60): +6 to hit, 1d8+3 piercing (melee) or 1d8+3 piercing (ranged).
• Shield Bash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d6 + 3 bludgeoning, and target must succeed on DC 13 Strength save or be pushed 10 ft and knocked prone.

Bonus / Reaction

• Mirror Ward (Recharges 5–6). Creates a shimmering shield of water/reflection around itself: for 1 round, attacks against it have disadvantage, and ranged attacks that hit it are reflected (roll 1d6, on a 6 the attack bounces to attacker).