From the rooftop, T'laren is able to reach the belfry.  Hanging inside is a large bell.  It covered with peeling white paint, revealing a shiny metal underneath.  The bell, which is 3 feet wide, hangs from an iron fixture bolted to a wooden crossbeam.

Looking down through the belfry, T'laren can see the main hall of what must have once been a church.  He is 40' above the dust covered floor of the chamber below, the ceiling of which is supported by tall stone columns.  The broken remains of church pew can be seen below, along with a few humanoid bones.  

The interior is dark and quiet, with no sign of any additional Orcs.

Is it dusty in a disused fashion, or dirty from orc occupation?

"Take a breather here my friend." Droknin tells Barkas. "I will go check on the ones up on the tower." He puts his paw on the first step to climb up the tower from the exterior, then he pauses. He feels his age catching up with him. He gives a sigh, and takes the steps inside of the tower to go up instead. Once up there. "How's everyone doing up here?"

Aranea gives a nod to T'laren before he hops over toward the bell tower. Droknin is next to ascend the tower. The warlock winces as she sees the amount of blood covering the leonin. It must've been a fierce battle below.

"Still standing," Aranea tells him. "That was some battle. For a while there I thought we might not make it."

The warlock follows Droknin back down the tower. She joins Barkas and winces again at the blood covering him.

Barkas takes a short rest as the others investigate the area, resting his back against the wall and tying off some of his wound, applying poultices to his lacerations.  “Whoooo, weeee….” he says, as his eyes seem to close for a bit.  When he comes to again, he seems stronger and rested, standing slowly, gingerly, but moving much better.  “What ah… what did ya find?”  he calls out.  

[Hold off on the short rest for just a moment now, Barkas... it takes an hour.  It's certainly possible you will have time for one, but at the moment the others have just started exploring.]

T'laren, the interior of the building looks dusty and unused.  While the courtyards are full of signs of Orc occupation, the inside doesn't seem to contain any of their tents or belongings.  For some reason, the Orcs seem to have left the inside of this place alone.

T'laren will call Neral't forth below him and send him down to alight on the dusty floor before trading places. Before he switches, he'll catch Aranea or Droknin's eye and gesture that he's going down below.

Once on the floor, he'll move carefully, gauging the remains from a distance (are they intact, or just a few scattered bones?). He'll also look to the doors to see if they were barricaded from the inside... not that that should have kept ogres out if they wanted in... What would keep the orcs in the courtyard? An aversion to a holy place...? A more powerful predator?

Droknin will signal for T’laren to see if he can open the entrance, and he will make his way there to see if the door is unlocked.

((Ok, will hold on that short rest.  Barkas is at 21 hp and has used both of his wild shapes.))

Barkas stands, seeing the investigation of the tower, out of curiosity he starts to walk toward Droknin.  “Did you find something?  Why didn’’t the orcs shelter inside the church?”  He holds onto his staff and tries to catch up to the Leonin, hoping there weren’t any more that were hiding and waiting to attack.  

Aranea follows Droknin. She too is curious about what is inside the temple that would possibly scare off a band of roving orcs. She tries to open the door but if it's locked she will wait for T'laren's assistance.

"That is a very good question my friend." Droknin replies to Barkas. "Let us find out."

Athletics: 11 (if brute force is needed)

“Here, lemme at that, stan back.”  Barkas goes forward and yanks in the door to open it.  

Athletics : 18

"Of course my friend." Droknin says with a smile, thinking how can possibly someone perform a physical feat better than him. After Barkas does a better yank on the door, the Leonin's eyes go wide. "Ah, yes of course... I knew that, I was just testing you my friend."

The front door... opens easily.  Though once opened, battered hinges meet their final end and it sags and then crashes to the floor.  The sounds echo through the cavernous interior of the chapel.

As T'laren and then the others see, there is no sign of Orc habitation here.  The floor of this main hall is littered with the debris of broken pews and ancient humanoid bones.

To the west, a chamber seems to have seen more recent use, though not by Orcs.  The room contains six beds with moldy mattresses, the shattered remains of a wooden table and six chairs, and a soot-stained fireplace containing a rusty cauldron hanging from a spit.  There are old cooking tools here and some discarded trash that suggests someone was staying here, though by the looks of it they have been gone at least as long as since the Orcs arrived.

To the east, another chamber mirrors that on the west, though without the signs of habitation.  All the furniture here is smashed and decayed and the hearth is baren.

Last, to the south, lies a final chamber.  This door does resist, though Barkas is able to bend it into compliance [using the rolls from earlier].  Six stone pillars brace the vaulted ceiling of this temple, the floor of which is buried under a thick layer of dust. Also covered in dust are four humanoid skeletons in tattered priestly vestments, lying near a stone altar situated in an alcove under four narrow windows. Carved into the front of the altar is a humanoid eye.  This chamber is cold, even for the season, and much colder than the rest of the building.  As you enter, a ghostly, ephemeral shape appears before you on the far side of the altar.  A priest, his eyes looking past you without sight, slowly extends a hand and places it atop the altar.  He glows, a bit brighter for a moment, and then fades away.  As he disappears, you notice the chill in the room as dissipated somewhat.

Droknin's mane stands up straight. "What was that?" (Being an albino Leonin, his skin complexion doesn't get any whiter than that)

T'laren relaxes the tension on his bowstring as the figure fades. 

"I'm wagering that's what kept the orcs and ogres from setting up camp inside the shrine.", he remarks wryly.

Intrigued, Aranea moves toward the altar. She also places her hand on top where the spirit recently placed his. She tries to recall anything she knows about the symbol of the Eye and the other religious iconography inside the temple.

Religion - 16

She quickly realizes she's not as well versed in the gods as she would like and sighs. She kneels down near the skeletons in priestly vestments to examine whether they have anything of interest on their bodies. Whether she feels any hesitation in rifling through the pockets of the dead (and dead priests no less), she shows no sign.

The moment Aranea places her hand atop the altar, her eyes glaze over milky white, and an involuntary gasp escapes her.

Aranea:

 Back in the Chapel:

As the party startles, seeing Aranea suddenly affected by some charm or malady upon touching the altar, Droknin, T'laren and Barkas are distracting by a loud 'crack' behind them.  Wheeling, concerned about hidden Orc assassins, they see the interior of the main hall of the temple remains dark and empty.  There is another 'crack'  then a loud 'twang' as the crossbeam holding the churchbell high above finally gives way.  The bell tumbles, as if in slow motion, down to the stone floor below.  When the large bell hits the ground, it is not with the massive 'CLANG' that you expect, but with a duller, thud-like sound.  

While not loud, exactly, this sound seems unnatural, almost mystical.  You feel the noise, and your keen senses can almost see the waves of sound flowing through the air, likes waves through a pool.  The sound waves pass up through the walls of the church, and down into the ground.  

That isn't all you see.  As the bell hits the ground, more of the dark paint cracks and flakes off of its surface, revealing the gleam of solid gold beneath....

Aranea:

 Back in the Chapel:

Aranea gasps, staggering again under the clumsy weight of a human form.

"I do not like this, perhaps this building is about to crumble?" Droknin carries Aranea on his arms. "We should leave this place." The Leonin will wait for the others, but at the first sign the building is giving, he runs for the entrance.