According to legend, the Temple of Moloch was said to have begun as a series of caverns where the elemental princes Olhydra and Ogremoch once battled, and in so doing, opened a rift to their respective Elemental Planes. This rift between the Plane of Water and the Plane of Earth resulted in a stream flowing through the caverns, which carries with it gemstones of extreme size and quality - particularly rubies. When ancient peoples came upon these gems, their greed led them to gather as many as possible, and to build a temple at the site to honor Moloch. They built an ornate statue to the exiled archdevil, and set two of the largest ruby gemstones for its eyes. Centuries later, one of the high priests of the temple, an artificer named Thessalar, was so seduced by power and authority that he slew most of this fellow cultists in a bloody ceremony, then took control of the temple for himself. He repurposed the chambers of the temple for his own experiments, creating numerous monsters that bore his name.

When you all traveled back in time, you have entered the Temple at a time that it was complete and fully functional, at the height of Thessalar's power.

Kitsune, curious as a cat, silently pads up to the three well-used buttons/knobs on the south wall, and pulls (presses?) the middle one of the three.  Anything happen?

The secret door along the south wall clicks open.

"Nice one!"

Hamdel walks over and pushes/pulls the door open, looking in.

18

A long corridor south indicates many additional rooms to explore. Down the corridor, you can hear what sounds like the extremely faint sound of a thumping human heartbeat, and something metallic walking among the corridors. You don't see anything.

 Gently lowering Squeaker to the floor, Hamdel sends the rat down the hallway to stealthily peek ahead and see what lies ahead. His eyes become unfocused as he directs his senses through those of his familiar...

While Hamdel and his rat are scouting, Dalavash searches the bodies.

Perception: 21

Nothing on the bodies. As Squeaker goes down the hallway, he doesn't see anything quite yet. Who knows, however, what lies ahead.

Kitsune quietly slips through the door, and follows squeaker, invisibly behind. (Stealth for audible {since she's invisible}: 23)

Seldor pulls out his rapier as he hears the heartbeat and the thumping. "Everybody get ready."

25. - MAIN TEMPLE

The north end of the vaulted chamber is entirely filled by the temple's famed statue of Moloch. The impressive figure rises twenty-five feet high, nearly touching the ceiling. Its hands hold a massive burning brazier, illuminating the chamber with an eerie flicking glow. The brazier's fire reflects brightly within the facets of the statue's massive ruby eyes.

You stand before a statue of legend. Or at least, will be.

(The Statue of Moloch from the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook from the 1970s.)

The eyes of the statue, according to stories you've heard from the future, are the largest rubies ever recorded from an underground lake, and were cut and faceted by the temple's first priests. The gems of the eyes are screaming magic from your detection, like a focal point, but are not components of the Infernal Time Machine, and might be powering some other device somewhere in the temple. In the east wall, a narrow corridor leads to a tiny chapel room.

You can hear the heartbeat you heard earlier getting closer.

Alta, who has been quiet (because apparently Books accidentally unsubbed from this thread hhhh), gives the statue a suspicious look. "I don't like that." She proceeds towards the chapel quickly, murmuring a prayer to Mielikki.

"I really like that." Hamdel responds.

"In the interest of preserving my life, as well as the lives of the rest of this group, I request that you give us a berth of about, oh 300 feet or so before touching the probably cursed gems that are in the eyeholes of the statue of the definitely evil figure."

The alcove that leads to the tiny chapel is really nothing special, but you can definitely sense a presence nearby, and you're not sure if it's the heartbeat sound you're hearing or not.

Eris, not enjoying feeling this presence at all, tries to look around the general area and see where the source may be coming from. 

Perceppy: 6

Seldor's gonna do it too, cause that's a good idea.

Perception:20

You can hear it. Faintly. Just can't see it. Yet. Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

"I hate it when they do this. Just come out and fight instead of hyping yourself up, damn it."

Feeling quite scared, but not willing to show it to her friends, Kitsune quietly slips into the shadows of the room, and cowers in the darkness. Likely wetting herself. She’s no hero. Just an old soul sick of life, wanting to find something exciting for once. But this? This is a thrill that she hasn’t felt in centuries. Unsure of how to react, having not felt fear for so long, she quietly recedes into the one place she knows she can find solitude. The shadows. Deep. Dark. Comforting.

She covers her ears, squeezes her eyes shut, and concentrates on slowing her heart rate down. Once she’s at peace, she quietly opens them back up, withdraws her weapons, and prepares for battle.