Welcome to Theros! You can start your players on an adventure of mythic proportions with the adventure “No Silent Secret,” in Mythic Odysseys of Theros. In that story, the characters discover a great secret about Phenax, god of deception. Phenax’s secret was lost in the Underworld when the returned god fled death in a time obscured by the mists of legend. The exact nature of this secret isn’t important to the story of this encounter, though it may be important to your ongoing campaign. What is important is that discovering this secret has put the characters in grave danger. Their enemy now: Erebos, god of death himself.

Following the Story of “No Silent Secret”

Erebos, god of death and the Underworld, wishes to prevent Phenax from learning the secret he lost in the Underworld eons ago. Erebos has begrudgingly dispatched a number of powerful warriors from the Underworld, allowing them to live again as Returned, if they hunt down the characters and kill them before they can find a priest of Phenax who can help return this secret knowledge to the god. These Returned are led by an oracle named Veldressa. She has read the stars of Nyx and divined that great change will befall the world if the characters live. Whether this change will be for good or for ill is yet to be seen, but Veldressa is comfortable with the world as it is, and would rather snuff out innocent lives than risk a great upheaval—even if that upheaval could bring prosperity instead of doom.

This encounter begins some time after the end of “No Silent Secret.” Don’t feel pressured to rush into this new story if the characters drag their heels and go on other adventures after discovering the secret of Varyas’s mask. Once they start to pursue this secret (or once you want to make this storyline important again in your campaign), the oracle Veldressa receives a vision from Erebos in the stars of Nyx and joins with Erebos’s Returned warriors to hunt down the characters.

Valdressa discovers the characters’ current residence just a few days before this encounter begins. She followed up stories of their exploits, and tracked them down to wherever they’re currently staying—perhaps they have been offered hospitality by a local farmer, or perhaps they are staying in a public house in a polis. The Returned wish to kill the characters as soon as possible so that they can complete their oath to Erebos, but Valdressa is cunning. Rather than attack them in the streets of the polis, she decides to invite them to her secluded home, an abandoned temple in the hills, several day’s journey from the polis.

The letter reads:

Greetings, O renowned heroes. I am Valdressa, an oracle who has seen your fate entwined in the cosmic threads of Nyx. I know you possess dangerous knowledge, and that your path is clouded. I can provide you the clarity you seek. I reside in an abandoned temple in the hills several day's travel outside your polis. Bring supplies and be prepared to travel, and I shall meet you in my temple. I have included a map through the hills; follow it well and you shall reach my abode in safety.

The map Valdressa mentions isn't included in this encounter; you can simply say that the characters follow it on their journeys, or you could make your own handout map to immerse them in your story! The letter is, of course, a deception. Once the characters arrive in the ruined sanctuary of this temple, Valdressa commands her Returned to attack, and the undead leap from the shadows, eager to be freed of their duty.

Investigation Encounter: A Dubious Letter

This encounter is suitable for 4th-level characters. Though the numbers of this encounter show that this is a deadly encounter, the foes’ tactics make this encounter easier than the numbers suggest.

Once the characters receive Valdressa’s letter, they must travel to the abandoned temple. Though Valdressa claims her abode is a temple to Phenax, it is actually a long-abandoned temple to Erebos. Characters suspicious of the letter may choose to ask around the polis for information. The temple’s very existence has almost seeped completely out of memory and into the haze of myth, but there are some who remember the days that priests of Erebos conducted funerary rites in this once-resplendent temple.

A character that makes a successful DC 20 Charisma (Investigation) check finds a town elder with information about the temple. She reveals that the temple they’ve been guided to isn’t a temple of Phenax, but was once known as the Sanctuary of Eternal Rest, a long-forgotten temple to Erebos.

This elder, a human druid named Lysandra, was once an acolyte of Erebos, but was banished from her temple after it was subverted by an evil order that would rather raise the dead as servants than lay them to rest. The order was defeated, but she fears that their teachings may be revived. This is a plot hook that isn’t developed further in this encounter, but could be used if you expand the ruined temple into a full dungeon.  

Rules Tip: Skills with Different Abilities

Normally, your proficiency in a skill applies only to a specific kind of ability check. Proficiency in Investigation, for example, usually applies to Intelligence checks. In some situations, though, your proficiency might reasonably apply to a different kind of check. In such cases, the DM might ask for a check using an unusual combination of ability and skill, or you might ask your DM if you can apply a proficiency to a different check. This Charisma (Investigation) check represents how a character’s innate Charisma and skill at discovering hidden details helps them gather information from townsfolk. [From chapter 7 of the D&D Basic Rules]

If the characters learn that their mysterious contact tried to deceive them, they might simply abandon the quest altogether, rather preparing for a trap and going anyway. If they don’t meet with Valdressa, she relents to her impatient Returned servants after a full week. The combat encounter presented below instead occurs as an ambush while the characters are traveling through Theros on another adventure.

Traveling to the Ruined Temple

The journey from the polis to the temple Valdressa asked them to travel to takes about 36 hours on foot or on horseback. To reach it, the characters must travel from the plains and farmland surrounding the polis and into arid hills split by dozens of deep ravines. If you want to create random encounters for the characters as they travel to the temple, roll once or twice on the Erebos’s Monsters table in chapter 4 of Mythic Odysseys of Theros, and then use the D&D Beyond Encounter Builder to craft a Hard encounter for your party using those monsters.

Consider using parts of the Canyon Shrine map in chapter 4 of Mythic Odysseys of Theros to be the battlefields for your random encounters in the hills.

The characters shouldn’t face more than one random encounter in a day, unless you’ve created an interesting and optional side quest in the hills that can tie the encounters together. Otherwise, these encounter are just to provide interest and show the passage of time as the characters travel. If this isn’t interesting gameplay for you, consider reading Traveling with Style: Skill Challenges to learn other ways of representing travel in D&D.

Arriving at the Ruined Temple

The ruined temple in this encounter uses the Abandoned Temple map in chapter 4 of Mythic Odysseys of Theros. The characters enter this area on the southern side of the map, and immediately see four entrances through the ruined walls: one in the southwest, two in the southeast (one of which is overgrown with thick foliage), and the main entrance dead ahead. The combat encounter below takes place in the Shattered Sanctuary; if the characters enter through other parts of the temple, you can decide that they are empty, or fill them with other monsters by rolling once or twice on the Erebos’s Monsters table and creating Medium encounters for your party using those monsters.

A Returned sentry lurks in the foliage overgrowing the entrance to the Overgrown Library. It is well-concealed, and spots the characters instantly unless they are trying to by stealthy, in which case they must make a successful DC 11 Dexterity (Stealth) check to avoid its sight. It then retreats back into the library; a character that succeeds on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) as they enter the area detects it slipping away. Likewise, Valdressa is waiting in the library, waiting for the characters to arrive. The sentry alerts her to their presence, and she lurks in the doorway between the library and the sanctuary, prepared to make a dramatic entrance.

If the characters enter the library before they enter the sanctuary, Valdressa greets them loudly and grandiosely (see “Meeting Valdressa,” below) to alert her Returned servants hiding in the Shattered Sanctuary. She then tries to lead them into the sanctuary, promising that she has a vision she must share with them, and the sanctuary is the only place where she can feel the ebb and flow of Nyx.

Meeting Valdressa

When the characters enter the Shattered Sanctuary, read or paraphrase the following. You can modify this read-aloud text if the characters surprise Valdressa in the Overgrown Library:

You pass through the temple’s colonnade and enter a shadow, ruined sanctuary, overgrown with hard, thorny vines. A statue of a now-unrecognizable god is smashed in the center, and a dozen corpses are strewn face-down amidst the rubble.

A woman with pale skin and drawn features emerges from a nearby room and stands atop the ruined statue. She wears a flowing black robe that shimmers with starlight as she raises her hands above her head and speaks in a booming voice, too grandiose for her emaciated frame. “I am the oracle, Valdressa,” she booms. “You have come before me at my request, seeking knowledge that has been lost to the Underworld. Is this false?”

She waits for the characters to respond, and respectfully waits for them to finish. Regardless of what they say, however, a smirk crosses her pale face and she says, “Then I shall grant you the knowledge of Erebos that you so dearly seek.” Her eyes glow with divine power and she attacks. Roll initiative!

Combat Encounter: Wrath of the Returned

Valdressa never had any intention of aiding the characters. She is supported by a group of four Returned sentries (this includes the 1 sentry in the Overgrown Library) and eight Returned drifters. These Returned are all disguised as mere corpses in the rubble of the statue; a character that examines them and makes a successful DC 8 Wisdom (Perception) check easily notices their tell-tale golden masks.

Returned Tactics. These Returned vastly outnumber the characters, but they are not mindless undead. They long to complete Erebos’s bidding and live in freedom. A Returned that is reduced to half its hit point maximum throws down its weapon and falls to its knees in surrender to avoid being senselessly killed. However, the surrendered Returned are only biding their time; if Valdressa is defeated, all of the kneeling Returned pick up their weapons, stand, and attack in one last, desperate attempt to fulfil Erebos’s command.

A character that causes one of the Returned to surrender can make a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check with disadvantage (thanks the Returned’s Unreadable Face trait). On a success, the character realizes that the Returned is constantly surveying the battlefield and glancing toward its dropped weapon, as if preparing to make a surprise attack.

Valdressa’s Tactics. Valdressa uses the Returned and the rubble as barriers between her and the characters’ melee weapons. She begins combat by casting bless upon the Returned sentries, and then stands atop the rubble and the altar in order to easily cast guiding bolt at her attackers, using her Divine Insight to give her advantage on her attack rolls.

Valdressa Defeated

When Valdressa is reduced to 11 hit points or lower, she wails dramatically and throws up her arms in surrender. She turns her gaze away from the characters and says, “I surrender, and swear to reveal all that I can. Yet be forewarned, your danger is not yet over!” Any surviving Returned attack as soon as she surrenders.

If the characters spare her, she reveals her deception and apologizes. She says that she foresaw their actions would lead to an era of upheaval in Theros, but could not tell if it would be for good or for ill. She begs for forgiveness and offers to aid them with her farsight (her augury and scrying spells) if they keep her safe from Erebos’s wrath.

Conclusion

Valdressa’s aid, if accepted, could be useful to the characters than any treasure as they continue on the quest they began in No Silent Secret. Where you choose to take the story next is up to you and your players. With only part of the abandoned temple explored, you may decide to create your own encounters to fill these ruined halls. This temple was once a place of reverence for the dead as they passed to the Underworld; perhaps there is something to discover here that even Valdressa didn't know about.

Go on grand adventures in a mythical setting inspired by Greek mythology and the Magic: the Gathering plane of Theros. Preorder Mythic Odysseys of Theros on the D&D Beyond Marketplace, available now!

     Create A Brand-New Adventurer            Acquire New Powers and Adventures           Browse All Your D&D Content 

Did you like this encounter? Check out the encounters in the Encounter of the Week series. You can also pick up the adventures I've written on the DMs Guild, such as The Temple of Shattered Minds, a suspenseful eldritch mystery with a mind flayer villain. My most recent adventures are included in the bestselling Encounters in Theros, a collection of over 70 unique encounters created by the Guild Adepts, which can be used to enhance your campaign in Theros or in your Greek mythology-inspired campaign setting. Also check out the Platinum Bestseller Tactical Maps: Adventure Atlas, a collection of 88 unique encounters created by the Guild Adepts, which can be paired with the beautiful poster battlemaps in Tactical Maps Reincarnated.

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.

Learn more about Mythic Odysseys of Theros in this interview with designer James Wyatt!