Lainian Ruins
Briefly
The Lainian Ruins are the remains of an ancient temple complex which originally served as a center of dragon worship outside that of Ryuugami's followers; they were built circa 200 BT, shortly before the settlement of Riva. Located outside the Doma City on the opposite side of the Fae Forest, the ruins were discovered early on and largely considered to be fully explored.
At the center of the ground-level of the Lainian Ruins there is an old and simple building--roofless, walls crumbling, columns tumbled. Most of the stone is overgrown with moss and vines. The stone is decorated everywhere with relief carvings of angels--in the places where the very old, once very powerful enchantments are fading, the angels are seen to have dragon wings. Why they were enchanted to "hide" these wings are unknown but is probably related to the abandonment of the temple rather than its founding.
Inside this building there is a large statue of a stately angel standing in the center of the building; this statue bears the strongest enchantment and appears all but untouched by the passage of time. When a key--a round stone now in possession of the Doman crown or lost--is placed in its outstretched hands, the statue turns around 180 degrees and a tile in front of its feet opens to reveal a staircase. At the end of this staircase is a room with four more such statues, unenchanted, placed with backs against a central column; a key rests in the hands of the statue facing the hallway, and when moved, opens a single door across from the respective statue in which it is place. When a key is removed from its statue, the door it had opened closes.
History
As such, it was left alone for quite some time until in the mid-1310s a way into the still-intact lower reaches of the temple was discovered by a small group of adventurers (Caesar, Inverse, Siz and Will Baseton) in search of quick treasure (shinies). At the time of this exploration the temple was home to a lone, small fey-like creature with draconic wings. Introduced herself as Lae and taking a commanding, unfriendly approach with the group--especially its "offworlders"--the creature seemed distressed to learn of the temple's state of disrepair and demanded of the party worship. When refused, she transformed into a "small" dragon and attacked the group; the outcome of the battle was the death of Lae.
After exploring the ruins, the group took the round spheres which, when placed in the hands of statues, acted as keys to the lower rooms and sold knowledge and access to the ruins to the crown.
