#23 The Rending Temple

Age: Born With The Moon

Hidden or Lost?: Hidden

History: From the moment the connection between human and canine first sparked, there have been those who think the balance of power swayed the wrong way. The partnership between human and dog has always been one of tooth and claw, master and servant, but the fanatics of the Cult of the Dog believe that it is the wolves of the world that should be leading the people.

Born in the shadow of the more successful hunters and operating at night like their wolfen pack leaders, the Cult of the Dog has managed to survive for millennia, occasionally gaining enough power to make waves in the natural order. Following the violent old ways learned from the First Pack, the cult attracts murderers, cannibals, lycans, and dire wolves in equal numbers. They pray to the Great-Wulver-In-The-Moon, Romulus, offering up vicious sacrifices in hopes that the beastly deity will wake, bursting from its lunar prison to return the world to a pure state of hunter and hunted.

Cells of the cult can be found across the known lands in just about every city and major port, however the cult’s permanent base of operations is The Rending Temple, a large cave system hidden deep within the Rovingwood. Called to the location by its jaw-like stalactites and stalagmites, the temple is the closest thing the cultists have to holy ground. Here, the most devout initiates claim to be able to communicate with Romulus. The temple cavern itself is connected to a small network of chambers, including a human kennel, a charnel feeding hall, and even a breeding ground where horrific new amalgams of human and beast are created.

The complex is also circled by a tight ring tunnel, only large enough for loping creatures, many of whom run in ecstatic loops, in the hopes of reaching a state of canine nirvana. All teeth, all claw for the Great-Wulver-In-The-Moon!

1. Cave of Blood & Heat

2. Grand Pack Chamber

3. Face of Romulus

4. Mewling Prison

5. Flensing Tables

6. The Growling Shadows

7. The Kennel

8. The Bone Stores

9. Moon Pools

10. Pack Leader’s Territory

11. All Tooth, All Flesh

12. Chimera Breeding Pit

13. Temple of The Change

14. Gifts of Romulus