The Temple-ish Churchlike Fane of the Synogogue Inside the Fane of the Terrible Fanekeeper
This encounter is meant to be a challenge for the players, so be sure to carefully describe every detail. Linger seductively, passionately--obsessively--on the great amount of difficulty they'll be experiencing completing this horrifically complex encounter. It's tough.
I'm not kidding.
[boxed text]
Before you stands a church. Well, it's more like a temple. OK, maybe a cathedral. Anyway, it's big.
Really big.
Dangerously big, for a temple.
But it's not a temple, it's a fane, so don't even think about describing it as a mosque. Or a church. Or anything like a chapel or chantry. This is a fane, dammit, and not a tabernacle or basilica.
Anyway, this fane is big and scary and has a fanekeeper inside. What's a "fanekeeper"? It's kinda like a priest. 'Cept different. His name is Mohnte. And he guards this churc...see? There you go, making me all confused. I almost said church, which this structure is most definitely NOT. It's a fane. Not a vestry. But a fane.
Spell it with me. F-A-N-E. Eff, ay, enn, ee. Fane.
Well, Mohnte gurards this dangerously, ridiculously huge building. Did I mention it's black? Yeah, the blocks of stone it's built of are black. Not "ebon" or "dusky" or even "obsidian". It's a black sacristry...NO! FANE! Man, you get me all mixed up. It's a black fane, and Mohnte guards it menacingly in his menacing kinda way. And it's scary. Don't you feel scared? All, like, oooOOOOooooOOOOOooooooo and stuff.
[end boxed text]
If the characters approach Mohnte, he'll glare loomingly over them and his fanbo--err, followers will begin chanting "Mohn-te, Mohn-te" in the background.
(Did I fail to mention the fanb....ahh, followers? Yeah, they're behind him in the halls of the temple. Uh, fane, I mean. And they're all, like, "Mohnte? Yeah, he's the d00d." But when they say it, it's scary and all, like, "grr" and stuff.)
Their chanting rises to a fevered pitch, getting louder and louder until the characters are forced to roll Will vs. Death Magic at a -19 penalty or suffer the effects of a charm that makes them go out and buy every Malhavoc Press book to be found.
Mohnte, Epic 34th level gestalt half-demon/half-pixie ECL 4 polymorphed dire owlbear (with "Xeq" PrC), THAC0 44, weilding legacy Intelligent flaming riding crop of corruption +3.14159
And he loves BBQ.
....And don't get me started on the Orc & Pi room.