Location
The Bhaalite Fire Shrine
A hidden shrine of Bhaal built over an older sacred fire-ring complex beneath the Friendly Arm.
General description
The shrine is not a purpose-built temple so much as a violent occupation of something older. Blackened stone, soot-filled seams, crude murder iconography, and later masonry sit on top of an earlier circular fire complex whose proportions and stonework do not match the Bhaalite additions. The result is a layered ruin in which cult activity, old ritual architecture, and the Friendly Arm's later construction all press against one another underground.
Reference details
- Region
- Friendly Arm underground
- Faith
- Bhaal
- Establishment Type
- Hidden murder shrine over older sacred site
Key facts
- The Bhaalite occupation is younger than the fire-ring complex beneath it.
- Cultists reused existing stonework rather than fully understanding the older site's original purpose.
- Heat damage, sacrificial residue, and improvised devotional marks distinguish the Bhaalite layer from the older masonry.
- The shrine's position below the Friendly Arm connects the keep's violent prehistory to the later buried-gate crisis without requiring the current proprietors to know every chamber beneath their home.
Two sacred sites in one
Describe the shrine in layers. The Bhaalite material is harsh, recent by comparison, and meant to intimidate: scorched symbols, iron hooks, channels for blood or oil, and hacked modifications. Beneath that are cleaner curves, heat-crazed but carefully fitted stones, and an older ritual geometry that suggests fire was once honored or contained here for a very different reason.
History
The Friendly Arm's keep was once held by Mericor, a priest of Bhaal. The shrine represents that older period of occupation, but its foundations predate Mericor. The exact builders and purpose of the original fire-ring can remain uncertain until an adventure needs an answer. That uncertainty gives the DM room to connect the site to older elemental, Netherese, local, or divine history without contradicting the visible Bhaalite layer.
Using the shrine
Use the shrine as archaeological evidence rather than just another evil room. Characters who look past the obvious murder-cult trappings should realize that the Bhaalites were intruders too. This distinction can reveal hidden passages, explain why a cult mechanism does not behave as expected, or establish that destroying the later shrine does not necessarily neutralize the older power beneath it.
Also known as
- Bhaalite shrine
- murder shrine
- hidden shrine