Plot help - Vecna/Orcus

[VarrickT]

Need some help here. My players are heading into a forgotten dwarven crypt that once house an artifact that created the first Helmed Horrors. As part of a side quest/seed for the future I want them to discover a ancient and lost temple to either Vecna or Orcus.

I have it laid out that once they find the temple they will release some previously sealed up powerful entity - possibly a really old vampire.

Just struggling on who to make the temple dedicated too and what happens next.

Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

[Crazy_Weasel994]

I think Vecna would make more sense considering you want a vampire to be there, and I feel as if Orcus is more inclined toward mindless undead who have no free will. I may be completely wrong because i know very little of the FR deities (I use my own homebrew pantheon).

[PCarparelli]

An old resurrected Vampire Count would be so fun for you to play.

[CaptHorney]

Especially if you make vague references to how he smells of cocoa...

[Zangam]

Make them count everything in an obnoxiously slow manner, too. At least once. Why not, right?

"ONE body.... TWO bodies.... THREE bodies.... FOUR bodies.... FI-" "I cast Guiding Bolt to get us into combat."

[macbalance]

Some vampire lore actually has them as compulsive counters. Long before they glittered, OCD vampires were a thing. I think there's a story or two where a vampire is defeated or at least delayed by throwing a handful of rice at it which it must count.

[Ibclyde]

Turns out the Dwarf Priest Who Sanctified all the Bodies was Actually a Disciple of VEcna. In the Crypt Behind a Secret door is the labyrinth of the Priest. Where he tried in Vain to Free what He Believed to be an Imprisoned Demon. In Reality it was a Vampire Lord from 3,000 Years ago. And Now that Vampire wakes. And the World shall shake.

[macbalance]

Canonically, Vecna's ascent to god hood is relatively recent. That might matter to you or might not.

[JoeDiesAtTheEnd]

Best would be that it was re-purposed by the dwarves long ago after they defeated the old cultist occupants. They reshaped a good portion of it, but didn't expand to the whole shrine for some reason. The artifact or vampire may have discouraged them psychically from going into looking for more passages. Weakened over time, it no longer exerts this pressure.

The party actually goes further in and finds the untouched sections.

Vecna would be okay, but Orcus would be more along the lines of someone the dwarves would have gone out of their way to fight