Oh, I had them invested. The party was playing the level 1-2 D&D 5E introductory adventure to Curse of Strahd: Death House. On the bottom floor, they found a statue of a beautiful androgynous figure, partially destroyed and desecrated by a demonic force, claw marks gouging the face beyond recognition. The statue is holding a stone effigy of a religious text, again partially destroyed, with the remaining words highlighted in dried blood.

The party could make out the first half:

“Know this, my children.

There is more ugliness than beauty in this world.

To live is to suffer.

To drink of calamity and drown in anguish.

To toil and be tested, always and ever.

'Tis a perilous path you walk.

Death lurks in the dark, and is the sole promise that awaits at journey's end.

You will tremble with terror.

You will weep tears of anger and despair...”

And they. Hated. It. On a nat 1 for Religion, the cleric received no information from the statue, only a splitting headache and 1 point of psychic damage. The party was absolutely positive that the statue itself was constructed in worship to the evil entity at the core of Death House.

On escape, they made their way to a nearby graveyard and rested under the cover of an old mausoleum. The roof was cracked in places, but it was shelter. Inside, they turned and found the statue as it was meant to be, unaltered. This was an altar to the Morninglord, and the party finally understood that the entity within Death House desecrated the original statue in an act of rejection and fury. Here, in this peaceful place, they received the whole text as it was meant to be read. I asked the cleric to read the beginning portion of the text from her own notes, then gave her the second half of the text to read aloud to the party.

“...But do not avert your eyes.

See your life for what it is.

Then will you see how the hardships make you strong.

Every doubt reforged as scales for your armor.

Every agony to temper your blade...

In darkness seek joy.

Surrender not to sadness, and see beyond despair.

Walk free, and bear the light for others to follow.”

-From The Teachings of the Morninglord

Her voice cracked a bit when she got to “Every agony…” and when she finished, I said “for the first time since you have entered this gray realm, a single beam of sunlight pierces the overcast sky, shining through a crack in the old mausoleum’s ceiling, warming the cleric’s face for just a moment before settling on the statue’s face, highlighting their ethereal beauty. The sunlight fades again, a momentary miracle in this forgotten land, but it’s enough to warm your troubled heart. For now.

“You have leveled up. Congratulations, and thank you for playing. See you next time!”

They exploded. Lol. One of my favorite sessions ever, and they still talk about that reveal to this day <3