"Did we do it?" asked Carl.
"Did we stop it?" asked Melissa.
"Yes," I said. "You did it. You stopped the ritual."
"Yes!" cried Melissa as Mike and Carl shared a high five. "What now?"
"We came in here in a bit of a rush," said Mike. "I want to take a good look around."
"Me too," agreed Carl.
"I'm just going to sit down and relax for a moment," said Melissa.
"Okay," I said. "Melissa, you can find a spot to sit that's slightly less slimy than the rest."
"That's okay, I'm already all slimy anyway," she said.
"You sit back and close your eyes, enjoying your victory over the cult. Mike and Carl, you take a look around. You're in a temple that was clearly appropriated from another religion - there are some architectural elements that suggest the sun's rays, though they have been defaced and broken. The black slime covers everything, and it is extremely cold."
"Like that temple with the altar?" asked Mike.
"Exactly like that, yes."
"What is this slime? Can I tell anything about it?" asked Carl.
"You can tell that it's clearly very magical. It's almost like an essence of magic given material form. If you'd like to detect magic, it radiates very strongly in the necromancy and conjuration schools."
"Interesting," said Carl. "Can I tell what it's function is in this situation?"
"Yes, it seems that its presence weakens the dimensional barrier between the material plane and the demiplane where the chained god is imprisoned."
"Is there anything that I can do to, like, clean it up?"
"Roll religion."
"Twenty two."
"You're going to need to re-consecrate the temple," I said.
"Okay," he replied.
"The temple, as I said, was originally to some other god - probably a sun god - but it was taken over and desecrated by the cult of the chained god. The slime appears to be an instrument of that."
"So if I reconsecrate this temple to my god..." he began.
"The slime should go away by itself," I completed.
"Wait," said Melissa. "You're going to take over this temple for your evil cult now?"
"That's the plan," said Carl.
"You're replacing one evil cult with another evil cult," she said.
"Ah, but my evil cult isn't trying to destroy the universe," replied Carl.
"No, just to destroy all the existing power structures and bring your evil god bodily into this realm to rule in fire and destruction," interjected Mike. "Isn't that what you've been saying this whole time?"
"There's plenty of time for that," said Carl. "The important thing is that we've stopped the chained god from destroying the universe. Let's focus on that for now."
"No, wait," said Melissa. "I'm not okay with this. Can't we get a priest of some other religion to consecrate this temple?"
"If you can get someone here before I finish," said Carl.
"You realise," I interjected, "that consecrating this temple to your god will require a sacrifice. Probably multiple sentient beings."
"Ah, of course," said Carl. "That's going to take some organising."
"You'd better do it soon, because while the slime is here, the barrier between the world and the chained god is still being weakened."
"Well, there are two sentient beings right here..." began Carl.
Melissa glared at him.
"What?" he said. "You didn't expect that I wouldn't consider it, did you? Evil, remember?"
"Don't make us fight you," said Mike.
"Okay, okay," said Carl. "I'll just put my plans and ambitions on hold for now and see if I can't raise another temple somewhere else later. Can I do something now to try and weaken the slime, temporarily?"
"Do you have any uses of channel divinity left?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied. "Both."
"I'll let you use them here to temporarily dispel the evil aura."
"I do so."
"Okay," I said. "You chant an incantation in a language that makes Mike's and Melissa's heads hurt, and in a flash of infernal fire, the slime is burned away, leaving bare stone."
"What, all of it?" asked Mike.
"No," I replied. "Only in a radius of about sixty feet. But you can rest here now. Carl, you can tell that this will last for several days, but the slime will over time slowly return unless the temple is reconsecrated soon."
"Okay," he said.
"And the danger, of course," added Melissa, "that other cultists might come along in the meantime and try to restart the ritual."
"I could raise these guys as zombies to defend the place while we go and find a priest, but I don't expect they'd last long against a determined party of cultists," said Carl.
"Yeah, but they'd deter casual visitors," said Mike.
"Right, I do that," said Carl.
"Okay, no problem," I said.
"With two fifth-level spell slots I can animate six of them, but I'll need to rest first. Let's do that long rest now."
"What command are you giving them?" I asked.
"Um, stay here and attack any creature that enters the temple unless they say the password zorubon."
"Interesting choice," said Melissa.
"I think it's a word that the cultists are unlikely to use casually," he said. "You know, if we stay here an extra day, I can double the number of zombies."
"Yeah, but then we delay fetching a priest by an extra day," said Mike.
"I get my uses of channel divinity back on a long rest as well. I can keep this area clear of the slime pretty much indefinitely."
"Okay, how's this for a plan? You stay here and keep the temple clear, raising the cultists as zombies, while we go and fetch a priest," said Melissa.
"Split the party?" asked Mike.
"That suits me," said Carl. "I probably wouldn't be welcome in any temple you'd be getting a priest from anyway."
"Okay, we do that," said Melissa. "How long will it take us to find a priest?"
"This temple," I replied, "though isolated, is not actually very far from a medium-sized town. There's a temple there where you'll be able to find a priest. It's four days away."
"Okay," she said. "That's eight days, probably nine because we'll need to spend a day talking to the priesthood and gathering what supplies might be necessary."
"Carl, what are you doing in this time?" I asked.
"Are there any villages or farms nearby?" he asked.
"Yes, there are a couple," I replied.
"Any children?" he asked.
"No, wait," said Melissa.
"Several, yes," I replied.
"Carl, no!"
"Through a combination of suggestion spells, bribery and force I want to bring as many children as I can to the temple," he said. "I'm also changing the password on the zombies I've already raised to the name of my god, and raising the rest of the cultists as zombies. In three days I should be able to raise all fifteen. That leaves me a week to kidnap as many children as I can."
"Okay," I said. "Roll charisma."
"Twenty one," he replied.
"You get five kids."
"Excellent. On the day before Melissa and Mike return with the priest, I perform the reconsecration ceremony."
"Melissa and Mike, as you return to the temple, you can see clearly that something has changed. The temple is illuminated by a fiery red glow, smoke rises into a heavy black cloud above it, and instead of the piercing cold that you felt as you approached it last time, the region is now bathed in an oppresive heat."
"You bastard," said Melissa.
"I draw my sword," said Mike.
"Bring it on," said Carl.
"Roll initiative," I said.