The Temple of Xibalca

Deep in steaming jungle, the green parts to reveal a temple half swallowed by the earth. Mist hangs low between the stones and a too-sweet floral scent masks the rot beneath it. On the moss-choked steps lies an abandoned camp: tents, a dead fire, a logbook left open to a blank page. And then, from deep inside the temple, a soft drum—too rhythmic to be the wind.

The camp belonged to an expedition that came before you. They sought the sun-treasure at the heart of the Temple of Xibalca, and they found it—but something woke, and not one of them ever came back. The drum you hear is being beaten by whatever now guards the halls: an ancient warden that has not left the temple in a thousand years.

You cut your way through treacherous chambers: a floor that collapses over a pit of serpents, a puzzle-gate that opens only for those who mimic the position of the sun, corridors where overgrown vines stir the moment you pass. You find survivors of the expedition—half-mad with fear—and learn that the treasure does not want to be stolen: it holds the guardian chained, and whoever takes it looses the monster.

At the heart of the temple waits the choice. The sun-treasure glows upon the altar, the drum builds to a frenzy, and then Xibalca, the Temple Warden, rises: a colossal feline of stone, feathers, and gold, fused with the temple itself, hauling itself out of a thousand years of sleep the instant the treasure leaves the altar. Do you take the treasure and fight your way out before the temple seals shut, or find a way to sing Xibalca back to sleep? Linger too long, and the jungle swallows the entrance forever.