Scouting ahead, the passage opens to a tall, rounded room. There's the immediate sense that this room had a special purpose, for the care put into its construction… and the centerpiece of the room. An alter lies long forgotten, as do the remains of frayed tapestries and tarnished candle holders. What might have been elegant wooden furniture has collapsed into heaps of debris.

More notable are a few skeletons - or what remains of them - strewn throughout the room. Most of them are only dust by now, only discernable by a few surviving pieces. They have been here for some time and are far too worn down to be monsters or friends.

A tall, curving staircase beckons on the opposite side of the room, leading upwards to a second floor. But the top floor is out of sight from this angle. Halfway up the stairs, lantern light catches a glint of metal. A large kite shield in golden-bronze colored metal languishes on its side… although coated with a layer of dust, it is in excellent condition, though likely as old and inert as the rest of the temple.

Until it senses movement in the vicinity. The shield rises through no apparent outside influence to hover over the stairs.

… You might need a full party for this part.