One Page Adventure: Clean Slate Sanctum

On my travels I came across a group of pilgrims. They were on their way to the Temple of Spiritual Cleansing to “rid themselves of all otherwordly influences on their soul”. I had never heard of the temple nor this ritual, so I decided to join them on a whim. I soon discovered why I had never heard of this temple before. To enter it, the leader of the pilgrims had to cast a long ritual spell in the middle of a forest. The spell created a small stream of glowing water, which we then proceeded to follow for about half a day. Finally, the glowing stream ended at a crack in the ground, which led us to a giant stone portal. Here the group proceeded to undress and leave all their equipment behind. They warned me, that any item that “could hold influence over my soul” could be destroyed by the ritual we were about to attempt. I imagined they were mostly talking about magic items – which is why I left my cloak of billowing behind. However, I foolishly did not relinquish my staff of power. A decision I would come to regret.

In this one-page adventure, your party is asked to let go of all their fears and most of their possessions. Is this a ritual really to their benefit or is this “Clean Slate Sanctum” just a sick joke being played on them?