OK. What the heck did I miss, or is it just
too damn early in the morning??

Tricky

BTW-rather addicting game here.

Try the back door.

Explore the woods and you'll find another small river that leads the the back entarnce.

I remember I was getting frustrated as of course you cannot get to the rear of the temple. Look on the map see those two small ponds one of which goes into a cave in a small mountain. Well thats the back door. The path to get to the first pond is easy to overlook in the dark.

Good luck and may Kerah be with you.

I always make it a rule to talk to everyone I can about everything in the 'talk' list. The answers to most problems are usually here. The clue about the back door comes from both Kol the Heretic (the priest guy standing in front of the front door) and from someone in Valeia, either Harespia the Gypsy (say 'Orb') or was it the guy in the Tavern? You can get some useful info from the taverns but it seems to be only after you get the relevant quests, and you have to put up with a lot of repeat stuff first.