Opening the chests revealed, to our surprise, that the one protected by the necromantic spell was bigger on the inside. Chests of holding were not unheard of, naturally. And having what would essentially be the temple’s most secure vault in the high priest’s room made sense. The contents of the two chests combined was all that we were expecting, and more.
Loot:
Selune’s Wrathbow
Rod of Flame Extinguishing
Dragonsoul Ring
Bolt of Fine Cloth threaded with Bronze (400 gp)
Brass Stele (2100 gp)
Copper Cloth Choker (80 gp)
Fox Fur Hunter's Cap (400 gp)
Ivory Miniature (of a Ship) set with Lapis Lazuli (500 gp)
Leather bound Book (blank) (70 gp)
Platinum Cloth Coat (1900 gp)
Platinum Ewer (1100 gp)
Platinum Torc set with Tourmaline (1700 gp)
Rabbit Fur Bracers (30 gp)
Rabbit Fur Talisman (150 gp)
Rosewood Box (200 gp)
Silk Pennant threaded with Copper (130 gp)
Silk Pennant threaded with Silver (80 gp)
Silk Robe (80 gp)
Silver Earrings (400 gp)
Silver Miniature (of a Tree) (600 gp)
Small Vial of Exotic Perfume (400 gp)
11000 GP
12000 SP
Most of the loot was nonmagical, but extremely valuable, to say nothing of the coins themselves. It seemed that the high priestess did indeed use these chests as the temple’s treasury. We eagerly emptied it, of course, but the magic items were what truly caught our eyes.
The Wrathbow, like the other artifacts we had encountered scoffed at my attempts to identify its properties. The bow was carved from a silver-white piece of wood that looked almost as though it were moonlight in physical form, with a spectral string of silver light. We tossed it into Frostmane’s bag, since we clearly couldn’t use the thing.
Rod of Flame Extinguishing
Type
Tool
Weight
5 lb
This rod has been enchanted to be the bane of all fires, and is thus highly prized by many beings, but especially those who fight against dragons or fire elementals, for obvious reasons.
This rod can extinguish Medium or smaller nonmagical fires with simply a touch (a standard action). For the rod to be effective against other sorts of fires, the wielder must expend 1 or more of the rod’s charges.
Extinguishing a Large or larger nonmagical fire, or a magic fire of Medium or smaller (such as that of a flaming weapon or a burning hands spell), expends 1 charge. Continual magic flames, such as those of a weapon or a fire creature, are suppressed for 6 rounds and flare up again after that time. To extinguish an instantaneous fire spell, the rod must be within the area of the effect and the wielder must have used a ready action, effectively countering the entire spell.
When applied to Large or larger magic fires, such as those caused by fireball, flame strike, or wall of fire, extinguishing the flames expends 2 charges from the rod.
If the device is used upon a fire creature (a melee touch attack), it deals 6d6 points of damage to the creature. This use requires 3 charges.
A rod of flame extinguishing has 10 charges when found. Spent charges are renewed every day, so that a wielder can expend up to 10 charges in any 24-hour period.
To say I was jumping at the chance to get my hands on this beauty would be a rather severe understatement. After all, I was a servant of Auril, in my way. I didn’t doubt that I would, eventually, be facing foes with more fire than sense. I thought that it would be good to have a suitable weapon to beat that sense into them when they tried using fire against me.
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Dragonsoul Ring
Type
Ring
Weight
This platinum ring has been crafted in the likeness of a dragon, and enchanted with a semblance of the creature’s mighty power. This ring acts as a Ring of Arcane Might, Ring of Dragon Friendship, and Ring of the Ram.
(32 Charges Remaining)
Arcane Might – +1 Bonus to Arcane Caster Level for purpose of spell penetration, caster level checks, and all level-based variables of any arcane spells you cast.
Dragon Friendship – +5 enhancement bonus on Diplomacy checks made to influence the attitudes of creatures of the Dragon type.
1/day Suggestion (Heightened to 9th level) to a creature of the Dragon Type (Will DC 23, CL 17)
If you or your party attack a dragon in any way (including using the Suggestion power), the ring loses this ability for 24 hours, though any active Suggestion effect continues working while this property is inactive.
Ram – The wearer can command the ring to give forth a ramlike force, manifested by a vaguely discernible shape that resembles the head of a ram or a goat. This force strikes a single target, dealing 1d6 points of damage if 1 charge is expended, 2d6 points if 2 charges are used, or 3d6 points if 3 charges (the maximum) are used. Treat this as a ranged attack with a 50-foot maximum range and no penalties for distance.
The force of the blow is considerable, and those struck by the ring are subject to a bull rush if within 30 feet of the ring-wearer. (The ram has Strength 25 and is Large.) The ram gains a +1 bonus on the bull rush attempt if 2 charges are expended, or +2 if 3 charges are expended.
In addition to its attack mode, the ring of the ram also has the power to open doors as if it were a character with Strength 25. If 2 charges are expended, the effect is equivalent to a character with Strength 27. If 3 charges are expended, the effect is that of a character with Strength 29.
A newly created ring has 50 charges. When all 50 charges are expended, this property is lost.
Siora, on the other hand, immediately grabbed the ring. Which was fair enough, since one of the rings she wore only allowed her to open locks. And, if we were being honest, she was already extremely skilled in picking locks, to the point where the ring was not all that useful to her any more.
However, that beauty? Well, it could cover for a lot of her weaknesses. Few things reacted well to getting smacked with a big old ball of magical fuck you. Even the wraith we had just fought would have felt it, if she could hit the thing.
With the coin divided, the loot stashed away, and a couple of us sporting shiny new items, the time had come to face the final challenge. Or, what we hoped would be the final challenge. None of us said that part out loud, though I knew they were all thinking it, same as me. Saying it, though, would be like daring Beshaba, Goddess of Misfortune, to do her worst. And we did not want that.
Filing out of the High Priestess’s chambers, we made our way back along the balcony, until we got to a silver mirror mounted upon the railing. From here, it was easy to see how the coalesced moonlight from the catacombs below hit a crystal in the ceiling above, and split into two parts, one striking this mirror, and one upon the other side. Now that we didn’t have other things on our mind, I took a closer look at the mirror itself.
The mirror looked to be mounted in a simple curved frame set upon a solid base, with a couple visible gears. Adjusting the mirror up and down seemed to be easy enough, and could be done by hand, but the gears would not turn by me just pushing on the frame. Instead, it looked like a crank would need to be turned to swing the mirror into position. And next to the crank was a keyhole.
I glanced over the side again, careful not to let my head cross the boundary of the railing accidentally. (Getting stuck in time was not on my agenda.) The three werewolves were slightly separated from each other. The obvious leader, a warrior-type carrying a flaming bastard sword, was almost at the altar. Next to him was a female, so that had to be the priestess, his wife. A little removed on the other side was another male, carrying a truly massive greataxe, that looked as though it would be oversized, even for a giant! That had to be the barbarian.
I took a breath, and said, “All right. Last chance for tactics. This is the big fight, so don’t hold anything back. Siora, Vestele, take one shot at controlling the barbarian, before he can rage. After that, focus on the priestess, with whatever you can muster.”
When the sisters nodded, I turned to Frostmane. “Frostmane, if they manage to get the barbarian down, you take on the priestess, and help them get her out of the fight, however you can. If they can’t, I need you to find some way to keep the barbarian busy. Call him names, get him to chase you, do whatever. Just keep him away from the twins.”
The white wolf chuffed. “Easy enough. I might even be able to goad him into fighting me as a wolf, which would remove some of his abilities. At least he wouldn’t be able to use that axe against me. These werewolves like to fight in their hybrid forms, so they might not be as used to fighting like a wolf.”
I nodded. It wasn’t a great plan, but it was a plan, all the same. “Good call. See if you can taunt the bastard, if you can, then.”
Siora’s eyes narrowed at me. “And what will you be doing?”
I took a breath, and said, “I’ll be fighting the leader. He’s going to have the toughest defenses, so he’ll be the one my new sword will make the most difference on. Either way, I’ll be focusing on trying to stay alive long enough for the rest of you to come and save me.”
Vestele shook her head. “It is too risky, but I don’t see any other option. If we had some way to separate them, that would make everything worlds easier, but we don’t have anything like that. Not that could cover the entire space, at least.”
Siora cleared her throat as she looked down at the scene below. “I can make shadows conjure up a wall of ice, separating them into two groups. It will only stretch from column to column, so they could get around it, but that should at least allow us to fuck with them a little.”
I nodded. “All right, that’s a good start. Do you or Vestele have anything else you can do to tip the odds in our favor before the fight?”
Vestele nodded. “Before the fight, I can use a Mass Aid spell. That will give us a bit of a boost to our attacks, and a little extra health. Once the fight starts, I can offer a Prayer to the Queen, and that will further aid our attacks, while potentially weakening our enemies.”
Siora chimed in, as well. “Just before the fighting starts, I can hit you with a Greater Invisibility spell, Mel. It won’t last long, but it will give you a better chance against the Huntlord. I have a Mirror Image spell I can put on myself beforehand, and, sometime after the ice wall is up, I can throw my Legion of Sentinels down. That could work to keep the priestess from running around if she tries to get away from people.”
“I’ll gladly take all the help I can get.” I looked back at the mirrors. “I think we can aim this mirror first, and then go around to the other side, cast the spells with longer durations, and then have Frostmane and Vestele go downstairs, so they are ready to attack as soon as possible. Siora will cast her spell on me just before I aim the last mirror, and then we will both fly down to take care of our responsibilities once things inside the field start moving.”
I paused, and then said, “Anyone have anything to add before we start messing with the mirrors?” All three of my friends shook their heads.
I took a breath. “All right, we have a plan. It is a desperate, foolish, damn near suicidal plan, but it is a plan, and the best we can do. But if we pull this off? We are going to be legends. Let’s do it.”