CHAPTER 8
Tools of the Trade
Pizentios kept me and the rest of my crew locked in his cellar for days, at
the bottom of a deep, dark pit that was sealed by a single trap door. One
morning, Apprentice Sarzec opened the trap door and used a rope to lower some noxious
stew—perhaps intending to drug us again and feed another sailor to his master’s
familiar. We had no intention of sampling his fare once again. By then, of
course, we had established a plan of escape.
Although stripped of all our possessions and holy symbols, Tala, a priestess
with our crew, prayed for a command spell. When the apprentice opened the trap
door above us, the cleric suggested that Sarzec jump. Just like that, without
hesitation, the dumb sot leaped into the pit with us, breaking both legs when he
hit the floor and knocking him out cold. Tala bound Sarzec’s wounds, but I
refused to let her set his mangled legs. At least the villain wouldn’t bleed to
death. Six of my sailors made a human pyramid, lifting up the first mate until he
reached the open trap door. He then secured the rope Sarzec used to lower our
food, and we all climbed out, leaving the unconscious apprentice in the pit.
After we escaped from Pizentios’s prison, we began to raid his home.
Fortunately the necromancer and his familiar were still occupied elsewhere on the
island, so we sacked the metal tower, hurling his most useful tomes, talismans,
potions, and scrolls into a number of sacks. We also discovered artifacts of the
necromancer’s hideous practices, embalmed in jars of amber oil. We destroyed these
and many other abominations that decorated the shelves of his study.
The greatest treasure we discovered beneath his bed in his private chamber,
locked in an ebony box. It was a scimitar in a black leather sheath, superbly
balanced and traced with the most deadly wardings of black necromancy, or so Tala
warned me. I strapped it on anyway. In a corner of the room, on an iron stand,
we found Pizentios’s grimoire. Fearing it was trapped, I used the sheathed
scimitar to flip it into a sack. There was no time to inspect any of these
treasures in detail, since we were terrified that the necromancer might return at any
moment and slay us all. But Fate smiled upon us, and we made it back to our ship
with all of Pizentios’s most valuable treasures.
In the night, Pizentios returned to his devastated tower. By then, our ship
stood off from shore, far beyond the range of his lethal spells. Bereft of his
grimoire, the necromancer sent his familiar after us instead. The winged fiend
descended on us like a nightmare and began ravaging the crew. Then I unsheathed
the scimitar I had stolen from Pizentios’ tower, and the fiend, beholding its
naked blade writhing with fell runes, fled abruptly into the night. Our escape
from the Isle of Sahu was complete.
—From Captain Omar’s “Tale of Sahu”
Necromancers and death priests are renowned for their exotic magical
creations. Over the centuries, these spellcasters have developed an expansive foundation
of necromantic lore which is only now being rediscovered. Much of this ancient
knowledge is not being employed in the most ethical manner. For example, based
on the principles found in magical texts such as the Book of Shadows, the Scabrous Society has recreated a few long-forgotten poisons and
necromantic devices to help expand their evil organization.
This chapter details a few of the magical venoms and necromantic items that
have only recently come into more frequent use by several powerful groups of
necromancers and various cults of death priests. Sometimes, adventurers such as
Captain Omar have managed to discover new sources of necromantic lore in their
travels. As more archaic tomes begin to appear in the campaign, the magical
devices outlined in this chapter will become more than just rare curiosities. This
chapter enables the DM to augment the arsenals of necromancers and priests in the
campaign.
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