With the dock quiet, Siora went back to get their wagon from the stables. We had just killed the city lord, after all, and while I doubted that there was anyone left locally that could stop us, it didn’t seem wise to just sit around and find out. We had planned on taking the ship anyway, so the only reason we didn’t have the wagon with us already was because it was too conspicuous, even more so than me riding Ebonheart, and it wouldn’t be able to get away as easily as Ebonheart could, if things didn’t go our way.

While Siora went about that task, Vestele and Ebonheart kept a close watch on the ship and the warehouse, looking out for reinforcements. Someone would notice that something was up before long, after all. Fartooth and I, however, were engaged in the time-honored practice of looting the bodies for all they were worth.

Loot:

Amulet of Natural Armor +2 x8

Bracers of Armor +6

Bracers of Armor +5

Ring of Protection +2 x7

Ring of Arcane Might

Ring of Wizardry IV

Ring of Protection +4

Gloves of Dexterity +2

Headband of Intellect +6

Hat of Disguise

Cloak of Charisma +6

Belt of Giant Strength +6

Rod of Undead Mastery

Handy Haversack

Ioun Stone (Pink Rhomboid)

Staff of Fire (50 charges)

+1 Dagger x2

Cruel Mercy

Pacifier x4

+2 Heavy Crossbow x4

Dark Blade

Black Bow

Cruelty

+4 Full Plate x4

+3 Heavy Steel Shield x5

Cursed Knight’s Plate

Potion of Cure Serious Wounds x5

9500 gp worth of Onyx gems

600 pp

200 gp

MW Light Crossbow x2

120 Bolts

MW Spiked Gauntlets x2

MW Longbow

40 Arrows

Bonemail

Most of the loot was fairly generic, or at least as generic as magic items could be, but there were some choice pieces in the mix. Some I hadn’t seen before. Some were clearly custom made, like my own armor. Some were very useful, like the potions, which we split, along with the coin. But some of what we found, well… they deserved special attention.

Ring of Wizardry IV

Type

Ring

Weight

This special ring is only useful to arcane spellcasters. The wearer’s arcane spells per day are doubled for a specific spell level (4th). Bonus spells from high ability scores or school specialization are not doubled.

Rod of Undead Mastery

Type

Rod

Weight

5 lb

This metal rod is carved to resemble a stack of miniature skulls. Anyone who holds the rod can control twice as many undead than he normally could. For instance, a caster normally can’t control more HD of undead than 4x his CL, but while holding this rod, he can control 8x his caster level of undead.

Ioun Stone (Pink Rhomboid)

Type

Tool

Weight

This pink stone can be set to float around the user’s head. It does not take up a magic item slot. While floating, the stone gives the user a +2 Enhancement bonus to CON.

Staff of Fire

Type

Staff

Weight

5 lb

Crafted from bronzewood with brass bindings, this staff allows the user to cast the following spells: Burning Hands (1 charge), Fireball (1 charge), Wall of Fire (2 charges).

50 charges remaining

Cruel Mercy

Type

Martial 2-handed

Weight

23 lb

Damage

2d8

Damage Type

Slashing

Critical

19-20 / x2

Range

This ironically named massive fullblade, otherwise known as an ogre greatsword, is the personal weapon of Maere the Cruel, chief enforcer of Breledo’s lord. It cannot be used one-handed.

+5 Enhancement to attack and damage

Parrying – +1 Insight bonus to AC and saves.

Flaming – +1d6 fire damage on hit

Corrosive – +1d6 acid damage on hit

Pacifier

Type

Simple 1-handed

Weight

3 lb

Damage

1d6+4

Damage Type

Bludgeoning

Crit

x2

Range

This simple, iron shod club has been well made, and heavily enchanted. Despite its damaging potential, however, it has been designed with the idea that live prisoners for the work camps are more useful than martyred corpses in the street.

+4 Enhancement on Attack and Damage

Merciful – Can turn all damage dealt by the weapon to nonlethal damage.

Dark Blade

Type

Martial 1-handed

Weight

4 lb

Damage

1d8+3

Damage Type

Slashing

Crit

19-20 / x2

Range

This blade is made of steel, but appears to be black as sin. Even when not wreathed in profane power, the blade looks like something the wicked would carry. This is appropriate, since they are exclusively given to Death Knights in the service of Thedra.

+3 enhancement to Attack and Damage

Profane – Deal 1 CON damage per round to living user. Deal 1d6 damage to living target (2d6 to good outsiders) on hit.

The Black Bow

Type

Martial Ranged

Weight

1.5 lb

Damage

1d8+7

Damage Type

Piercing

Crit

x3

Range

110

This composite longbow is made from darkwood, and covered in a skull motif. While its name proclaims it as a unique weapon, it is, in fact, something commonly given to Death Knights in the service of Thedra.

+2 Enhancement to Attack and Damage

Composite Longbow – Requires a STR bonus of at least +5 to draw proficiently. Can add up to +5 of the user’s STR bonus to damage rolls.

Darkwood – Weighs half as much as a normal item of its type.

Cruelty

Type

Heavy Armor

Weight

50

AC Bonus

+13

Max Dex

1

ACP

-5

ASF

35%

This suit of blackened plate armor has been forged with appearances like demonic skulls, and features many sharpened spikes in key points. It is armor designed as much to intimidate others as to protect its wearer.

Speed: 25 feet.

+5 enhancement to Armor

Fearsome – +5 to Intimidated checks, demoralize foes with Intimidate as a move action, counts as spiked armor.

Quickness – Land speed increased by +5 feet.

Cursed Knight’s Plate

Type

Heavy Armor

Weight

50

AC Bonus

+11

Max Dex

2

ACP

-3

ASF

35%

This suit of full plate armor has been enchanted and forged with terrible necromantic magics, and it is formed to appear as though it were covered in human skulls. This armor carries a terrible curse, that not only prevents the wearer from removing it while they live, but also soon turns the wearer into a Death Knight. These cursed armors are the primary way that Thedra ‘recruits’ death knights to their cause. Whether the recruits are willing or not.

+3 enhancement to Attack and Damage

Fearsome – +5 to Intimidated checks, demoralize foes with Intimidate as a move action, counts as spiked armor.

Nimbleness – Max Dex increased by 1. ACP reduced by 2 (min 0).

Cursed Item – Any living creature that wears the armor takes 1 CON damage per day, at dawn. When they die, they are turned into a Death Knight.

The last armor piece, especially, was nasty as hell. Sure, you could get around it, if you had a friendly cleric with you, who could cast even a Lesser Restoration spell on you each day, but I somehow doubted that the people ‘recruited’ to be Thedran Death Knights were going to have access to that magic. That would just make it a matter of time before the curse claimed them.

Worse, it didn’t even look like the curse needed to kill the wearer, for them to rise as a Death Knight. Anything that killed them would set it off. That meant that if, say, a Paladin was tricked or forced into wearing the armor, they would be faced with the inevitable truth that they were going to become a death knight, no matter what they did, unless they could break the curse. It was a particularly cruel mind who came up with that curse.

Bonemail

Type

Undead Graft

Weight

These bones most closely resemble armor crafted from interlocking bone and bone shards, but it is actually grafted to the body of the ‘wearer’.

+2 Natural Armor bonus to AC

The strangest thing, however, was when we were stripping the body of the necromancer who stepped off the boat. Her left arm had at some point been cut off and replaced with a skeleton’s arm! Like, literally someone had stuck it on there! And even crazier was the fact that the woman had actual bones embedded in the rest of her flesh, forming a kind of suit of armor!

Vestele’s Knowledge (Religion) check: 1d20+16 = 35

“I know this,” Vestele said, looking at the mage’s skeletal arm. “This is something that is done by a kind of necromancer called a Pale Master. They try to become more and more like the undead, without actually crossing over and becoming an undead. These undead we fought, except for the Death Knight, were likely created by her.”

I shook my head. It took all kinds, it seemed, even in a fantasy world. “So, the arm and the bone armor are just something this kind of necromancer does?”

“Well, the arm, yes. The bone armor is something different. Sure, the Pale Masters or other necromancers are most likely to seek it out, but that is actually a kind of graft called ‘bonemail’. I don’t think there’s anything important or valuable about the bones, so there’s no point digging them out of her. They wouldn’t work for us, anyways, unless we went and actually went through the grafting process.”

“Who would do something like that?”

Vestele laughed. “Mel, you might have finally started spreading your wings when it comes to the bedroom, but you’re blinded by your own abilities. Most mages, especially the wizards and sorcerers who specialize in necromancy, are not exactly gifted with powerful defensive abilities unless they sacrifice major parts of their casting ability for it.” She pointed at the woman. “For someone like her, especially in the cutthroat environment of Thedra, that bit of armor could easily be the difference between life and death.”

Fartooth made a barking laugh, and said, “The weak often look for ways to get stronger. It is why the tribes always dig and make traps, to make up for the difference in strength. But enough of this talk. What are we going to do with the bodies? Leave them, where everyone can see?”

I shook my head. “No. Even if we’re leaving town soon, I’d rather have more of a lead before we have anyone start looking for us. Let’s look in the warehouse, and see if there is somewhere we can stash them.”

“Even that one?” Vestele pointed to the bodies of the devourer that hadn’t been turned to ash. The priestess had a point. The larger creature was undoubtedly going to be a pain in the ass to haul around.

“Ah, yes. I doubt we’d be able to easily carry that thing. But I think we can push it into the water easily enough. That will at least keep it out of public eye for a moment.”

That proved to be a very good idea, since we were completely unable to lift the thing, given the fact that none of us were exactly powerhouses when it came to physical strength. Well, Ebonheart was far stronger than us, sure, but he wasn’t exactly built for lifting, or even pushing. Fortunately, the three of us were able to roll the disgusting creature over, and into the water. Where it would officially be someone else’s problem.

That done, Fartooth darted into the warehouse, to scout for a good place to hide the bodies. The warehouse itself was full of crates stacked in mazelike rows, well above head height. I doubted anyone actually knew where everything in this place was. Given the company the Mayor kept, that was probably intentional. It would be so easy to ‘accidentally’ lose something in there.

We had barely finished moving the bodies past the threshold, when Fartooth jumped down from the wall of crates he had been climbing on. Clever guy decided to run along the top of the crates, rather than navigate the maze. And it was easy to see that he was bouncing with excitement.

Whatever it was, it had to be good, to get the kobold this worked up. Even better, this was just about the time that Siora returned with the wagon. Seeing the kobold’s face, she asked, “What did I miss?”

“Come and see! Come and see! Secrets! The Lord Mayor had secrets, yes, he did!”