Siora and Vestele went over to the glowing ritual circle on the floor, while I began looking over the corpse to try and see what goodies this Huntcaller had for us. If he didn’t want us to have his stuff, then he shouldn’t have been in our way. It was only fair, after all.

Huntcaller’s Armor

Type

Heavy Armor

Weight

50

AC

+9

Max Dex

1

ACP

-5

ASF

35%

This armor is crafted especially for Huntcallers of Malar, warrior priests who relish in bloodshed. Most Huntcallers are lycanthropes, either naturally, or they are afflicted with lycanthropy when they take their station. In shrines to the Beast Lord, the Huntcallers serve as guardians and protectors. On the hunt, they serve to drive prey into the waiting fangs of the hunters.

+1 Enhancement bonus to Armor

Shifter – This armor shifts with the wearer when they change form, such as through Wild Shape or Alternate Form, instead of being melded into their new form. If the base form is proficient with the armor, the new form is, too. (+3 effective bonus)

Shadow - +5 Competence bonus to Hide

Silent Moves - +5 Competence bonus to Move Silently

Huntcaller’s Shield

Type

Heavy Shield

Weight

15

AC

+3

Max Dex

ACP

-1

ASF

15%

This shield was forged expressly for a Huntcaller of Malar, one of the warrior priests of his church. Emblazoned with his symbol, this shield is a powerful tool in the hands of any divine servant of the Beast Lord.

+1 Enhancement bonus to Shield

Sizing – This shield sizes to fit the wielder.

Engraved – This shield can be used as an unholy symbol of Malar

The armor and shield were, frankly, awesome. Awesome, except for the fact that they were both tied so closely to Malar that, even if some of us wanted to use them, we couldn’t. That sucked, but we could still sell these items when we eventually got to someplace civilized again.

Gloves of Dexterity +2

Type

Hands

Weight

These lightweight leather gloves are enchanted to increase the wearer’s dexterity.

+2 Enhancement bonus to DEX

Once I had identified them, I set the Huntcaller’s gloves aside for Siora. She could definitely use the help when it came time to shoot enemies instead of throwing spells at them. Any boost to her ability with the bow would be welcome in the coming fights.

Periapt of Wisdom +2

Type

Neck

Weight

This amulet is enchanted to increase a wearer’s awareness, granting them wisdom.

+2 Enhancement bonus to WIS

Ring of Protection +1

Type

Ring

Weight

This ring has been enchanted to deflect blows away from the wearer at all times.

+1 Deflection bonus to AC

The ring was useful, but wearing two of the same ring would not provide any additional benefit. Likewise, the amulet could be useful, but Vestele was already wearing better, and the rest of us had other magic items around our necks. The magic would interfere with each other if you tried to use both at once. These two went into the bag, for selling later.

Ring of the Hunter

Type

Ring

Weight

This ring is a boon to all who would go on the hunt, providing a modicum of protection, and offering the chance to walk unseen in the darkness.

+1 Enhancement to Natural Armor

Darkhidden – Invisible to Darkvision

This ring was actually quite interesting. It was an improvement over the one Frostmane already wore, and it would increase his already impressive armor. Considering that his size and ferocity often had our enemies focusing on him, I couldn’t see that as a bad thing. His old Ring of the Darkhidden went into the bag, for safekeeping.

+1 Sizing Morningstar

Type

Simple 1-handed

Weight

6

Damage

1d8+1

Damage Type

Bludgeon & Pierce

Critical

X2

Range

This morningstar has been enchanted with magic to make it a boon to those who change their shape and size.

+1 Enhancement bonus to Attack and Damage

Sizing – Change size to fit wielder

The morningstar was nice enough, but Vestele was the only one of us that used a weapon like that, and she had more than a couple to choose from, each of which was better suited to what she needed to do than this one, as she did not generally change size. Into the bag it went. We were going to have plenty to sell when we got back to Northport.

Cloak of Resistance +4

Type

Cloak

Weight

1

This cloak is enchanted to protect the wearer from harmful spells and conditions.

+4 Resistance bonus to all Saves.

The cloak was extremely useful to any of us. However, I quickly decided that it would be best for Frostmane to have it. Seeing the way that the wolves had been controlled by Siora and Vestele had reminded me that mind control was a thing in this world. If someone managed to turn Frostmane against us, then I didn’t know if we could beat him, especially in close quarters. So, he got the cloak, and his old one was tucked in his bag. We weren’t doing much hiding, anyways.

Everlasting Rations

Type

Tool

Weight

2

This pouch contains enough trail rations to feed a Medium creature for one day. Each day, at sunrise, the pouch magically creates another day’s worth of rations.

Replenishing Skin

Type

Tool

Weight

4

This waterskin is constantly replenished by magic. Even if emptied, it will refill itself over the course of four hours.

These two were old friends of ours. Enough so that we all had one of them, or an equivalent, in Frostmane’s case. They were common, and wouldn’t get us much gold in Northport, but having a spare of something like them never hurt. And if we ever found ourselves with a new party member, even a temporary one, they could prove useful indeed.

Handy Haversack

Type

Tool

Weight

5 lbs

A backpack of this sort appears to be well made, well used, and quite ordinary. It is constructed of finely tanned leather, and the straps have brass hardware and buckles. It has two side pouches, each of which appears large enough to hold about a quart of material. In fact, each is like a bag of holding and can actually hold material of as much as 2 cubic feet in volume or 20 pounds in weight. The large central portion of the pack can contain up to 8 cubic feet or 80 pounds of material. Even when so filled, the backpack always weighs only 5 pounds.

While such storage is useful enough, the pack has an even greater power in addition. When the wearer reaches into it for a specific item, that item is always on top. Thus, no digging around and fumbling is ever necessary to find what a haversack contains. Retrieving any specific item from a haversack is a move action, but it does not provoke the attacks of opportunity that retrieving a stored item usually does.

(120 lbs of space remaining)

I was never going to turn down an extra magic bag to carry things, especially since the bag Frostmane was already carrying was pretty much full to bursting with all the things we had picked up. Fortunately, the wolf was easily strong enough to carry this bag, as well, once we strapped it securely to his back. I slid the armor and shield inside, glad we didn’t have to leave them behind.

Other than that, the only other items the Huntcaller had on him was a masterwork-quality heavy crossbow, some bolts, and an everburning torch. The torch I put inside Frostmane’s bag, since those were useful items, but I left the crossbow where it lay. The haversack didn’t have so much room in it that we could just be careless with how much weight we packed, after all.

Vestele’s Aid Check (Knowledge: Arcana): 1d20+9 = 18 (Success)

Siora’s Knowledge (Arcana) check: 1d20+15 = 34 (Success)

With the spoils divided, I turned my attention to the twins, who were currently side by side as they examined the glowing runes inscribed upon the floor. They discussed the runes between themselves, Vestele pointing to a section of the circle, and Siora finishing her sentence with a nod, before she continued on, rambling about some bit of arcane knowledge.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, and hand Siora the gloves I’d put aside for her. She smiled, and said, “Well, we’ve managed to work out part of what this circle does. It is some kind of seal. The runes are in Abyssal and Celestial, which made them hard to read, at first, but I believe it is a binding, to keep this place, or something inside it, from being found by divination.”

Nodding slowly, I said, “Anything that the Malarites want kept away from view probably isn’t good for us. Do you think that it could have something to do with the Blood Moon?”

Siora shook her head. “No way to know. However, I’ve never heard of a magic like the Blood Moon before, so it is probably some secret of the Malarites. Breaking the seal might end the blood moon. In fact, I’m almost positive it won’t, but we would then have a better chance of discovering what is going on.”

Vestele nodded. “I am not as well versed in the arcane as Siora is, but I believe she is correct. If we can disable the circle, then we may be able to discover the key to taking down the Blood Moon.”

I took a breath, and then said, “All right. In that case, we have to decide how we’re going to move forward. We’ve taken a beating, and walked most of the day. Normally, I wouldn’t suggest camping out in an enemy’s base like this, but we can try and fortify this room, at least somewhat, which will let us fight, if we need to.”

Frostmane chuffed. “We’ll have to keep watches, but we would have to do that anyway outside. At least here, we can keep them from swarming us from all sides. But do we want to go staying in the same room with this seal overnight?”

Siora grinned. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I figure out where the power feeds into the circle. I can shut it down without blowing us all up, no problem.”

I took a deep breath. “All right, then. Go ahead and disable it. We’ll camp here, and rest and get ready to finish off the rest of the cultists in the morning.”

Siora’s Disable Device check: 1d20+20 = 40 (Success)

With a nod, Siora pulled out her thieves’ tools, and moved to one side of the circle. Slipping a long tool under one of the stones lining the floor, she carefully pried it up for a moment, and then removed the stone, before turning it to the side, and replacing it. As she did so, the green glow of the circle flared up, sputtered, and then began to fade away, before finally going out.

The beguiler smiled up at us. “Done and done. They’ll have to restart the ritual from the beginning if they want to fix it.”

We had just settled down to rest, pressing back, out of immediate view of the hallway, when we saw a glimmer of light breaking the darkness, coming from the stairs. “Father?” A woman’s voice called out. The footsteps approached. “Father, are you there?”

A Huntress, like enough to the one we’d fought above to be a sister, perhaps, stepped through the doorway. “Father, what happened to the wards? Sister Bella and the door guards are dead! The ritual chamber is unguarded!”

Melinda’s Attack (Huntress): 1d20+17 = 26 (Hit)

Attack: 1d10 = 9 (Bludgeoning)

Hellrime Blow Damage: 6d6 = 19 (Cold)

Frostmane’s Attack (Huntress): 1d20+18 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+13 = 16 (Piercing)

Freezing Bite: 1d6 = 6 (Cold)

That was as far as she got, as Frostmane and I, positioned on either side of the doorway, attacked simultaneously. My fist, wreathed in icy power, slammed into the woman’s armored side, knocking her off balance, and into Frostmane’s waiting jaws. She was dead before she knew what hit her.

Your party has slain a Huntress of Malar!

Melinda gains 375 XP.

Frostmane gains 275 XP.

Siora gains 275 XP.

Vestele gains 275 XP.

And just like that it was over. Quietly, we stripped the body of valuables, sliding another suit of +1 Full Plate, a +1 Heavy Steel Shield, and a scroll of Raise Dead to the pile, which we happily tossed in our bags, along with the hundred gold pieces we split between us. Making sure neither corpse was in view of the door, we settled down once again, and, this time, we were undisturbed.