"Hiding Artifacts inside Villains" Part II

I had started this entry when my wife suggested another option for "hiding" artifacts, which became my prior post.  I completed this second theme-post, then noticed Talysman's theme-post entry.  So I had to incorporate that, as well...

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The Naga Snonhin has consolidated and retained her power and influence in the Fens for a generation.  Tales spread of her being seemingly killed or dismembered yet rising the next day to led her serpentmen to take revenge on whatever group foolish enough to attempt to force their way into her domain.  Tales of horribly burned survivors and smoldering encampments spread.

Her resiliency has not gone unnoticed by the mage-scholars of Quoomes.  Two winters ago, they sent the battle-mage Essbanon and Teller the Unking to the Uskh Alters.  As they suspected, the Alters were not abandoned, but had been re-established by the fire-cult of Fyss.


Serpentmen now took the roles of the acolytes, calling down the powers of Fyss in their ancient tongue.  After consultation and hurried night-couriers to Coidorm Keep to call up his myrmidons, Teller led the assault on the Alter, with Essbanon shielding himself, wading though the melee, and striking down the Naga acting as the Alterkeeper.

Inspection of the alter and scrolls deciphered by Quoomes' linguists told the truth of Snonhin's growing powers.  She had been bestowed a Salamander's Tooth, a relic blessed by Fyss that granted both the salamander's qualities as well as arcane regenerative powers.  A convocation of Quoomes authorized an expedition to the Fens led by Teller and Essbadon.  Teller was loaned, from the citadel's archives, the Raquaund armor, made from scales of a red dragon, and a Trollhunter longsword.

The battle was furious and hard-met.  The myrmidons locked with the serpentmen as Essbadon countered Snonhin's arsenal of spells.  Teller closed with the naga, who had ringed herself in fire.  Teller and Essbadon traded blows with the vile creature, Teller with his regeneration-countering sword and Essbadon with his Ice Storm staff, crafted for the campaign.

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The Naga lay dead, and an oversized, jutting tooth was pried from her jaw.  Essbadon tossed it to the ground and hammered it to dust with the remaining charges of his staff.

Salamander's Tooth - Enchanted tooth of a salamander, will implant itself into the jaw of the recipient after the command word is spoken.  Bearer gains the salamander's heat resistance and damage. Flesh (natural armor) hardens to AC3/16 as a salamander's.  Fyss' additional god-gift on the relic is troll-like rejuvenation (2-4 HP per round) (cold damage negates).  However, any non-chaotic character incorporating the Tooth will turn chaotic over a period of 4d6 months and come under the psychic influence of Fyss.  The Tooth will also have an Embedding Effect upon non-chaotic characters.