Fang of Astoreth

The Fangs of Astoreth are a set of eight sharp, pointed teeth that hold great power.

When a fang is placed into a skull, it endows that skull with the power of speech. The more fangs placed in the skull, the more memories it unlocks and the more the skull can tell you. All eight Fangs together can erase knowledge from the world.

The Dusk Knights are looking for the fangs to end the world; the secrets of resurrecting Astoreth/Haka were sealed in them. The Yatanese are looking for the fangs because they want to erase the concept of Varyaklum and the Church of Ilur from existence. The Weeping Circle are looking for the fangs because they know that if they fall into the wrong hands, the world could end. The Maelwe Gang knows that the fangs are valuable and powerful magical artifacts, and would command an exorbitant price. House Brachdiur have allied themselves with devils, and believe that the Fangs hide a way to escape the pact that will doom their children.

Powers

A single fang can tell you that there are seven others, and a bit about the Fangs' nature, but is generally unhelpful

An incomplete set with more than one fang can be used to cast both legend lore and scrying. Costs must be paid up front, and for legend lore, if a d6 roll is lower than the number of fangs in the set, the spell succeeds. Scrying can only be used to view another fang, at random.

A full set can be used to cast the legend lore spell to recover hidden secrets, provided the password for said secret is known. A special version of legend lore, with five times the cost, can be used to hide a secret. The caster must write the password for the secret down, and then make a Wisdom saving throw, with the DC determined by how big the secret is:

• DC 12 for something only a few people know about
• DC 15 for something several groups know about
• DC 17 for something most people know about

On a successful save, knowledge of the secret is erased in all forms (memories, books, inscriptions, etc), except from the mind of the caster and anyone they designate as exempt. On a failed save, knowledge of the secret is erased from the caster's mind. If the password associated with a secret is destroyed, then knowledge of that secret is restored completely (memories return, books are written again). For this reason, most passwords will be iscribed on stones and stored in safe, stable places.

History

• The Fangs were forged during the Tuldran empire by the Wand-wardens, a secret society of mages who believed that some knowledge was too dangerous to exist
• The Wand-wardens stored more and more dangerous spells and powerful knowledge within the Fangs, until eventually the Wand-wardens were corrupted and the rituals of the Fangs were stolen by eight different groups
• The eight factions split apart and each used powerful magic taken from the Fangs to power horrific war machines
• During the Demon War, the Fangs were scattered to the eight factions in the war
• One faction summoned Astoreth, who proceded to destroy most of Tuldra
• A hero from each of the eight factions carried the Fangs together again, using secrets from within them to destroy Astoreth
• The secret of Astoreth's ritual was hidden within the Fangs and they were buried with the Heroes
• Grave robbers managed to steal most of the fangs, but one was left undiscovered in the Heroes' tomb

Locations

1. Dr. Alasa Heto has one in her office, installed in a viper's skull in a birdcage.
2. The Weeping Circle have one in the headquarters at Casiel.
3. The Dusk Knights have one, as well as the password tablet for the resurrection ritual, hidden in their stronghold in Vakhau.
4. One is held by House Brachdiur, although they have no idea what it is.
5. One is held by a cult in Aetoth, who use its knowledge to terrify the people.
6. One is lost below the ruined Tuldran cities in Vaukveubor.
7. One is deep inside the great Lake of Unlavish and has corrupted the animals there into monstrous forms.
8. One was carried deep into the Underdark and has become a priestess of Lolth.