Caput Mortuum

Illus. by D. Martin

Caput Mortuum is a grim, somber-looking scythe with a haft of wood charred so badly that it resembles little more than charcoal. The blade is made of a lusterless gray metal and is wholly unadorned, except for a lone glyph engraved on each side—a circle with three small dots arranged in a “V” shape.

Nonlegacy Game Statistics: +1 scythe; Cost 2,318 gp. The “V” glyph glows a soft red whenever undead are within 60 feet of you.

Omen: The wood of the haft crumbles away as the weapon is wielded, but the weapon’s durability is unaffected.

The deadly scythe Caput Mortuum was the object of a struggle between the cults of Wee Jas and Nerull

HISTORY

Caput Mortuum (the name means “Lifeless Head”) is a legendary weapon in the lore of the followers of Nerull, the deity of death. Tradition says a shadow originally crafted it, and the scythe has claimed the lives of many heroes in its time. The weapon has the ability to drain victims of everything strong and pure, leaving them nothing more than desiccated husks. Many additional abilities have been attributed to Caput Mortuum in bards’ tales, and it might well harbor hidden secrets. (DC 15) Forged seventy-five years ago by a powerful cleric of Nerull, Caput Mortuum was intended as a great weapon for the high priest of the death god’s clergy. But it never reached the high priest’s hands. The cleric who forged it was attacked and slain by shadows in his stronghold on the Plane of Shadow. The fortress fell into ruin, and the scythe remained within for a time. A necromancer discovered the weapon as he was exploring the crumbling edifi ce. Since Caput Mortuum required divine spell casting knowledge to fully unlock its potential, the necromancer sold the weapon to the church of Wee Jas. (DC 18; Blessing of the Goddess)

Wee Jas’s clergy gave Caput Mortuum to a traveling acolyte who was undertaking a journey through gnollinfested badlands. Whether the acolyte was slain by gnolls or simply betrayed his church and fled with the scythe is unknown. What is known is that the priests of Wee Jas never saw Caput Mortuum again. Many search parties were sent out and numerous bounties posted, but it was as though the scythe had vanished from the face of the world. (DC 25; Dweller in Darkness) The true fate of the scythe is unrecorded, except in a lone account written by a wanderer. This scroll is now stored in the library of a monastery dedicated to Boccob. The acolyte of Wee Jas ran afoul of the vile cult of Nerull, which stole the scythe and murdered the acolyte in one of their dark, blasphemous rituals. Shortly thereafter, a schism within the cult ended in the deaths of all but two of the cultists. One of these two took Caput Mortuum and fl ed into the northern lands, where he submerged himself in the seedy underworld of criminal guilds and secret conspiracies. There he founded a new cult of the death god, based around the supreme authority of the wielder of Caput Mortuum. (DC 31; Terrible Vengeance of Wee Jas) LEGACY RITUALS

Three rituals are required to unlock all the abilities of Caput Mortuum.

Blessing of the Goddess: You must travel to a temple dedicated to Wee Jas, the deity of death and magic, to fi nd a cleric capable of casting commune. The cleric must use the spell to determine if Wee Jas thinks you are worthy to wield Caput Mortuum, passing on her affi rmative answer as a blessing from her church. Cost: 1,200 gp. Feat Granted: Least Legacy (Caput Mortuum).

Dweller in Darkness: You have to journey to the Plane of Shadow and survive there for three whole days. You can use any spells, magic items, or other abilities at your disposal. The ritual fails if you die before the end of this time. Cost: 11,500 gp. Feat Granted: Lesser Legacy (Caput Mortuum).

Terrible Vengeance of Wee Jas: You are required to perform an act of retribution against Nerull’s sect. To do so, you must track down and kill a cult of the