Bone Amulet of the Circle Order

Also known as the Amulet of Necromantic Shielding.

A polished bone pendant carved into the shape of a skull, its eye sockets glowing with a faint violet light. Intricate runes of necromantic power are etched around the jawline. A thin, dark chain of enchanted iron holds it aloft. A cold, oppressive aura clings to the wearer, as if the dead themselves are whispering through the bone.

Properties

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

• Weight: 0.5 lb
• Price: 5,000 gp

Usage

While attuned, you gain advantage on saving throws against spells of the necromancy school. The benefit is constant and requires no activation.

Drawback

Your connection to unholy power renders you vulnerable to your antithesis: any radiant damage you take is doubled while the amulet is attuned.

This makes the amulet a calculated trade — extraordinary protection against the Circle’s signature school of magic, in exchange for catastrophic vulnerability to paladins, clerics of light, and any creature able to deliver radiant damage. Whether the trade is worth it depends on what the party expects to face next.

Lore

Legends say Ossian the Bone Lord crafted this amulet in his desecrated cathedral beneath the Shadowfell. He bestowed it upon his most trusted lieutenants so they might withstand the backlash of his darkest rituals.

When Ossian was finally undone by a blinding surge of divine light, fragments of his will remained bound within each amulet. Wearers report hearing distant laughter in their dreams — a reminder that Ossian’s touch is never more than a whisper away.

The Slanted Circle did not forge this amulet. They acquired it. Whether the Circle’s ideology inherited from Ossian’s cult — or whether Ossian’s lieutenants, surviving across centuries, are themselves the Circle’s senior teachers — is an open question raised by Session 12’s reveal.

History

Recovered from the body of the Slanted Circle Mage on the Maw Frame in Session 12. The radiant vulnerability provides one possible explanation for why the Mage was so guarded against his Mage Ward being broken — anyone who got close enough to deliver Sacred Flame or radiant smites would have hit twice as hard. He was wearing a counterweight, not just a shield.