Book of Fangs and Talons

The Book of Fangs and Talons was a book sacred to the Malarite faith.

Description
The Book of Fangs and Talons comprised seventeen pages of heavy vellum bound between slabs of turtle shell and covered with the furs and hides of various beasts. The book was clasped shut with a variety of fangs and talons and featured a marking ribbon made of cured red dragon tongue, stamped with the holy symbol of Malar. The book, composed as it was of perishable materials, was assumed to have been protected by preservative magic. The writings of the Malarite Thorogh Delskul of Priapurl suggest that the claws and talons decorating the book may also have been envenomed to kill those who handled the book carelessly.

History
The Book of Fangs and Talons was first found atop Berun's Hill in the, by the Slow Serpent adventuring party, amid a gore-stained ritual circle that comprised numerous severed animal claws and a single human hand. The book was delivered to a local priest of Silvanus, who entertained several theories about the ritual setting in which the book was found, but was ultimately unable to complete his research: three nights after he obtained the book, his hermitage was set upon by murderous Malarites, who killed the Silvanite and absconded with the tome.

The tome was known to have passed through Triboar not long afterwards, and by 960 DR, rumors of the book had swept the Secomber area, suggesting that Malarites used the book to manifest Malar himself by bathing the tome in the smoke of boiling beast blood. The rumors raised concerns among the warrior-priests of Chauntea, who searched the area around Secomber and Delimbiyr Vale, but found no trace of the cult. Another ring of severed claws was found near Daggerford in the, but no trace of the book was found, and no further sightings of the book would arise for more than three centuries.

In Elturel in the, members of a Malarite cult conducted a Wild Hunt within the city, releasing wild beasts in the streets and hunting down beast and resident alike. The following day, city authorities uncovered a Malarite temple in a local cellar, and a standoff against the Malarites began that endured for several days. When the authorities finally breached the temple, the high priest escaped by teleportation, but not before he was seen clutching the Book of Fangs and Talons.

In the, an adventuring party discovered a hidden temple to Malar in the town of Easting and tried to take the Book of Fangs and Talons. But they were discovered by the enraged priest and quickly overcome by "a great horde incorporating of all manner of beasts", as survivors described it. The would-be thief was dragged away and eaten and the book retaken. Those who escaped returned the next day with mercenaries looking for vengeance, but found the temple abandoned.

The book's last confirmed appearance occurred during a Malarite conclave in Elversult in 1298 DR, where the book was featured as a holy object during the tenday-long gathering. It was reportedly borne north of there by Onglukh Neirim, a breeder of great cats and other large predators. Unconfirmed sightings of the book later occurred in 1346 DR and 1359 DR, but its subsequent fate remains unknown.

Contents
According to Thorogh Delskul, the tome contained the following spells: animal transfer, animal summoning III, beast claw, blood lust, chant of fangs, create food and water, creeping doom, hold animal, insect plague, locate animals or plants, part water, produce flame, rage, speak with animals, spectral manticore, spectral stag, and water walk.