Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks

Stub-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s16
Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks
onyx ring · barbed ring · the pact ring · Hugo's ring · the giggling ring
Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks — Cursed pact ring (homebrew) portrait
Item
StatusActive
First seens04
Last seens16
TypeCursed pact ring (homebrew)
AttunementForced / permanent (cannot be removed)
HolderHugo
OriginBlack Mask devil pact, session 4

The Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks is a plain-looking onyx ring with inward-facing barbed hooks, granted to Hugo by The Black Mask in session 4 on signature of his devil pact [1], L1730). The hooks face inward such that the ring cannot be removed once worn — the DM described the geometry the moment Hugo accepted the offer [1]. Mechanically, the ring is a permanent unchosen attunement that channels Hugo’s contact with the Black Mask (Hugo can tap it to summon the Mask, used in s12) and triggers a one-shot demonic-blade self-revive when Hugo is reduced to 0 HP but not killed outright: it deals 1d8 necrotic to the attacker and restores Hugo to 4 HP. The revive triggered for the first and only time in s6 against a phase spider [6]. The ring giggles.

Overview

The Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks is the physical anchor of Hugo’s devil pact with The Black Mask. It looks, on its outer face, like a plain onyx ring; the hooks are turned inward toward the wearer’s finger and “kind of like hooked in the direction that if you put it on you can’t remove it” [1], DM description at the moment of offer).

Hugo signed the pact in a private room at the inn at Mirestrand in s4, accepted the ring, and “snap his fingers, and you hold in your hand the barbed ring” [5]; he put it on at once. There has been no in-fiction attempt to remove it since, and the DM has been consistent that no attempt would succeed without the Mask’s release.

Mechanics

The ring’s properties have surfaced piecemeal across sessions; nothing has been fully spelled out by the DM in a single Identify-style readback. As of session 16:

  • Forced/permanent attunement. Counts as one of Hugo’s three attunement slots involuntarily.
  • Demonic-blade self-revive (1/?). When Hugo is reduced to 0 HP but is not killed outright, he may trigger the ring: it deals 1d8 necrotic damage to the attacker and restores Hugo to 4 HP. Triggered [6] against a phase spider’s 12 piercing + 30 poison crit. The “Aftermath” curse-effect side of the wording — the kill-outright case — is a separate thing the party explicitly debated and did not invoke [7].
  • Black Mask comms. Hugo can tap the ring to summon The Black Mask. Used s12 to call the Mask in tiefling form for the “champion eternal” pitch. The Mask appears to Hugo only; not visible to the rest of the party unless he chooses.
  • Plays Project Veilbreak recordings. The Mask has used the ring once to deliver a follow-up Dr Flem Josenge recording, alongside the Altered Sending Stone which carries the original.
  • The ring giggles. Unprompted. Often. The party have learned to ignore it.

In-fiction history

The pact granted Hugo:

  • 7 years post-quest service to the Mask (originally 10, negotiated down via a persuasion check in [8].
  • A 3-year amnesty: if Hugo dies in years 8-10 he is freed.
  • Information on his erased family, on Bella (another Project Veilbreak survivor), and on Dr Flem Josenge.
  • The Mask’s commitment to help kill the doctor.

In return Hugo’s soul is forfeit if he dies during the seven years of service, and the ring stays on. The Black Mask offered an upgrade to “champion eternal” in s12 if Hugo recruited an ally to the same pact (specifically suggesting Vasquez); Hugo has not committed.

Status as of session 16

Carried, permanent. Has not triggered since s6 (Hugo has come close to 0 HP a number of times — most recently in the s11 owlbear engagement and the s15 chain-master ambush — but has not crossed it). The self-revive is treated as one-use-per-something-unspecified at the table; whether it is per long rest, per pact, or per Hugo’s life, the transcript has not pinned down.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1198 — First described — onyx with inward-facing hooks; cannot be removed.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1730-1734 — Granted at the pact signing ("have fun with the ring").
  3. ^ Session 6, line 638-657 — Self-revive triggers — 1d8 necrotic to attacker, Hugo restored to 4 HP.
  4. ^ Session 12 — Hugo taps the ring to summon the Black Mask in tiefling form (champion-eternal pitch).
  5. ^ Session 4, line 1730-1732 — Inline citation.
  6. ^ Session 6, line 638 — Inline citation.
  7. ^ Session 6, line 652-657 — Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 4, line 1714-1716 — Inline citation.
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