Magical Tattoos: The Barn Owl

This is the recorded case study of magical tattoo 2497071 – The Barn Owl.

First recorded by the Documancer Natwun upon joining a party with a goliath. It was said this goliath, K’Lun, had followed the ancestral teachings of her clan in the path of the beasts. This is a copy of his records:

Our muscle was a goliath named K’Lun. She had a certain air of something hiding below the surface. Covered head to toe in tattoos, and wearing some hide armor over key vitals. She was covered head to toe in different tattoos, and, rumour had it, fought like a wild animal uncaged. I didn’t see any of this for several weeks. Our journey through the snow covered peaks consisted of mead, laughter, some fresh caught goat, and jokes I will not be recording here. It wasn’t until I asked to observe her hunting our dinner for that night that I got my first taste of what hid below.

I promised her I would sit by the fire and rotate the meat if she let me follow from a distance. I showed her my trusty lens and assured her I would be more than far enough away to keep from startling any prey. She warily eyed me, but shrugged, flashed me a toothy grin, and agreed.

Without much warning, she picked me up by my shoulder straps and off we went. We crested the top of a rocky shale covered cliff, and hunkered down there. I was hoping for a little more protection from the wind, but I wanted to see her in action. We didn’t have to wait long, as her excellent eyes spotted a few snowy goats approximately 200 feet away. The weather was nice, and they seemed to be half asleep as they chewed their lichens. She very sternly informed me to “Stay here, stay out of sight and make not sound.” I had no issue complying with her requests (demands?) but the thousand-foot drop didn’t hurt my willingness any.

As she turned away, I swore I saw her chest tattoo, a barn owl mid-flight made with a single unending line, flash white and brown. I stopped to record the tattoo to the best of my ability and continue following her progress. After a few hectic seconds, I was able to spot her again. She left no footprints and seemed to almost vanish into the snow and shale. Her movements were strong and consistent, and as long as my eyes didn’t deter from her at all – I could follow her steady progress towards her prey. She didn’t make a sounds for all I could tell, and the goats seemed to miss her completely. I didn’t have to wait long, though long enough to need to change position a couple of times, before I saw what she could do. As though she carried the strength of a bear, she pounced on those goats before they knew she was there. Within moments she overpowered one, resulting in quite a disturbing crack, and was hauling our dinner over her shoulders. Even on the way back, it was like trying to follow a glass bead in a river – my eyes couldn’t keep track of just where she was. My detect magic spell was able to tell me it was an Abjuration spell – but I could have guessed that. When I asked her about it, she informs me it was a gift from her mother’s mother – a great hunter of her tribe. I suspect she knows more, but that was all I could get out of her.

Reviewer’s Notes:

We believe the tattoo gives the bearer the effects of the Pass Without Trace spell, though we have not been able to confirm this.