Books, Tomes, Scrolls, and Tablets

 

 

A Short History of the Printed Word

 

The Clay Tablet:

The Scroll: A vast improvement over the clay tablet, scrolls were written in vellum or parchment, and stored by wrapping around single or double sticks. The beaten sheet of parchment or vellum is thought to be developed in imitation of the more durable sheets of metal, long used by the Kilum (Dwarves). (Occasionally the Lum purchase this material from the Kilum when great durability is necessary but the vast expense makes this very rare.) Scrolls were cumbersome and awkward to use and were gradually replaced by Codices.

The Codex: The codex used an improved parchment which was folded and stitched into place. The first use of these would have been in books of laws both religious and secular, as the design allowed leaves to be removed and inserted as laws were altered. In a short while users learned to protect the codex with two thin boards.

The Book: The more modern book was developed as people learned to attach the wooden protectors of the codex to the leaves and wrap them in leather and cloth. Book sizes are determined by how many times the sheets of paper or parchment are folded, though the size of the entire sheet itself varies considerably from craftsman to craftsman. Sheets folded once are known as folios and are of course, the largest size. (Finished size most often between 10 X 15 and 12½ X 20. Quartos are folded twice. (Finished size between 7½ X 10 and 10 X 12½) Octavos are folded a third time. (Finished size between 5 X 7½ and 6¼ X 10) Larger and smaller sizes are possible but rare.

 

A Catalog of Scholarly Volumes

 

Fundamentals of Astrology by Belmanum the Scholar

A common text which is among the first purchased by any serious student of astrology. This compendious work contains all of the tables and charts necessary for routine astrological surveys. It would be considered a difficult work for any non-academic reader and thus does not find its way to the bookshelves of many dilettantes. Upon first evincing an interest in astrology Loraan was instructed by elderly Grandmaster Schem to memorize all the tables in this work and then return. To his mentor's great surprise he returned in a mere three days when most prospective students are never heard from again!

 

The Etemnanki Ephemeris (12 volumes and an index)

This is a very rare work as the intellectual property is considered the domain of the Temple of Shamash and all copies are thought to be in the possession of the Temple. Astrologers wishing to consult this masterful compendium of tables and charts are required to pay the Temple for the privilege. The peak of the tallest hill in the ancient City of Ur is called Etemnanki and upon it millennia ago, the Temple of Shamash built the first observatory. This ephemeris is the result of the first few millennia of sky-watching and is the most momentous work of augury in existence. Loraan has seen a three volume pirated copy under lock and key in the observatory of his mentor, Grandmaster Schem. He has never heard of a (complete?) edition outside of the temple before, therefore it must be stolen.

 

The Mysteries of the Tomb By Herick the Mage, 113th Baal Malzeraath

This work is a Quarto on virgin vellum in fine condition. Hand-written in modern Western in a small crabbed script is it obviously a translation made from an original many centuries past. The transcriber left no record of his labor (a requirement for professional scholars) and thus Loraan must imagine it copied by a zealous disciple.

The original work has long been thought lost since it was originally published in the 18th year of the reign of Szu-Adad. It was immediately denounced by the Assembly of Temples and the Inquistion followed up with an investigation of the author. The Baal, however, was legally immune to the molestation of the Temples and was exempted from formal charges or punishment. Though he survived this inquiry he was forced to flee persecution and died later in relative obscurity.

The book is a work devoted to Necromancy and worse as it occurred in a secret society of Necrophagi. These abhorrent acts are described in a detail that can only be described as loathsome, along with the rites and sexual practices of these blasphemous cultists. It illustrates low magicks and other rites devoted to divination by the means of the dead and ways to discover their secrets.

Furthermore it describes the ways and society of the loathsome ghouls which inhabit the burrows and tunnels of the Necropolis. It describes the abominable rites of celebration that they engage in and the secret catacombs wherein they dwell. It hints at the benighted abyss of Kikala from whence the black spirits of the true Dybukk come forth. Most terribly it tells of the greatest obscenity, for these things propagate with mankind and poison the seed of his lineage. Inevitably the blood of the Dybuk takes precedence over that of man and the degenerate race of ghouls is formed. Bestial and corrupt these horrid creatures live by feasting on the flesh of the dead and are an obscenity before the Gods.

 

The Chronicles of Xi Author Unknown (Fragmentary) (Radiates Magic)

This thin ancient tome must be handled extremely carefully as its vellum and fragile bindings would crumble further at a careless touch. It is bound in a green scaly hide, the size of whose scales exceed that of any mundane reptile. Even those not sensitive to such things feel a distant sense of malevolence upon touching its deteriorating coverings. Xi is known as the Greatest and most puissant of the Old Ones, his name itself is power incarnate. This baneful book is his holy writ and contains the rites with which to properly worship him.

In the forgotten time when the mortal races made war against their creators and masters, Xi, the Great Old One, was slain by the assembled forces of Dragons, Lilum (Elves), and the four races of angels and demons the Aglum, the Billum, the Giralum, and the Izilum. It was with Xi's slaying by the immense dragon Kym-nark-mar, the first born of the Lilum Lictalon, and the heroic angel Lokum that won the freedom of the mortal soul from the tyranny of the monstrous Old Ones. Powerful Kym-nark-mar claimed the magic of his slain foe for his own. Wise Lictalon took his knowledge. Noble Lokum would take nothing tainted by the Great Beast and left his carcass to rot. This tome claims as truth a blasphemy that makes Loraan's blood run cold in his veins and shakes his sanity to its very core. It claims that the very gods themselves were born of slain Xi's carcass left to rot by Lokum.

 

Makalolo: A Civilization Swallowed by the Jungle by Talku Hezron

This leather bound Octavo has been well cared for and is quite familiar to Loraan. It does, however, lack the notes in the margin that Hezron left in the copy that is now Loraan's.

Summary: The book tells of an ancient tribe called the Makalolo which once inhabited the northern jungles of Yin Sloth. In these days all that is left to tell of their passing are the crumbling ruins of once great structures. The book describes ruins in several areas now held by the Western empire. Hezron theorizes a population centre somewhere in the Jungle south of the Renger outpost. Hezron seems to know little of the civilization's culture as the jungle growth combined with a seemingly soft stone they built with left little trace of carvings or relics. His proposed expedition to rediscover the population centre's ruins would fill in the many gaps of understanding about this vanished people. The author conjectures that the people were extremely religious due to the prominence of certain domed structures whose interior architectures could not have been for habitation. Interestingly enough folklore amongst local tribes insist on the accursedness of the ruins and the evil spirits of the peoples who once dwelt there. Investigation by League of Magi licensed sensitives found no evidence to substantiate these claims, thus exploration must continue.

 

Abominable Cults of Yin Sloth by Talku Hezron

A leather bound Octavo with well-thumbed corners, overall good to very good condition. Likely one of the books that burned in the mysterious library fire months ago, Loraan has never seen it before. It is a work of anthropology that tells of the abominable jungle cults from the perspective of a traveler who moved amongst the tribes and experienced their crude rites first hand. The main deities worshipped in the jungle are Tark the Spider God, Pith the Serpent God, Ippotomi the Water Goddess, and Yin Sloth the terrible itself. Add to this a smattering of age-old animistic nature spirits like the jungle spirit Netosa and assorted demons worshipped as bloody gods by cannibal tribesman, a picture is painted of the fearsome religious life of the impenetrable jungle vastness.

 

The Malzafel Scriptures Author Unknown (Radiates Magic)

Bound in tanned human skin the scriptures of Malzafel are known to occasionally weep at the stitching, leaving strange inky stains on the facing pages. This is the sacred testament of the lonely sorcerers that engage in the forbidden worship of that Old One known as the "Gate and the Key". It tells of his nature, a being composed of weird angles and curves that exists forever imprisoned in a space conterminous with our own. Those who venerate him on the times when the stars are right in the obscene ways described herein, are given mysterious powers for manipulation time and distance. The scriptures hint at esoteric secrets that can be known only to those who seek to free the Old One from his prison. "Malzafel knows the gate, for Malzafel is the gate. Malzafel is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future -- what has been, what will be, all are one in Malzafel. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. In Dreams does Malzafel make himself known, yet never may mortal being see his Hidden Face."

 

 

Low Magicks of Ashur: An Alarming Exploration

Being a Joint Effort of Talku Barolum and Magus Bel-Tarsis IV

This Quarto tome of fine vellum pages is bound in wooden plates wrapped in leather of finest calf-skin and published in the Thirteenth year of the reign of Sakrum-addad. The fact that Loraan has never heard of this work doesn't surprise him because of the immensity of the Great Library of the Ezida. Low Magicks have rarely been studied in detail because scholars lack the requisite magickal training to do so and the Magi find it beneath their dignity to do so. This work catalogs a vast number of the Low Magicks long used by the common folk of the city: The morning rituals of the butchers of Midian to keep their knives keen and hungry; The monthly vigil in the dark of the moon performed by the Warders of the Tower of Enki; The strange burials on the Mount of Skulls every spring; The offerings to the dead whose bodies are not interred in the Necropolis; The fisherman's charm of offering an old sandal to the sea for preservation in rough weather; and thousands more like it. The alarming conclusion that the unusual team finds is that many of the Low Magicks are more than just ignorant superstition and many have their desired effects. Low Magicks seem to draw on the same source for their power as High Magicks, though they use none of the same Words of Power that have long been believed to command the effects the Magi direct.

 

Burnt Offerings to Muhra by Lamahu Kish the Abhorred

A thin Quarto volume bound in red stained leather, an anonymous transcription of the original which was published in the sixth year of the reign of Shamshi-magir. Lamahu Kish was a respected exorcist, high in the hierarchy of the Inquisition. It was said that late in his life he was tempted by one of the fallen spirits of fire who gave him knowledge of the Netherworld forbidden to mortals. Muhra is known as "He Who Faces Both Ways" and is the gate keeper of the Abyssal Realms. Traditionally, offerings to this deity have been forbidden by the Temples. This book describes the appropriate sacrifices and the methods to them, which this deity finds pleasing.

 

 

 

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