1

A book whose pages are made of various pressed leaves bound together by wicker. On each page, is a description of the effects that one can expect if they smoke, eat, drink, or otherwise ingest that page.

2

Nullifier’s Lexicon: A book with black leather pages with silver bindings and a silver front plate. The pitted and tarnished front plate is adorned with void-speech glyphs. The pages are thin sheets of corrupted brass, and are inscribed with more blasphemous glyphs. The tome is a catalogue of specific language wording, grammar use and precise punctuation for the summoning of alien being born of the Void.

3

A brass-bound booklet with a small locking clasp. The faded title reads “AN ABRIDGED PRE-HISTORY OF THE WORLD TO COME.”

4

Ratch’s Codex of Diseases: A fairly thick book outlining many common and rare illnesses. Upon reading and finishing a section about a specific disease, the reader will being to show symptoms of that disease, personally experiencing it in uncomfortably precise detail for 1d4 hours, before the feelings suddenly pass. The reader is not contagious at this time and never actually contracts the illness.

5

A pair of ledgers detail several years of semi-anonymous activity, possibly some sort of gambling ring. Entries are organized by nicknames and initials.

6

An ancient tome, with gold-thread lettering stitched onto the front spelling out “R.A.”. The pages themselves are almost black, close inspection reveals tiny writing; letters and numbers boxed off, written so densely as to require a looking glass to see the actual figures. PC’s knowledgeable is accounting, mathematics or bookkeeping are able to determine with a few hours of dedicated effort that this tome was a list of the royal treasuries official accounts and that said royal treasury is empty and accruing ever-increasing debts to keep the kingdom afloat.

7

A large, spiral bound sketchbook with blank, ash-grey pages. A bone-feather quill is attached to it.

8

Last Hope Options: An old instructional text bound with wood covered cloth. The book serves as a powerful guide to battle magic and how one might use spells while in combat to their most devastating effects. Most of the strategies involves, great risk to the caster as well as all other living beings in the immediate area while at least one entire chapter is devoted to strategies that are outright purposely suicidal to the caster but will accomplish the goal. If the said goal is atomizing everything within earshot. Even the tactics that pose the least risk to the caster himself, have severe consequences in terms of property damage, civilian casualties and the extinguishing of the caster’s own sense of morality or ethical code. As the name suggests, this tome is intended for those who have nothing left but a shred of hope and a fierce desperation to see their quest through to the end.

9

An unremarkable book bound in black hide. The book is a bound collection of romantic poetry and the blank margins near the spine of some of the pages halfway into the book have been cut out, leaving a small hollowed compartment that contains a Roll on "All Rings"

10

Aen N'og Mab Taedh'morce: A collection of richly illustrated tales of elves and poetic parables in perfect condition.

11

A book full of hymns to the God of Roll on "Random Godly Domains", written entirely with the blood of a devout follower who has since passed away. Despite the macabre nature of this tome the calligraphy is exquisite. It is bound in yellow leather, with prayers and divine seals branded directly into it. Whenever the book is in the hands of a devote of that God, it glows dimly. When singing a hymn included in the book while holding it, the bearer’s voice is joined by a ghostly choir supports his prayer. The choir contains up to five voices and they only sing as well as the bearer.

12

Sutra of Tranquil Thought: A monastic tome that describes ancient techniques of mental focus and is highly prized by psionic practitioners. The minds of non psionic beings are too clouded to benefit from the secrets of this book. To anyone without psionic aptitude, the book’s pages appear to contain nothing but elaborate patterns and drawings of mysterious beings.

13

Nycoptic Manuscripts: A set of twin papyrus scrolls inscribed with ancient tales and cryptic prophecies by an anonymous, almost-certainly insane author. Despite their dubious accuracy, the manuscripts contain many useful descriptions of spells from the school of necromancy, and provide the reader with reliable information on necromantic topics.

14

A vellum spellbook bound in blood-red leather and locked with a bronze clasp.

15

A heavy, leather-bound tome with a red silk ribbon tucked between pages. The page it opens to begins with an accurate description of the bearer, holding the book as well as his current surroundings.

16

The Storybook: The text of this book is incomprehensible, but it features many illustrations of knights saving maidens and slaying dragons. Anyone who frequently attempts to read the book begins suffering delusions of being the protagonist of an epic tale, sometimes mistaking allies for pages or bards only along to record their tale, or hearing a nonexistent narrator describe their exploits.

17

A thin, flimsily bound paper catalogue appears to tell a story about valiant demigods through a series of static images with dialogue penned over them.

18

A large, thin book with thick pages. Each page appears to be a beautiful monochrome lithograph, and the binding is perfect and seamless.

19

A fantastically thick tome listing non-existent beasts in excruciating detail. Each is accompanied by a fine illustration and a brief treatise detailing its supposed attributes and behavior.

20

A black, leather-bound tome with gilded page edges. The angle the book rests at reveals a hidden image printed on the side of the book. The text itself is an examination of moral philosophy.

21

A novel in progress entitled “The Cantankerous Creeps of Callowhail.”. An admirable attempt, although, altogether there’s an abominable abundance of atrociously awful alliteration.

22

A sketchbook showing the deaths of various beings. Each of them resemble murders done by an unknown perpetrator in the local area within the past few years.

23

A thick, leather-bound tome embossed with the image of a skeleton dancing with a dracolich. The title reads; “Necromancy: The Dance Macabre”.

24

A sketchbook has been opened to a page, and on that page are some quick sketches of various bestial humanoids with call-outs to specific detailed parts of the body.

25

A book about language that have notations within the margins of each page that call into question the intelligence of the author. The notes use colourfully rude and sometimes disgusting word choices.

26

A book that, when opened, contains the first story the reader ever knew.

27

A book made from human skin, with a pained human face on the cover. The face will speak with difficulty and will give advice to whoever consults it. Unbeknownst to the bearer, it will not tell him anything except what he already believes to be true. It screams in agony whenever it is opened up.

28

A faded green book that talks about the art of basket weaving and its cultural variations across the continent.

29

The Anarchist’s Cookbook: A tome of alchemical recipes that provides intensive instructions on how to make various creations and mixtures. Each and every recipe is extremely flammable or dangerously explosive and in many cases both.

30

Cantore’s Guide to Extreme Weather: A large leather bound tome with an image of a storm cloud stamped on the front, listing various historical weather events in history such as infamous hurricanes, tornadoes, sandstorms, and blizzards. If the book is opened to certain pages, the event listed there is projected outward as a small illusion until the book is closed.

31

The REAL ACTUAL Anarchist’s Cookbook: A literal cookbook written by the head chef of an oppressive lizardfolk regime. It details the various ways in which captured rebels could be prepared for dinner with the king.

32

A leather-covered warlock’s grimoire with binding hinges and a back plate made of dark iron. An embossed, glowing eye with a slitted pupil adorns the cover.

33

Alchemical Pitfalls: A book written as a basic alchemy text, with warnings about potential hazard points in the creation process. At first simple, the warnings grow more elaborate, until it becomes clear that the book is really a guide to making poisons, explosives, illicit drugs, and other contraband items, and the legitimate recipes are just a pretense.

34

A Guide to Trade: A memoir written by a slave trader, to provide guidance to his children and grandchildren on how to make a profit on sapient misery. Goes into great gory detail on the actual nuts and bolts of the business and kindhearted readers will likely have trouble finishing it.

35

On Transformation: The collected notes of a wizard who thought lycanthropes might hold the secret to increasing the healing power of normal humans. While not achieving any breakthroughs on healing, the wizard did produce the most detailed survey of lycanthrope weaknesses ever seen… because he kept needing to dispose of the test subjects.

36

In the Wizard’s Bedchamber: The memoirs of a courtesan who lived and died over 100 years ago, who spent most of her career as the kept woman of a famous wizard… who in turn went on to become a lich. Combing the text can give insights into the layout of the lich’s lair and laboratory, as well as tantalizing hints about where its phylactery may be stored.

37

The Truth About the Woodpixies: A rambling, handwritten, and exhaustingly long manifesto detailing personal grievances with the natural world from the author, Verna the Lizard. The writing becomes more scrambled as it goes along. If the book is read to the end, the reader begins to feel a persistent paranoia about nature. Is that tree watching me?

38

Poisoning Technique’s: A guidebook discussing the different methods of poisoning your targets. Getting around being detected, different types of poisons, and effective get away strategies if things don’t go as planned.

39

Arktark’s Guide to Easy Traps: A poorly written, poorly edited, and disturbingly sticky guide to kobold traps, from the simple “Pot With Scorpion In It” to the amazingly complex and improbable “Karkyark’s Improved Flaming Spinning Stretching-Rack Trebuchet!!! Now With Acid and Iron Spikes”. All are incredibly vicious and deadly. The book’s stickiness is a slow acting, contact poison, but the author doesn’t reveal that until a gloating post-script on the last page.

40

An unnamed dark green book whose first page states “For Therai”, this fairly short book is a medical analysis of a person named Mike who is having constant reoccurring nightmare in which a tiefling name Therai visits them and tells him that he is trapped inside the walls, and begs for his help. As the book progresses the doctor overseeing Mike becomes more and more hopeless as Mike’s sanity continues to plummet. The book ends with the doctor injecting a lethal dose of a poison into Mike and then remarking that since that night he’s been having similar nightmares. After reading Therai will visit the reader while they sleep, telling them that he is “trapped within the walls”.

41

Blatantly Incorrect; On The Silliness of Wizards: A surprisingly slim book in furiously penned Dwarvish. Containing five anecdotes about wizardly blunders, the author, a dwarf eldritch knight, demonstrates how masters of the arcane easily lose track of the fundamentals. Her roasts often match or exceed the lengths of the stories themselves, dissecting the subject’s mistakes simply, efficiently and thoroughly. Readers come away with a new found understanding of magic, improved problem solving and a curious disdain for wizards.

42

A bright blue book written upside-down in broken common. It’s hard to understand what the author is talking about, but they appear to use the word “mate”, “crikey”, “G'day” and “barbie” a fair amount.

43

Hambone’s Guide to Everything: An encyclopedia written (Probably dictated) by a very very VERY stupid person. Example: under “Chicken” it says “big fat white crow. Fun to kick. Better to eat”. Under the entry for beer it just says “yes please!” The encyclopedia is less than 50 pages long, and is about 99% drawings.

44

The Book of Mild Darkness: A tome bound in cat fur, which a note scrawled on the inside of the cover assures that the cat was taxidermied after a normal death. Contains all manner of views against order and accepted authority. The reader becomes cavalier about external norms and customs such as following public order, respecting higher stations, and performing personal hygiene. The reader also develops strong feelings about the moral institution, such as the division of good and evil and any imposition of action upon an individual against one’s own choices, including behavior upon threat of consequences. These new ideas fade after 24 hours of not having read the book and the feelings are not strong enough to force the bearer to act against his own strongly held moral or ethical code.

45

How to be a Model Inmate: A book found in a prison library detailing, mostly with pictures, how to be a model inmate and possibly get time off of your sentence. In each picture is a letter hidden somewhere in the image, and If the reader is savvy enough, they can unscramble them to find that it spells “cut me open”. If they rip up the book or cut into it they will find a set of files, lockpicks, and shanks hidden in the spine and bindings that can be used to break out of jail.

46

Steve’s Steve to the Steve of Steve: A book in which every noun is replaced with the word Steve. Attempting to write new words in the book will have the same replacement effect. It appears to originally have been a carpenter’s guidebook based on the illustrations.

47

Melmar’s Memoirs: A cloth bound book has the face of a jolly old halfling painted on it. It contains many chapters about Melmar’s adventure-filled life. It appears normal in every respect. However, every 1d4 months, a new chapter magically appears at the end of the book, detailing a new, startlingly recent, Melmar adventure.

48

The Art of Butchering the Long Pig: A book bound in a mixture of human and elf skin. The title is tattooed in fancy Common across the front. Inside are disturbingly detailed drawings of how to butcher humanoids of all sorts.

49

Stabbing in the Dark: A true-crime novel that details the deeds of a killer known as “The Shape.” However, the page that reveals The Shape’s identity has been torn out.

50

Devine’s Dirty Diary: A book that has been reformatted from the Diary of a man named Devine who made it his life’s goal to catalog every curse, swear, slur, and every dirty phrase imaginable in every language.

51

Wyrm’s Lore Book: A spellbook with a brown leather cover and three green gems embedded into the back cover. Inside, there are stories about the Dragon of Lore, Serpent of the Source, and also the diary of Lorelei Lejendara, the chosen Half-Elf Loremaster from long ago.

52

Book of Canon: A book that automatically transforms into a copy of the holy book of any religion, translated into the language the user is most familiar with.

53

Atlas of the Forlorn Wanderer: A thin volume with heavily engraved bronze covers. Each time the book is opened it displays a different collection of hand drawn maps and charts, always of terrain just over a day’s journey from the bearer’s present location.

54

A thick cookbook of traditional dwarven cooking. It uses many minerals and a few metals, recipes range from bismuth brisket to indium cookies.

55

A weighty tome bound in white leather. Its front cover displays a golden swirl around the watery moon. The pages are wrinkled and frail, most pages seem to have large water damage spots that have since dried. The words are written with enchanted ink that shines bright against the worn pages. It tells of various methods to keep a healthy mind, body and spirit.

56

Grimoire of Souls: A book bound in dusty black leather, protected by a thick brass buckle sealed with a mixture of blood and wax. A barely noticeable humming sound emanates from the spine. Despite the name, the book does not entrap souls. Instead, the pages are inscribed with mystical images and words that strengthen and toughen the reader’s soul. A being that studies the arcane diagrams and on a regular basis may find they are more reliant against malevolent powers that harm the spirit directly or the reader may make a faster mental recovery from having their soul rended, torn or otherwise abused.

57

Third Imaskarcana: A massive great-tome bound in slate, with covers lined with blue dragonskin. Its pages vary in composition and appearance; some are raggedly cut vellum, others are the skin of humans, elves, or even demons, and still others are made of crystal that magically possesses the flexibility of paper without its weaknesses.

58

An old and musty tome that contains nothing but old notes and a signature on the opening page “Property of Jal’Hazar the Great”. If held by a creature capable of casting magical spells, the gibberish notes form into incantations and lists upon reference lists of spells descriptions and magical item properties.

59

A nightblue bound tome with silver runes etched on the spine. Casual inspection reveals it to be a necromancer’s spellbook and it is always deathly cold to the touch.

60

The Book of the White Cat: A compact volume of spells and cryptic notations on the construction of mageries, the Book of the White Cat is small enough in size to be cradled comfortably in the crook of an arm. The Book’s pages are of creamy parchment edged in gold, its contents scribed in a sure and delicate hand in black and cinnabar inks; the covers are of dense oak overlain with immaculately clean white velvet. Overtop of the velvet stitched and edged in golden thread is what seems to be the pelt of a small white cat, with its tail dangling free from the spine of the Book.

61

A small empty book wrapped in a red velvet covering, embroidered with the sign of an open hand.

62

An alchemical journal full of research notes and plans for a new type of flesh golem. The author notes that the most significant hurdle is not the construction or animation, but rather the acquisition of enough fresh human remains in a reasonably legal manner.

63

The Impcyclopedia: A roughly used spellbook with illegible sigils on the leather cover due to small tears exposing charred wood beneath. The page edges appear covered in soot, and a fading orange glow seems to be worming its way up and down the length of the spine. This ancient unnamed tome contains instructions on how to create a magical binding circle and summon an imp inside of it and bind that fiend to the reader’s will. There is also a collection of pages scribbled in Infernal the language of devils. When deciphered, the writings are an organized list of names. A knowledgeable and learned spellcaster may note this list to be a list of true names of minor fiends, specifically imps. The book is slightly intelligent and uses its ability to subtly manipulate those who would use it. The tome’s agenda is simple, it wants more names added to its pages. It will enforce this subtly by always leaving the page after the infernal list empty for more names and a creature that writes a true name of a devil into the tome (That wasn’t already there) experiences a profound sense of euphoria that lasts for hours.

64

Twenty-One Mnemonic Tools for Magic-Users: A leather grimoire containing a large assortment of dirty limericks which are actually cunning linguistic mnemonics. Obviously intended to aid rebellious apprentices in commuting their occult studies to memory.

65

A small book with a black, worn-down leather binding and cover, with the number “7” written on the cover in silver foil. The book currently contains seven pages, yellowed and tattered, although it’s clear that many have already been ripped out. Each of the remaining seven pages has a strange-looking glyph on the bottom-right corner that, if inspected by a character with a decent amount of knowledge in Conjuration magic, would be recognized as a teleportation glyph. These symbols are often used in pairs so that a mage can teleport to a specific physical where is placed rather than risking teleporting blindly.

66

An inconspicuous book filled with cheap woodcut prints of women in various states of undress.

67

A thin book with a bright, glossy cover depicting a bizarre scene with tents and animals. The interior folds cleverly as the book opens to reveal standing figures instead of illustrations.

68

The Pattern Of The Ages: An oddly compelling tome outlining a dualistic world between two warring deities. Its descriptions of magic are highly elemental and it suggests a cyclical pattern to history. It warns of thirteen powerful servants of the evil deity from a more advanced era who are sealed away and must not be released. Could this be accurate, or is it just a fantasy?

69

The Physics of Magic: A chunky tome of widely researched and established theories of magical phenomena, processes and laws. While factually accurate it is a dry, uninspiring read as one might expect a physics book to be.

70

A Conciliation of Natural and Supernatural Laws: A horrendously complex text attempting to consolidate the contradictory theories of magic and the mundane. After hundreds of pages of dense text, the author concludes that reality is weird and doesn’t make sense, stating that the laws of natural physics cannot possibly function in harmony with the unpredictable fickleness of magic.

71

Crimslyn’s Collection Catalogue: A respectfully-sized old tome listing all of the books in the archmage’s Crimslyn personal collection. Each book is listed by title, author and sometimes publication date and other details, followed by a line or two detailing the contents of the book and a couple highlights. Sadly, Crimslyn’s collection is long lost, as is the forgotten wizard, and the chances of finding any of the listed volumes are slim.

72

Magisterium Magicka: A thick, dry tome concerning the rights of wizards to pass on their knowledge and to choose which students they should accept for tutelage. The writing is highly defensive, as if the wizard in question had spent quite a lot of time being told that he should either teach nobody or that he should teach everybody.

73

Let The Worm Die: A small handbook penned with a transcript of a long speech from a bygone era, passionately arguing for his city to stop sacrificing animals and prisoners to a great psychic worm. PC’s that are knowledgeable in history realize that the city in question was annihilated by unknown means around the time of the speech. Was it devoured by the Worm?

74

Sealing the Tome of the World: A bunch of pages of varying size and condition, mostly diary entries but also some ancient contracts and writs of purchase. It seems to be a portfolio of clues that someone was gathering to track down where a powerful book was sealed away. Hints throughout indicate that the magic contained in the book may relate to the very physical nature of the world itself and that the object’s misuse could end reality.

75

Equilibra: A traditional fabricated book that is one of the first books of Balance magic to have copies made. This compendium of the basics of Balance instructs even the most casual magic users on how to become proficient in small tasks. Inside it’s charcoal dark leaves covered in green print the reader will find explanations on how to quickly mend small cuts, how to produce shadow stitching, how to clean and carve bones, and many other basic skills.

76

A Treatise on The Morals of Necromantic Rituals: A 50 page primer on the various ethical dilemmas and intricacies in modern necromancy, professional and practical. The book was written by a once-leading scholar on necromancy who later fell into obscurity after a personal scandal caused most reputable establishments refused to carry his texts or scribe additional copies.

77

Sewage and Irrigation of the Modern Gaol: A book that seems to have been written by an extremely bored and oddly obsessive prisoner. Page after page details different waste disposal systems for jail cells, but the diagrams are just different depths and widths of holes over-complicated with measurements and lines. The pages are rough and brittle, like poor quality toilet cloth. The jacket skin, on closer inspection, is a rat pelt.

78

A discrete black book with the names of several recently deceased people written in it, along with their cause of death.

79

A cheaply bound research report on experimental magical projects, aiming to develop a new school of magic. Some of the tests have yielding interesting results but so far nothing substantial has been produced.

80

An old and well-preserved book of children’s fairy tales. There’s a map of the local castle tucked in the back of the book, with a specific area circled.

81

A notebook containing a long and rambling handwritten dissertation on human nature, getting more unhinged and scribbly as it goes on, and ending with the conclusion that humans are inherently evil and need to be wiped out.

82

A wood bound codex filled with several hundred pages of highly colorful and anatomically difficult descriptions of sexual positions. The codex is sealed with a small brass chain. The text of the manuscript is in a language that is not common.

83

A volume of painstakingly illustrated holy scripture, bookmarked to some of the racier passages.

84

A journal written in Deep Speech containing correspondence with the author’s colleague. The associate describes the events surrounding an elder beholder overwhelming a colony of mind flayers and its nearly immediate defeat at the hands of a group of adventurers who attacked while it was injured and vulnerable. The story ends with the underlined sentence “The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy” written in bolded lettering. The anecdote appears to be a word of wisdom directed at the author who had grown in power and was considering challenging a rival.

85

A cookbook, heavily bookmarked and written on, with pictures to accompany each recipe in the book. Licking the pictures allows you to find out how each dish tastes. Writing new ingredients in the recipes alters how the pictures taste. The back of the cookbook has empty pages to allow people to write down their own custom recipes. A few of the pages already have recipes written on them, some of which sound (And taste) absolutely revolting.

86

A small novel, in which its 100 pages are entirely used to describe a pebble. It consists of a single run-on sentence, and the description is often repeated throughout the book.

87

Woodtongue’s Journal: A slim, hand bound book written by Woodtongue, a poorly spoken (And written) servant of a particular noble’s court during the last generation. Though he admits his poor diction kept him silent in court, he nevertheless was able to gather a great number of scandals known to the Servant’s Grapevine, and put them to paper here. Though, the journal is dated and rotting, three scandals remain relevant. The father of a current Dwarf King was an illegitimate child, yet was granted the throne after the death of his elder brother. In truth, the brother was arrested and thrown into servitude in a dangerous mine within the near Underdark. It was said that he was settled with children at last knowledge. The Lady who rules a particular small human duchy is actually a vampiress, who routinely raises an orphan as her own, then quietly kills her and takes the girl’s place, to fake her own death and continue her rule of the duchy. The king and much of the family are aware, but tolerate it for the prosperity in the duchy and her known lack of greater ambition. Woodtongue reckons her to be at least 400 years old at the time of writing. A small human kingdom holds a secret royal succession ceremony each generation in the bowels of the castle. Several young servants are allegedly sacrificed to…lichen? How would moss on a rock protect a kingdom, anyways?

88

A recipe book filled with numerous ways to prepare the flesh and organs of various species, focusing on children and adolescents. Additional notes in a newer hand remark on changes to each recipe.

89

A Bridge Once Crossed: A book whose title references an ominous monk proverb: “A bridge once crossed may never be retread.” It is a proverb uttered in regard to critical life choices, but originally references the Otherworld and its hidden gates. The book is a treatise on the use of magician’s compasses: Strange and many-dialed instruments meant to detect that and other realms’ perilous gates, as well as other invisible phenomena, by an art known as dowsing.

90

A Dearth of Reason: A peculiarly dull, true tale. It describes the establishment of the Occultism Department of a far off Royal Academy. For a recounting involving so many truly eccentric, interesting people, including experts in absuturation, xenomantia, and praecantian history, A Dearth of Reason fails incredibly to be entertaining. Some readers believe this dullness is purposeful, meant to dissuade interest in the notably-dangerous and obscure Department. Despite this, it remains a read of scholarly repute.

91

A Handbook to Serpents: A short guide to identifying and exterminating small draconic serpents. Should they be found in the garden, the chicken coop, or the cradle, this book will guide a person in handling and dispatching the smoking, hungry neonates before they can gobble anything up, or, worse, grow large and overtly-monstrous. Advises beheading and piecemeal separation with a spade or axe, for most species.

92

A Harsh Mistress: A novel concerning the keeper of a cursed lighthouse: A former sailor enamored with the sea but horrified to again venture over her rolling expanse. The book describes his first years at the light; how he settled in, kept it up, and came to live in lonesomeness, for none gave him company in that cursed post. Namely, it concerns how he came to listen to the sea at night. Listen for the songs which lilted from the rocks below. Eventually, he discovers a lame siren dwelling there, lonely as he, but still monstrous. At this, the plot truly begins.

93

A Life Without Pain: A tale of the short, curious life of a girl born to a plague blighted mother. The child, made apparently immune to pain by her mother’s condition, lived as a freak and an oddity; an attraction in circus sideshows, where she endured blows and gouts of boiling water for crowds’ fascinated amusement. Only at the end of her life did the girl find solace, discovered, protected, and gently studied by a good doctor at the Royal Academy. The book contains insight regarding typical blight, as well as the girl’s unusual condition.

94

A Mechanical History: An exceedingly dry, well-diagrammed work containing concise, if boring explanations of the history and workings of the most formative mechanisms, such as the pulley, the sawmill, the loom, the water hammer, the crossbow and the automatic guillotine. Edited by the great granddaughter of Doctor Guillotine herself, the elder of whom invented the latter, deadly machine.

95

A Thousand Golden Teeth: A book rarely seen in print due to its perverse subject matter. Written by the chief technician of a venturing town crematory, who in the course of five years kept a meticulous journal of every carefully-squirrelled precious item he uncovered in the course of prepping corpses for burning. This is his journal, accompanied by descriptions and brief stories of all the secretly-decorated dead. It may provide ideas to amoral adventures on more places to search on human corpses while scrounging for loot.

96

A Vision in a Dream: A book thought to be the greatest work of artful fancy ever devised in literature, describes a mad dream; one in which the author lives an entire life within a fantastical world of antiquity and wild color. Some suppose it to be a vision of the Otherworld. Others, of heaven. It is likely, in truth, the musing of a mind affected critically by the milk of the poppy.

97

All Along the Boardwalk: A lengthy and good-selling novel. It tells of a squad of Ward Rangers set to defend a length of boardwalk a league long on the Moors so Sere; The expanse of marshy, deadly no-man’s-land separating Northeast Firlund from the horrid wilderness. It describes in equal part the dreariness of the moors, the deadliness, but also the mad boredom of defending useless ground. The book becomes interesting by its recounting of the insane and dangerous raids which the guard-rangers enacted on neighboring monster dens, so bored were they by guard duty. In the end, by their relief, each ranger was simultaneously reprimanded and decorated for courage and good service.

98

Catacomb Lost: A chilling, true tale of the eponymous Catacomb Lost, a group of four teenage explorers who went missing in the catacombs beneath the Holy City Quarter of Alagór’s capital, San Carro. An ossuary-maze of untold expanse, only partly mapped, extant since Aveth’s First Crusade: the titanic war whose dead those passages were first dug to house. A forbidden place, if ever there was one; filled with the stacked bones of a holy war three thousand years passed, and the dead of two ensuing millennia. As this book would have it, the tunnels house three new corpses. Only one survived to tell this tale. Her observations are night-unhearable, but hold surprising insight into navigation in artificial subterranea.

99

Cavernum: A recently restored and translated text, originally composed some thousand years ago by a nameless explorer from what is now Alagór. Cavernum is thought to be the first recorded example of classical underworld exploration. Namely, the dispatch of some dozen parties of explorers into given cavern on unfathomable depth, all sent in hope of finding a saint’s tomb within. Few returned. Those who did appeared far away, far later. Their reports compose much of this work. They are chilling, in the least.

100

A thick, heavy tome sheafed and bound in the elven style. Knowledgeable PC’s will recognize the transmundane seals on the front and back covers as those used by vancian wizards who must prepare their spells in advance. Each of the thousands of the tome’s pages are perfectly white and although the pages are made from dense parchment, they seem much heavier than they have any right to be, like a cloth soaked in water. In small print on the inside from cover is written the following. “This was the spellbook of Nalaea Ravacyne, Seeker of the Divine Mysteries, Archmagus of the Elven Tower of Magic, my mentor and the wisest woman that I have ever known. Everything she learned in her centuries of life she wrote in this book and when the pages were solid black with ink, she took white ink and began again.”