The Master’s Tome

Area 1-4 – The Master’s Tome

The skeleton is the corpse of a sage, who – nearing the end of his life – sought the depths of the caves to inter himself. The sage meditated until death overtook him and his corpse has remained here ever since.

The Key of Sezrekan, an infamous grimoire bound in demonflesh and inscribed on plates of hammered gold, has survived. The sheaves of chaos are rendered in Hyperborian and confer damning, caustic knowledge of the universe to any daring to study its pages. With a DC 15 Intelligence check a character is able to apprehend the first plate: a primer on mastering the uncaring powers of Chaos. Comprehension of this single plate is sufficient to allow a 0-level human (with sufficient XP) to advance as a wizard, acquiring their first spells.

Later plates build upon prior concepts, with subsequent sheaves requiring a cumulative +5 DC per page. Mystics, initiates, black magicians, and their ilk who devote time to study the plates can reduce the DC of any one plate by 1 point for each week of study.

The nature of the subsequent panels is left to the judge’s discretion. Perhaps the grimoire is seeded with the true names of diabolic powers, hints and clues for later quests, or even the means of reaching Lost Agharta or fabled Sagar-Matha.