Translated Tomes

Eldritch secrets lie within

Table of Contents

Background

From the very first session and well into the third act in Magnos, your characters have been attempting to uncover the mysteries of the dark and eldritch tomes carried by the Shadow-worshiper Quietus. After a long struggle to obtain and relocate the tomes, you were able to take them to a translator, none other than Archmagister Sendor. After pulling several long nights of research, you uncovered a workable translation for the material of the tomes. The results of your research are listed below.

Translations

A creature called "The false-gold" (gilded?) Dragon"

Sendor peers into the tome, a tone of concern lines his face as he reads. He begins to translate. "The Gilded Dragon is our liege-lord. Our savior. Our god. He made our city, our plane from the very aether, from the broken and discarded worlds left in the wake of the false-Heavens and false Primordials. He has existed since the very beginning. His form is that of the dragon, to lift the hearts of the faithful; to torment the heathens into fear." Sendor sighs. "It goes further... his scales are gold as his splendor, but hide only the holy form beneath, black as the night sky. As the aether from which he breathes life into our world. As black as the void that will left in his wake. Hearken, oh, you worldly children of the pretender gods, and repent! His mercy is infinite as his void."

"Dragon's mire, or domain, maybe?"

Sendor looks over the page, flipping around the book in his hands. "Look here. I think its a map. Or a star-chart? Maybe? This part here is circled. It says "Here", but in the linguistic inclination in our present tense. This must mean our world. The rest though... I can hardly make heads or tails of what they are, or where they are supposed to be in relation to us. Is this even accurate? Let's see... some of these points are marked as well... the closest to us is... The Holy City of A...mumbra? There is also... The Theopolis of Leng. The Library of Caelanos. The Forges of Haddoth. The Blood Fortress of Thuban. These sound... Sendor shudders. Let's see. There are some more pages that go on to these. A sort of synopsis. First, The Holy City of Amumbra. The City of False-Gold. Throne of the gilded god-dragon. The capital of his power and great warriors and priests. The Theopolis of Leng, a plane of the devoted, cities built upon the backs of enslaved heathens, captured from the weak servitor planes. Fear their devoted color feeders. The Library of Caelanos - the center of knowledge. Home of the whispering books and the endless stacks, all for the glory and power of the Gilded Dragon. The Forges of Haddoth - the blacksmiths of the Dragon, golden scales turned to black iron armor and weapons of our cause. Burnt in the fires of the suns slain by the Dragon. The fires burn until the last stronghold falls. The Blood Fortress of Thuban. Here lie the children of the Gilded Dragon, their cities made of ice and gold, painted in the frozen blood of disbelievers."

"Home or perhaps, Church?"

"There seems to be something written here about the Fetchlings... their home? Their church? They seem to use the two interchangeably here. Let's see... the Fetchlings... the chosen people of the Gilded Dragon. Elves, orcs, humans, all - cast from the Heavens and the Primordials, they worshipped him and traveled with him to their exile south of Harad. The Gilded Dragon... in his infinite wisdom and mercy... threw his followers... into the aether? From the aether the Gilded Dragon created a passage into the "Promised Land", where they built a church or home suitable for the Gilded Dragon. The longer they lived here, the more they were "blessed". Their limbs reached to the heavens, their skin as dark as the void. Thus they called their new homeland the "Holy City", and spread their dominion further..."

"Course, but in the context of 'charting a course'"

"This seems to less detail a specific course of movement, but rather, the overall "direction" of their plans... lets see here... "all will fall under the Gilded Dragon's dominion. With their followers gone, the false gods, Primordials and Heavens will grow too weak to stop us. We have set in strongholds in the holds of Harad and the dragonkin of Rian. The outlying and isolated towns and races have fallen to us. We will move into Al-andalus, and then into the heartland of the empire of Vergil. Beware the Sea of the Dead, for they will sense our magic upon you. From there, we will spread across the world and further into the aether. Once the Primordials and Heavens are deserted, the multiverse will be remade in his image, black and empty to satiate his hunger. We will see it's beautiful end."

Spells

"This part seems a little- abstract, I suppose?" Sendor stumbles "These look like spell pages. I understand the gist of what these might mean, but what happens if we cast these? Their powers draw from the Gilded Dragon... what price would he extract from us?" Sendor shows you several pages, your eyes swim with eldritch knowledge. If you read further, you can learn...

• How to convert an elemental damage into shadow damage.
• How to use metamagic with a reduced spell level cost.
• How to cast spells up to eighth level, even outside your class list.
• How to use the first and ninth level Shadow sorcerer bloodline powers as a spell-like ability, 1/day.
• How to create a portal between planes, as long you know these planes exist.
• A ritual spell, which acts as true resurrection, though it requires an extremely powerful magical catalyst. Unlike true resurrection, the person one wishes to raise can be raised even if the target died of sickness, and even if the soul would be otherwise unwilling to return to life. The wording of this spell seems to be heavily entwined with the faith of the Fetchlings and the Shadow.

"These may sound, *ahem* enticing. Though not without cost. What that cost would be, though? I couldn't tell."

"Offering, or gift, perhaps?"

Sendor reads. "As a new servant of the Gilded Dragon, you are his supplicant as much as his agent on this plane. You are to make offerings that please him. What pleases him most is more followers. Each new worshipper weakens the Primordials and Heavens. Convert your family, friends, and comrades. Those who resist, you can offer to the Theopolis of Leng, where they will labor in the glory of the Gilded Dragon."

"Friends?"

Sendor chuckles. "What a strange way to put it. Ahem, let me read. The Gilded Dragon is your lord and constant friend. Your trials will be seen and measured, your pain erased when he opens the Great Void. We, the holy chosen of Amumbra, will be your constant ally as your fellow faithful. Other Shadow worshippers exist on your plane, scattered to do the most harm to the false gods of your world. Seek the man known as the... the Minor Noble? The Baron? He will fund your ventures as you need. Stay secretive and secure in your journey, acolyte."

"Aversions, or perhaps meant as weaknesses"?

Sendor reads "Many send offerings of gold and flesh to the Gilded Dragon, which please him greatly. I must make you aware, so the mistakes of the past are not repeated. An acolyte once sent an offering of ... sun metal?... to our lord. This metal makes the chosen ill and the dragon mad with fury. The metal was largely seized by the heretic svirs, so it is not well known. Don't make the same mistake, for the acolyte's blood now paints the frozen fortress of Thuban."

See Also

• The Story So Far
• Character Codex
• Dragon's Domain