Relic Texts

The relic texts are written records of the creation of Artifacts. While artifacts are not and cannot be constructed, the relic texts have proved an invaluable resource in the past several centuries.

While the language in which the relic texts are written has been long since lost, skilled scholars with a deep understanding of spellcraft have been able to decipher its writing and reverse-engineer the function of many lost technologies, leading to insights which have enabled modern inventions. Even for the finest translators and mages, comprehending the texts is a mammoth task, and a mage will be fortunate to fully study two or three tomes in her life.

Because of the high investment of study and effort this requires, the relic texts were regarded for ages as mere curiosities; once it became widely known that they could, indeed, be translated and understood in a meaningful and useful way, they swiftly became hotly contested by those who did not have them and fiercely guarded by those who did. Destruction of relic texts is not unheard of but it's a good way to get everyone to turn against you.

Idiari is an unremarkable nation in many ways; however, it possesses what may be the largest library of relic texts in the world. These are kept in a well-guarded facility in the river delta.