Forbidden Lore
a collection of magical tomes and grimoires
by Leif U. Schrader


Slukka

Realm: Ice Magic

Description and History: This is one of the few magic tomes about Ice Magic that are known to exist. The author and history remain a mystery. The only facts known are that the original version was written more than three hundred years ago. Afterwards the book was copied at least a dozen times. The copies vary considerably in quality and content. Three copies are rumoured to be in the possession of the Tzar of Kislev. Four are said to be lost, including the original. The remaining may be in the possession of magical colleges or individuals. As far as we know no practioner of Ice Magic has access to a copy, but given the reclusive nature of Ice Wizards, this may be false. Ice Magic is traditionally an oral form of magic and the knowledge is given from master to pupil. Therefore Ice Magic is very different from magic told in the Colleges of Magic, where a more or less coherent canon is taught. Some masters teach other spells or modified spells than others and some experts can even tell by which master the wizard was educated. Thus the spells in the Slukka can vary from the spells known by other Ice Wizards. Although ice wizards are a reclusive lot, they would be very eager to get hold of a copy to supplement their knowledge and to prevent that anyone not suitable for this knowledge (which generally means everyone except for them) gains access to the book. Most copies are bound with crude strings and the text written on tree bark.

Language: Slukka is written in a mixture of Classical and Norscan. The Spells are all written in Classical. Due to the rather sketchy nature, it is necessary to pass a language test to successfully learn any spell. Should the reader only be able to read Classical, the test is modified by -20. Learning spells without Classical is impossible and the reader can only get information on the nature of Ice Magic.

Spells: Slukka contains all first level Ice Magic Spells. Since the versions vary very much, there is a base chance of 20% for any second level Ice Magic Spell and 10% for any third level Ice Magic Spell. The reader also gains general information on the nature of Ice Magic.

Risks: The reader has a 10% chance for every hour of reading (cumulative) to lose the feeling in the tips of his fingers. This feeling goes away after three days unless the reader continues. Should the reader loose the feeling in the tip of his fingers he suffers a -45% penalty in test requiring nimble fingers. Additionally the reader looses 1d6 insanity points unless he passes a cool test. This does not apply when the reader does not understand Norscan.

Availability: See description

Theodor Mundt's Großes Magiebuch

Realm: Petty Magic and Battle Magic

Description and History: Theodor Mundt was a notorious boaster and self-proclaimed master wizard. The book was written not more than twenty years ago and has enjoyed great popularity among the not so gifted wizards and those that want to be wizards. The exact number of copies is unknown, but there are certainly more than a few hundred circulating the Empire (the Colleges of Magic were infuriated when the discovered that someone dared to use a printing machine in copying the book). It can be found in most bookshops, but it is unwise to ask in the libraries of any reputable place of magical learning. The book appears like a "how to do"-Guide. It is written in a very simple and plain language and lacks any kind of theoretical background. Theodor Mundt had a very simple motto: "It is better to make a joke, than being precise." Therefore some spells have not really the correct descriptions, words that need to be spoken may be slightly different from the correct words and the effects may be given in very general terms. The heads of the Colleges of Magic have tried to ban the book. Their first attempt failed, when they reasoned that studying the book is hazardous not only to the reader, but also to his neighbourhood. The Grand-Theogonist vetoed against this move on the basis that every fool less is a step forward (although his real motive seemed to be to bully the masters of the colleges a little bit). After months of inner-college deliberation, the masters of the colleges have shifted their position and they now state that studying this book may spread knowledge in magic not only without the appropriate training as it can only be done in the colleges, but also without the fees that are paid to the colleges and given to the Imperial Treasury. This move is more likely to succeed, since the Exchequer's voice speaks louder than that of the Grand-Theogonist.

Language: The Großes Magiebuch is written in Reikspiel. Some parts may be difficult to understand, since the author has a rather liberal idea of orthography and grammar.
Spells: It contains all Petty Magic Spells and all first level Battle Magic Spells. However all of the spells are given in Theodor Mundt's new and improved way of magic practise, which basically means that they slightly miss the truth. When a spell is learned from this book, it has a 20% chance of a complete and utter failure.

Risk: None, except for the aforementioned chance of misfire.

Availability: Common.

Liber Emeraldis

Realm: Alchemy & Elementalism

Description and History: The Liber Emeraldis or The Emerald Book is one of the most common books on alchemy and elementalism. Although almost anyone dealing with alchemy and elementalism has read at least parts of the book, it can generally only be found in places of learning. These copies are often hundreds of years old. The origin of the book dates back long before the founding of any nation of today's Old World. The book was transcribed over the ages and only two original copies are known to exist. One is in the possession of the Golden College and the second in the possession of the Temple of Myrmidia in Magritta. Whether there are more original copies is unknown. The other copies are incomplete and contain only a part of the spells of the original copy (at GM's discretion). The book mainly deals with alchemy and only to a part with elementalism. It is, as one alchemist described it, the "high book of alchemy", since it contains all the theoretical background of alchemy and was probably the first written transcription of alchemy. The name originally derived from the green ink in which the book was written. Most copies are written in standard form, but the book kept the name. The book is always signed with the name Semre Sotigmensir, but the identity of this person was never revealed.

Language: The Liber Emeraldis is written in a very archaic form of Classical. It can be read by anyone with the Classical skill, but under great difficulties and requiring three times the normal time.

Prerequisites: Fully understanding the book requires that some experiments can be done. Thus it is necessary to either have access to a laboratory or appropriate supervision. Without doing the experiments all alchemy spells have a reduced chance (-25%) of being learned (XPs are lost, even if failed).

Spells: All first to third level spells in alchemy and first and second level spells of elemental magic. (see description)

Risk: Studying the book involves no risks.

Skills: Besides gaining knowledge of the background of alchemy, the student also learns the chemistry skill, unless he already has that skill.

Availability: Rare, see description.

The Book of Thousand Pleasures

Realm: Chaos

Description and History: The Book of Thousand Pleasures appears to be a rather ordinary pornographic book, as there are hundreds of others circulating. The writing is too lame to be neglected, the spelling imaginative (at best) and the quality of the binding an insult for any bookbinder. When the Book of Thousand Pleasures first appeared is unknown, but no one really tries to keep track of these kinds of books. However what appears to be blatant pornography is a little more sinister (and not only for the eyes of the conservative). Upon closer examination, it is quite obvious that the book is associated with Slaanesh. Trying to swim with the tide, some cultist has once decided to put down his wet dreams in a book to lure a wider audience into the cult. However it appeared that the plan has had a few disadvantages. First of all, the cultist was not a very gifted author, even compared with similar books. Secondly the market is much bigger than expected, so the net effect remained very limited. Last but not least, a great deal of attention is necessary to be caught by the book and very few readers are able to develop the necessary attention when reading it. Thus the book can be considered to be a failure of the intention.

Language: The book is written in a distorted form of Reikspiel.

Prerequisites: None. With any knowledge skill of Chaos and after an Int-test, the book can be identified as what it is. This however requires that the reader pays attention to what is between the lines, which requires a cool-test.

Spells: None.

Risks: Should the reader pass a cool-test while reading the book, he will have vivid dreams the following night. The dreams will repeat when the book is read the following day. After three days of reading, the reader feels an urgent need to pray to Slaanesh, unless a test against willpower is passed. The effect of these prayers is at the GM's discretion.

Availability: Uncommon

Summa Magica

Realm: Petty Magic, Battle Magic and all Colours of Magic

Description and History: The Summa Magica is probably the most ambitious project in the history of magic. The aim is to write a book containing the whole knowledge on magic. The works began 150 years ago. The project is supported by the Emperor, which is the only reason why all colleges of magic agreed to contribute, although some of them are spending more energy on hindering it, rather than working on it. The book, should it ever be finished, would be the canon of all magic that is sanctioned in the Empire. All attempts to widen the knowledge would be considered heresy (probably the main reason, why any religious rituals are excluded and the Grand-Theogonist originally supported the project, although his successor has lost interest, as well as the imperial bureaucracy, therefore the funds are running low). The first 120 years were spent with lengthy discussions on theoretical background, during which time the only things noteworthy were when a wizard died and a successor had to be found. The background parts are finished, but appear to be almost incomprehensible by even brightest wizards. The rest is in a state of almost finished, about to get done next week. This means that more than a dozen wizards are working on it, but they always find some things that need to be redone. However papers continuously arrive in the Imperial Chancel, while two librarians do their best to sort the pages under the keen eyes of an old wizard, who still bears a grudge for not being selected and has no scruples to "loose" papers or make some short corrections. Ad hoc versions are printed about every two years. Despite the fact that these are incomplete and sometimes very sketchy, every college tries to get hold of a copy. Unfortunately only three copies of every ad hoc version are printed. From these three copies one goes into the imperial library (where, as some cynics say, only the mice will have a look at it), one to the temple of Sigmar (which is probably the copy most entirely examined). The third is planned to go through all colleges for revision. Maybe it is simply sloppiness or intention, but of this third copies more than one was "lost" or had pages torn out. All investigations to the whereabouts were futile. Therefore a few copies have appeared outside the walls of the colleges of magic.
Each copy of the book weighs at least 10kg. The paper is bound in heavy leather. On the cover are the remains of many seals, each broken and replaced with a new one. All copies circulating outside the official places has the last seal broken. A heavy lock secures the book, but poses no obstacle for someone with enough muscles and few scruples to damage the leather.

Language: Classical and Reikspiel

Spells: So far all Petty Magic Spells and all Spells of first and second level of all Colours and Battle Magic have been written down. The copies circulating in the public however have only a chance of 90% for any Petty Magic Spell and 45% for any other spell to contain the spell.

Risks: None. Since any copy found outside the walls of the Imperial Palace, the Temple of Sigmar and the Colleges of Magic must have been stoles or acquires unlawfully, the bearer may face prosecution should he be found with the book.

Availability: see above.

The Forbidden Books of Nasahn

Realm: Unknown

Description and History: The Forbidden Books of Nasahn first appeared in the Old World about a hundred years ago. The complete set is comprised of four volumes. They came with a ship from Ind in an unmarked box. The sender and receiver were never identified. A few years after the first set arrived in Marienburg, other copies appeared, this time from the east where they were brought in by Kislevite hunters who said that they found the books in the woods. However the Marienburg copy remained the only copy where all four books apparently belonged together. Of the other copies not more than two had identical binding and books not belonging to the same set differ somewhat in the content, but not as much to make them unusable.
After the priests of Mannan had their first glance at the books, they assembled a gathering of all temples of Marienburg and even the second in command of the temple of Sigmar travelled to Marienburg (thanks to the special relations between Marienburg and the Empire, he had to travel incognito). Although most of them are considered to be gasbags, they reached an agreement in three days and banned the book. However the book appeared again and again, especially on the eastern borders of the Empire and in Kislev. Every copy that is found is brought to a temple and purified by rituals before it is burned in a sacred flame. The Marienburg copy was not destroyed, but locked away in the highest tower of the temple of Mannan.
Little is known of the content of the book. The little information is that the book tells a story about a monk from Ind. He preaches of a single godlike entity and how to summon this entity in one's head, which will reveal all wisdom of the world. He also preaches how to tame death, so that no one will ever die, but continue his existence.
The books differ in appearance. All books belonging to the same set have the same look. The only thing all copies have in common is that they are bound is a wax-like material. The origin of the material was never discovered. It may be the hide of a beast of Ind. The book has no illustrations or ornaments of any sort. However the writing is exquisite and finely made.

Language: The book is written in the language of Ind.

Spells: The book contains no spells in the strict sense of the word. It merely contains a single ritual, although this ritual is discussed on more than two hundred pages. The ritual requires a lot of meditation and similar mental disciplines and the result appears to be the invocation of the mentioned god-like entity. So far no one has tried this ritual, mostly because the ritual is lengthy and difficult to conduct.

Risks: The reader suffers 1d3 insanity points for reading (and understanding) a single volume. Only devout followers of Ranald and Haedryk do not suffer from this effect. Any follower of a lawful good receives twice the aforementioned insanity points.

Availability: Rare

Tablet of Kroy

Realm: Chaos

Description and History: The Tablet of Kroy is the only thing left of a mountain city of chaos, raided by dwarves more than three centuries ago. It originally was the breastplate of the sorcerer-king of this city. His name and the name of the city, as well as all other traces were annihilated by the dwarves, so today no one remembers them and those that may remember would not even speak under torture. The tablet was named after the warhammer with which the sorcerer-king was killed and which was destroyed in the last blow.
The tablet appears to be a piece of metal, although of unknown origin, that is ornamented with fine lines. Upon closer inspection, the fine lines turn out to be letters and words. The writing is alien, but the font resembles the dwarven runes and can be read by anyone capable of reading the runes. This may be the reason why the tablet is guarded in the deepest tunnels of the dwarven kingdom and only half a dozen dwarves are allowed to look at it. Although clearly alien and evil, the dwarves read the tablet and made one single copy of what is written on it. This copy is kept by a runesmith who has sworn never to reveal it to anyone, save his successor. Even though the text can be read by almost any dwarves, it is extremely difficult to fully comprehend. The first runesmith who had an eye on the text, needed to study it for three years before he was able to understand it.
The tablet speaks of a dwarven god of chaos and slaughter and how to worship this god. However the text is not complete, only the front of the breastplate was saved, the rest is lost. Therefore the exact nature of this underground god remained a mystery and no dwarf is too eager to find out more. Whether this god is worshiped or even familiar to the chaos dwarves was never found out.
This alone would make the tablet peculiar, but little more. However the existence of the table could not be concealed. Even dwarves tend to talk too much when they are drunk and the news spread, although slowly, through the Empire and finally reached the southern shores of the Old World. Unconnected to these events, a group of people in Bilbali began to form a cult. Not connected to any of the identified chaos gods, they worshipped another entity. The inquisition, who took a rather indifferent interest in it, investigated the events. The results looked as if they were pinned down from other similar events: The worshiped god was deemed to be an aspect of Tzeentch, all worshippers were incarcerated and finally burned. This information, although not very interesting for anyone, reached the dwarves (although it was a little distorted on its way) and finally the few people that know of the tablet. These are currently in a state of anxiety. Nobody knows whether the tablet and the group in Bilbali refer to the same entity or not. However the dwarves have begun to take an interest in Bilbali and the few that always manage to escape the inquisition.
The tablet is of deep crimson. It is made out of metal, although the exact nature of the metal was never discovered. The writing is made with hair thin letters, that can be identified as dwarven runes, but that look more like handwriting.

Language: Dwarvish (see above)

Spells: see description

Risks: Anyone taking a closer look on the tablet gains 1d2 insanity points, even if he cannot understand the language. Anyone capable of reading it suffers from an additional 1d4 insanity points. Anyone fully comprehending the text suffers again from 1d4 insanity points. Successful tests on WP prevent the loss on the third and half it on the second level.

Availability: Unique

The Tree Trunk

Realm: Elementalism

Description and History: The Tree Trunk is a very special book. It is a book indeed, although the name suggests otherwise. It got its name from the first book that arrived in Magritta. The explorer Juan Carlos Benedicto de la Fuentes sailed from Magritta to the Southlands. He claimed that great treasures wait there to be found. What he found instead of treasures were a number of sharp rocks that damages his ship. He had to repair the ship on some distant beach and was forced to use parts of the local vegetation. Among them was a tree that was used as a bowsprit. When he returned to Magritta, half of his crew was lost and the ship in a very bad shape, the ship was sold in an auction to pay at least a part of his debts. The buyer of they ship wanted to turn some parts into firewood, when he discovered that the bowsprits had luminescent writings. These were only visible under new moon. He found an alchemist to have a look at it and who immediately informed an elementalist. The text was copied and later, with the help of scholars and two slaves from the Southlands, translated into Estalian.
It turned out that the trunk, as it was known afterwards, contained spells and wisdoms similar to that of elementalism. Contrary to the elementalism taught in the Old World, the approach is much more intuitive and has a less strict separation of the elements. Instead all elements flow into each other. The spells resemble those already known in the Old World, but they involve different gestures, words and the effects differ a little bit, so that it is obvious for any elementalist, that they are not the standard spells when he sees these spells in action.
The book was, after translation, spread over most parts of the Old World. However it remained more of an oddity rather than became part of the canon. Therefore it never found entrance in the teachings and the copies generally only gather dust in some far off shelf of the libraries. Other expeditions looked for similar trunk, but they were not successful. Who has written down the original text was never found out.
So although he did not know it, Juan Carlos Benedicto brought home a treasure. He never knew it, because he died just three months after returning to Magritta.

Language: Most copies are in Estalian, but most other Old World languages can also be found.

Spells: Equivalents of 1st level: Wilt Vegetation, Cloud of Smoke, Zone of Hiding; 2nd level: Cause Rain, Heal Vegetation, Wither Vegetation, Foul Air, Change Weather, Summon Swarm; 4th Level: Swell River.

Risks: None.

Availability: Uncommon.

Spirit of the Sea

Realm: Elementalism & Priest

Description and History: The Spirit of the Sea is somewhat of an all purpose spellbook for the magic users of Marienburg. The importance of sea trade for Marienburg does not need to be detailed. Marienburg consists nearly of two parts: the city and the lands that surround it on the one side and the large part of the population (and wealth) that is on the ocean. The sea trade and Marienburg's influence in it is too important to be lost. This would mean the eventual downfall of Marienburg. This has led to a close alliance between the city and its servants and the trade houses - best illustrated in the city's council. However any ship not in the harbour is under threat. Storms, pirates, the fleets of other nations and monsters are more than enough to make even the hardest merchant sweat. To protect ships on their journeys the priests of Mannan had the idea to equip every ship, that is every ship belonging to one of the mayor trade houses, with a magic user or a priest. Since priests and wizards are not very numerous, new ones were recruited. Lacking the year long training, they were given only a few numbers of spells, boiled down to the very basic. These wizards, not unalike the hedge wizards, were called acolytes of the sea. They number not more than forty. They cannot be found on all ships. Generally they are only used on ships that either travel further from Marienburg or in waters notoriously known for their dangers (which e.g. includes all of the coastline of Tilea).
Due to their rudimentary training, the acolytes need a book were the few spells that they know are written down. These spells are very limited. Most are reduced to the use on the sea. This means that, although they all work in a very large scale, they give the caster less control. It can be compared with longbowmen recruited from the peasantry. They are taught to use the bow, but they can hardly match a true marksman.
When a ship returns to Marienburg, the books are confiscated by the port authorities and locked in a safe room. This has not prevented a number of books circulating. However only a handful has ever left Marienburg.

Language: Reikspiel (Marienburg dialect)

Spells: 2nd Level: Cause Rain (Duration: 3 rounds, Range: 50 yards); 3rd Level: Banish Elemental (Range: 10 yards, Elemental may test against 150% of its WP to prevent banishing); 4th Level: Change Weather (the diameter affected is only 2 miles and casting takes 72 hours)

Risks: None.

Availability: Uncommon (outside Marienburg rare)

A modest treatise into the nature of magic

Realm: Battle Magic

Description and History: The "modest treatise", which is also know as the "Puchta", deriving from the author's name, or shoulderbreaker, mostly by students, is a great example of how far a term can be stretched. The book contains no less that 1974 pages and with the weight of the leather binding it is more than difficult to carry. It was written around seventy years by Gotthilf Puchta in Altdorf. Shortly afterwards the book became a fundamental part in the training of almost any wizards. Everyone who got through the great colleges of magic, whether its Atldorf, Middenheim, Marienburg or Nuln, will remember the book. Although most students and some teacher say that the book is almost useless for practising magic and is only used to scare off the lazy and test out the stupid students. Outside places of learning the book never gained much popularity. Those that practise magic have neither the time nor the will to read through the behemoth. Those that research magic may have the book, but it is more often used as a paperweight.
The book contains no spells. What it does spread out on so many pages, is that Puchta has created an in itself coherent dogma for magic. He uses an inductive proof for his work. When reading the book, a scholar however may have the impression that Puchta never cast a spell himself. The book is very theoretical and even experienced wizards have great difficulties when they try to follow Puchta's reasoning. About fifty years after the first publications, other scholars have begun to write commentaries to the book, explaining on two pages what occupies just a few lines in the book.

Language: Classical (Reading the book takes the normal amount of time, fully understanding it can take a few years)
Spells: None

Risks: None, except for feeling totally undereducated.

Skills: The reader gains a more than great in-depth knowledge on theoretical magic, although that is of little help outside the colleges, where it may be used to impress other scholars.

Availability: Rare (see description)