Wardens Grimoires

From OakthorneWiki
Revision as of 21:58, 25 September 2020 by Oakthorne (talk | contribs) (→‎The Vision of the Watcher)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigationJump to search

The Tome of Shadows

Grimoire 2 (Unpurchased)
The Tome of Shadows was written by the Igbo seer and madman Onyinyo, and is the world's main resource for lore on Kar'Kradas, the Shadow Between Worlds. The meandering, mad ramblings in this grimoire describe the destruction of the ancient sorcerous empires when Kar'Kradas came to Earth, and how the great earth-dragon Ghorummaz – alongside a few of the surviving sorcerers of Atlantis and Lemuria – performed a great binding and banishment that sent Kar'Kradas away from the earthly realm and into the Shadows Between Worlds.

This copy of the Tome of Shadows is more complete than any you have ever seen.

Arcana

  • Kar'Kradas Arcana (Common)
  • Embrace of the Void (Impervious, Sustained Protection, 2 p/r) is a spell that summons shadowy planes of force to protect the sorcerer from harm.
  • Breath of Kar'Kradas (Cloud Area Attack Visual Concealment + Cloud Area Progressive Weaken Stamina, 4 p/r + 16 p flat) blankets an area in a field of darkness which blocks sight and weakens living bodies.

Rituals

  • Summon Darkhound (Hounds of Kar'Kradas, 26 points), which summons a single darkhound.
  • Summon Dark Guardians (Hounds of Kar'Kradas, 36 points), which summons a pair of darkhounds, traditionally set to protect the magician.
  • Summon Dark Pack (Hounds of Kar'Kradas, 46 points), which summons four darkhounds, often used to defend places.
  • Summon Dark Hunt (Hounds of Kar'Kradas, 56 points), which summons eight darkhounds, most often used to hunt down quarry.

Other Mechanics

  • A Mind Full of Shadows: Those who make extensive use of the Tome of Shadows usually pay for it - with their sanity. Using a formula or learning arcanum from the Tome comes with risk, forcing a Will resistance check. If the check is failed, the sorcerer gains the Madness Complication, in which shadows seem to call to them (in truth, the voice of Kar'Kradas seeking freedom from its imprisonment).

The Vision of the Watcher

Grimoire 2 (Hexana)
This copy of the Vision of the Watcher dates back to the Renaissance, and bears a black velvet-wrapped cover set with a decorative piece of quartz carved with a single, staring eye.

This grimoire is an iconic work on divinatory and prophetic magics, penned by the Iosan Sibyl (though no one really knows if this was the same person as the current Sibyl). It also contains a body of prophecies, several thousand in number. This copy has been annotated in the margins with conjecture about past events that have corresponded to those prophecies.

This copy taken from the Order of Night Eternal seems to have a lot of attention paid to the following prophecy:

Four the lambs slaughtered on golden altar
Four the streams of blood to serve as ink
Four the blasphemies that scribe the Yellow Sign
To find Lost Carcosa

Arcana

  • Iosan Arcana (Common)
  • Insight of Ios (Enhance Advantage: Defensive Roll, 1 p/r) is a spell that is frequently paired with magics that grant extrasensory awareness of danger, such as the Everwatchful Eye of Ios. This grants the sorcerer the ability to move out of danger's way.
  • Inhabitation of Ios (Subtle 2 Sensory Link Mind Reading, 3 p/r + 2 p flat) allows the magician to "ride" the target of the spell's senses, perceiving through them while the target remains entirely unaware they are being used in such a way.
  • Ineffable Interrogation of Ios (Cumulative Effortless Mind Reading, 4 p/r) is an occult mind-probe, seeking into the depths of the target's memory for a piece of information.
  • Illumination of Ios (Sustained Comprehend, 18 points) sets a halo around the head of the magician that quickly fades, save to magical senses. As long as the spell is Sustained, the magician can understand and read all languages, the speech of plants and animals, and any spirits they may encounter.

Artifice

  • The technique for crafting a Crystal Ball (Scrying 21 ranks, 13 points), creating a sphere of crystal in which other places might be seen.
  • The technique for creating the Golden Eyes of Ios (Eight Eyes of Ios, 13 points), eight orbs of gold that orbit the magician's head to keep watch for them.