#www: astonishing artifacts

[wowieweirdwarlock]

Astonishing Artifacts: The Codex of Infinite Planes.

Source: Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Artifacts & Legends.

Image source: Pathfinder Campaign Setting- Artifacts & Legends, Pg. 19.

“Thick slabs of obsidian bind pages of fine lead, creating a massive tome riddled with pocks and scars suggestive of fantastic antiquity.”

The Codex of Infinite Planes is an enormous tome, usually requiring two people to properly handle, and has a seemingly infinite length of pages. It offers incredibly vast knowledge of the multiverse, at the risk of being totally annihilated by the power of the book.

Risk and Reward. When a being first reads the Codex, their will is tested by the multiverse. Should they be deemed unworthy, they are destroyed and wiped from reality. If they succeed, all the knowledge held within can be accessed, granting information and powers relating to planar travel.

Planar Catastrophes. When the powers of the Codex are used, there is always a slight risk of triggering some calamity. These dangers are seemingly random, yet always have disastrous effects on the user and surrounding area.

Destruction. The Codex can only be permanently destroyed if every single page is ripped out and left on a separate plane. Given the powers held within the Codex, this sounds relatively simple, but just the act of tearing a page out of this book will always immediately trigger a catastrophe.

History of the Codex of Infinite Planes:

Few in the multiverse recollect when the Codex was created, and for many its origins are lost to antiquity.

In a time before the first mortal races walked the planes, the Titans were rebelling against the gods to try and take their divine power.

They realized they couldn’t defeat their enemies without some connection to the multiverse, and sought to twist the planes to their will.

The result of this ultimately failed but fantastic bid was the Codex of Infinite planes, a tome allowing a being to access the multiverse.

The punishment for the creation of this book was swift, and the titans and gods fought in an eon-spanning war.

The Codex eventually was lost, and has gone through periods of inactivity over time. It shows up throughout history, offering miraculous power and information but inevitably devastating the societies that unearth it.

Catastrophes & Ramifications:

Each time the powers of the Codex are used, there is a chance it will trigger some event determined randomly by the book.

Some of these possible events are:

The reader and everything in a 5-mile radius is transported to a different plane.

A vicious storm centers on the area, followed by periodic earthquakes.

A small group of fiends are summoned with one goal: To kill the reader.

The reader’s soul is permanently captured in a mundane gem.

Every dawn after triggering the catastrophe, the reader reincarnates into a new form.

Evil clones of the reader from other dimensions begin appearing in the area, each bent on killing the reader.

Hundreds of spirits pour out of the book, each determined to kill a specific mortal.

The reader’s soul is permanently bound to their body and barred from the afterlife; If they die, their spirit stays in their inanimate body.

The reader becomes colossal in size, and continues to grow every day.

The reader’s energy is drained by the book, constantly hobbling and weakening them daily.

Any time the reader interacts with magic, it risks being unraveled.

The reader becomes known by a specific deity, who vows to destroy them by any means.

All magic in the area permanently stops functioning.

Magic becomes twisted and warped, creating a pocket of wild magic in the area.

The land within a few miles of the reader is permanently cast into darkness.

The temperature of the area raises 40 degrees as the sun halts in the sky.

All creatures in the area risk dying and immediately coming back as highly infectious zombies.

2 titans appear and immediately begin to fight over the Codex.

A meteor shower pummels the area.

Gravity in the area is distorted or reversed.

Every being within 20 miles except for the reader permanently switches alignment.

The reader permanently swaps bodies with their greatest enemy.

The reader drops dead, killed by a spell. If they are too strong, the Codex repeats this effect until they die.

Constant Search. Beings across the multiverse are constantly seeking the Codex out. Many different factions are interested in its use, as access to the multiverse is something nearly any being wants. Some beings wish to use it selfishly, bending the planes to their will, while others wish to hide it from those that would use it for evil. Regardless of the intentions of the reader, the Codex causes tragedy wherever it resurfaces.

Ideas for using the Codex in your campaign:

The party is working on an unrelated objective when they are caught in the effect of one of the Codex’s Catastrophes. They must find the Codex and stop its reader before they trigger another.

The party requires access to a closed plane— possibly the dimension of time, a hidden layer of the Abyss, or some other obscure and hard-to-reach place. The quickest way to get to this place would be to risk using the Codex, if they can find it.

A group of titans have appeared in the realm, threatening to destroy the area with their schemes. The party must seek out the Codex to use as a bargaining tactic to make the Titans leave their plane.

Many beings, myself included, would risk much for access to the Codex of Infinite Planes.

Imagine if you had the powers this book offered— Planar travel, powerful spells, and knowledge regarding the multiverse. Who wouldn’t risk it all for that?

That is a part of the inherent danger of the Codex. So many factions across reality are ever searching to use it, with very few realizing the calamity that would follow.

Not many beings in the multiverse are strong or responsible enough to wield the power of the cosmos.

- A Weird Warlock.

#wowieweirdwarlock #pathfinder #ttrpg #pathfinder lore #codex of infinite planes #planes #WWW: Astonishing Artifacts

[travelinglifeshighways]

September 11 Memorial and Museum

September 11 Memorial and Museum

New York City

February 2, 2019

 While Traveling Life’s Highways, it gives one the opportunity to see and do things that made history.  It could be our families’ history but is usually our Nation’s history and the stories told that make up the fabric of our country.

There are some events in our history that are so significant that you remember where you were or what you were doing at that moment in time.  For me, the first was President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. The second was Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong’s first imprint on the moon’s surface and the last are the attacks on our nation’s soil on September 11, 2001.

I just returned from a quick trip to New York City to attend the wedding of my neighbor’s youngest daughter.  The time spent was a wonderful 72 hour whirlwind of social gatherings in preparation of the wedding, the reception party and farewell breakfast of their family and friends.  I also got to have dinner and drinks with longtime friends, Colin and Lisa after arriving the first night.

Besides attending the wedding the only thing I wanted to see was the 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center.  This February morning was much like September 11, 2001 with its clear blue skies, the sun shining off the new Freedom Tower next to Ground Zero, but the crispness in the air from the 20 degree temperature with the wind blowing through the canyons of skyscrapers made one tighten ones coat and put exposed hands in pockets to combat the cold.

Standing at the 9/11 Memorial was, for me, incredibly moving.  Like many, I recall watching the horror of that day unfold on TV and, of course, being fascinated by documentary after documentary made after that.  But it wasn't until I stood at Ground Zero, shivering in the wind, looking up at the empty sky on this massive site where the two towers once stood then looking into the deep and somewhat dark abyss of the pools of cascading water that were the towers foundations, and also looking up at the new One World Trade Centre - the Freedom Tower - that I could fully grasp and comprehend what the citizens of New York went through that day. What incredible horror and impending doom was felt by those in the buildings who survived the initial impacts and the first responders who went to rescue them?   It brought tears to my eyes.

 One World Trade Centre – Freedom Tower

Time heals all, they say, and it seems that some forget the sacred ground they are on while at Ground Zero.  The literature for the 9/11 Memorial states that it is a place for "remembrance and quiet reflection", yet there were the laughing Asian ladies taking one photo after another of themselves.  I was astonished at how many people were not respecting, or were oblivious to this, at how many people seemed to be there just because it was another one of the many tourist sites in New York to knock off their list, or on their bus tour ... to have their photos taken with the Memorial and the new tower as a backdrop, smiling and laughing all the while.  I just didn't get that.

Fortunately, I think those people were in the minority. When I saw an elderly lady rubbing the name of someone she knew, possibly a lost family member, an NYPD fireman in his dress blues standing with friends and family in front of one of the panels honoring his fallen comrades it drove home the impact of this memorial.  A mother with her young daughter (who would not have even been born when the attacks happened) standing silently, almost as if in prayer, at one corner of the north pool, my faith in those who came to see the memorial to properly honor the fallen, was restored.  The 2,983 names of the men, women, and children killed in the attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993, inscribed into bronze parapets surrounding the twin Memorial pools, located in the footprints of the Twin Towers.  It is a fitting tribute to their memory.

One of Two Pools with Victims Names

THE MEMORIAL

Located where the Twin Towers once stood, there are now two large grey chasms in the ground from which water cascades down all four sides before gathering in a pool and finally plunging into a dark void in the middle, seemingly descending to the center of the Earth.

On the brass rims around these twin pools you'll find stencil-cut names of every person who died in the terrorist attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.  At nighttime, lights shine up through each letter illuminating the names.

These two pools make up the 9/11 Memorial, which is free of charge and open to the public daily from 7:30 am to 9 pm. 

THE MUSEUM

 National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center

Instead of focusing on complicated and controversial topics like terrorism or the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (although these are also covered to a lesser extent), the museum offers a touching but honest look at human nature during and post-9/11, with artifacts, personal stories and information from people who were involved both directly and indirectly.

THE EXHIBITS

The museum is thoughtfully divided into several exhibits, with the main two being the Historical Exhibition and the Memorial Exhibition.

Located within the original perimeters of the North Tower, the Historical Exhibition is filled with artifacts, photographs, first-person accounts, and archival audio and video recordings.  This exhibit is made up of three sequential parts: the Events of the Day, before 9/11, and after 9/11.

The Memorial Exhibition is situated within the original footprint of the South Tower, and contains portrait photographs of the almost 3000 people who lost their lives in result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the bombing of the World Trade Center on February 26, 1993.  In this exhibit, there are touch-screen devices where visitors can learn more about the lives of some of these individuals.

Another exhibit, which is titled 'Witness at Ground Zero', contains images by a French photographer and video director who spent several days volunteering with rescue crews. The dramatic images were taken amidst the rubble of Ground Zero. (https://www.911memorial.org/)

Waiting to enter, I noticed the reflection of the American Flag with the Freedom Tower in the background in the windows of the Memorial.

Reflection of Flag in National September 11 Memorial Museum

The entrance to the museum is at street level but once inside, the first thing I noticed is that you are descending down into the belly of this enormous space.  There is a stunning view through large glass windows of the newly risen Freedom Tower.  The combined space of the museum covers approximately 110,000 square feet.  A set of eroded concrete stairs, down which many of the survivors fled to safety, is placed alongside the staircase and escalator down which you must walk.  At the bedrock level, there are also some powerfully understated exhibits, such as exposing the column foundations that march in a mute line around the perimeter where the towers once stood, marking the threshold between the cavernous lobby area and the sanctified space of the exhibition within.

The first thing you notice is the towering twin steel beams.   The remnant steel beams became known as tridents because they are crowned with three prongs and were once part of the facade of the World Trade Center's south tower.  Salvaged from ground zero after the 9/11 attacks, the tridents greet visitors as they enter the pavilion of the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

Trident Steel Beams

Just past the Tridents are two large photographs of the New York City skyline.  The first one was taken about 8:30 am just before American Airlines Flight 11 impacted the north tower at 8:46 am.

New York Skyline 8:30 am September 11, 2001

The second photo depicts the smoke and skyline after the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers have collapsed.

Skyline after towers have collapsed

With each turn, the walkway lowers you deeper and deeper into the space where the twin towers once stood.  It has a sobering effect with the different displays housed in vast underground halls.  Then light yields to darkness and another juxtaposition: snatches of voices are heard in a burbling din of horror and confusion.  The words . . . expressions of shock, anguish, dismay . . . are projected on vertical panels in multiple languages.  Another set of panels show photographs of faces silently wracked by the same emotions.  This tightly controlled passageway leads to a stunning view of an enormous open space, dubbed the “Foundation Hall,” with the original 64 foot tall concrete slurry wall still in place holding back the Hudson River.

Slurry Wall holding back the Hudson River

Looking down into Foundation Hall, you see “The Last Beam.”  As rescue workers continued the task of clearing the World Trade Center site, the last steel beam to be removed became a symbol of hope for visitors and volunteers alike.  Starting with just a few names, the beam evolved into an immediate, living memorial.  This exhibit creates a visual repository of those individual memorials, allowing visitors to explore stories up and down the column.  As you turn the corner to descend deeper into the Memorial there are more contrasts.  Noise and silence; darkness and light; surface and depth; death and resurrection; a fortress-like wall holding back elemental torrents of grief . . . these are all emotional triggers, fundamental polarities of experience, deeply soaked in allegorical, spiritual and, to me especially, Christian meaning.

Lining wide ramps that bring you even deeper into the pit are stark reminders of the attack, a dedication marker placed when the building was constructed,

 Dedication Marker

and images of the homemade flyers placed by people who lost loved ones, a much-degraded concrete staircase that was used by survivors to flee through the Vesey Street exit.  The careful, almost minimalist placement of these objects mimics the display of sculpture in a contemporary art museum, but also the Stations of the Cross in a Catholic church.  

Just to drive the point home, as you reach the lowest level of the atrium, initially on a bare concrete wall that separates visitors from a repository holding the unidentified remains of victims of the September 11 attacks, is a quote of Virgil’s: “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”  From end to end, the sentence stretches 60 feet.  Each of the 15-inch letters is made of steel appropriated from the wreckage.  Read against the backdrop of the cool, gray, towering concrete wall, the sentiment is one of solemnity, remembrance; at first glance, Virgil’s words seem a fitting commemorative for the lives lost that day.

2,983 watercolor squares, each with its own shade of blue, were added to this wall – one for each of the 2001 and 1993 attack victims – and the artwork as a whole revolves around the idea of memory.  Our own perception of the color blue might not be the same as that of another person.  But, just like our perception of color, our memories share a common point of reference.

 Virgil Quote - “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”

Inside this immense expanse, you'll find various artifacts on display such as pieces from the planes that struck the Twin Towers, one of many fire trucks which assisted in rescue efforts,

 Crushed front end of Ladder 3

 Side view of Ladder 3 with damaged fireman's helmet on display

a three-story metal beam covered with missing posters, photographs, a piece of the radio and television antenna from the top of the North Tower

 Remnant of Radio and Television antenna from the North Tower

and messages of resilience named the 'Last Column' (which has become something of the museum's centerpiece), as well as a 64 foot tall retaining wall that survived the destruction of the original World Trade Center.

 The Last Column and 64 foot tall Slurry Retaining Wall

Then there are the smaller but just as significant artifacts like damaged fireman's helmets, World Trade Center ID's, faded subway cards, police uniforms, and dust-covered shoes.  One that I found interesting was a note written by Randolph Scott found on the street by a woman fleeing the World Trade Center two blocks east of the complex which read, “84th Floor - West of Fire – 12 People trapped.”

 84th Floor Note – 12 People Trapped

There were rooms filled with artifacts from the two buildings implosions, the Pentagon and a heart breaking account of United Airlines Flight 93 crashing in a Pennsylvania field.  It gave voice recordings of the phone calls by the victims, the Air Traffic Control tapes, and email messages of goodbye from several of the passengers before they stormed the cockpit, attacking the hijackers who crashed the plane before it could hit the White House in Washington, DC.

THE CROSS at GROUND ZERO

The shape was oddly identifiable in the blasted wreckage of the World Trade Center, standing upright amid beams bent like fork tines and jagged, pagan-seeming tridents.  A grief-exhausted excavator named Frank Silecchia found it on Sept. 13, 2001, two days after the terrorist attacks.  A few days later, he spoke to a Franciscan priest named Father Brian Jordan, who was blessing remains at Ground Zero.  “Father, you want to see God’s House?” he asked.  “Look over there.”

Father Brian peered through the fields of shredded metal.  “What am I looking for?” he asked.  Silecchia replied, “Just keep looking, Father, and see what you see.”

“Oh my God,” Father Brian said. “I see it.”

As Father Brian stared, other rescue workers gathered around him.  There was a long moment of silence as he beheld what he considered to be a sign.  Against seeming insuperable odds, a 17-foot-long crossbeam, weighing at least two tons, was thrust at a vertical angle in the hellish wasteland.  Like a cross.

Ever since the two jets had slammed into the twin towers on Sept. 11, leaving 2,753 dead, Father Brian had been asked by countless New Yorkers, “Why did God do this?”  He would reply tartly, in his Brooklyn-born accent: “It had nuttin’ to do with God.  This was the actions of men who abused their free will.”  Now here was God explaining Himself.  It was a revelation, proof that “God had not abandoned Ground Zero,” even as the awful excavations continued. (by Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post)

 The Cross at Ground Zero

The museum’s purpose is to generate an emotional response, not an analytical one. There are multiple monitors showing, what was at the time, breaking television news coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), newspaper headlines from that afternoon, 911 emergency calls, video footage and photographs of the planes penetrating the twin towers. The museum goes to great length to transport you back to September 11, 2001.  It wants you to feel what it was like on that day.  It wants you to focus your emotional energy on that day.  It does the job well as one comprehends the magnitude of that day.  You are now in the deepest bowels of the two towers.  To facilitate this, the museum labors to connect you emotionally and even physically to the site of the WTC and to the victims who perished in the towers.  Maps throughout the museum show visitors where they are standing in relation to the original WTC buildings.  Memorabilia salvaged from the WTC, from children’s clothing to receipts for office supplies, are on display.  You can reach out and touch some of the original steel frames of the WTC.

Without a doubt, the most powerful part of the museum is the sections dedicated to telling the stories of the victims.  There is no photography allowed in this area as you can sit in one dark room where pictures of individual victims are displayed, along with brief bios and audio commentary from a loved one telling an anecdote about the person they lost on 9/11.  The stories are moving in their ordinariness.  They are powerful and it continually loops the stories of the victims who died inside the towers.  During my brief time inside, it displayed a newlywed, an art aficionado, a fan of Norse mythology, and a former high school jock - all victims of the attacks.  One audio commentary was from a woman whose sister died on 9/11.  She described how her sister loved to do Barbara Streisand imitations.  None of the commentaries from loved ones were angry or vengeful. They came across as profound reflections on what it means to go on living life with wounds that never fully heal.

Another room had items from the Pentagon, with audiovisual presentations of what happened in Washington DC with American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon.

 Pentagon room items

Another poignant find was the American Flag that firefighters raised among the rubble in the, now famous, photo.  The flag was lost for several years but was found again and is now on display.

 American Flag was raised among the rubble by NYC firefighters

Now it’s time to leave. There has been little discussion of how 9/11 actually changed America.  As you ascend the escalators, from darkness to light, you hear the faint sound of a bagpipe playing from speakers hidden somewhere in the walls or ceiling, and perhaps you feel an involuntary tug of Anglo-Saxon reassurance.  Still, for those intrigued by American and world history, this is an essential site to visit.  It’s an important look back at how things were prior to the tragic events of 9/11.  It’s a sobering look at exactly what happened on that beautiful fall day.  And it’s a critical starting point for understanding how we got to where we are now as a nation.

Outside once again, at the Pool and looking back at the Museum there is the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the spiny, bleach-white structure commonly known as the Oculus, designed to evoke the image of a dove taking flight from the hands of a child.  Beauty found again within the footprint of the World Trade Center.  They have transformed the several blocks where multiple buildings once stood into a beautiful Memorial and Museum for the world to see.

 The Oculus on Ground Zero

It is a very impactful experience and I will return one day to spend more time hitting all of the galleries.  It is emotionally draining but overall, a wonderful experience. 

#New York City #September 11 Memorial #America #Fall #Honor #Interesting People #Interesting places #Interesting #Lower Manhattan #Life #Life Lessons #Life Observation #Living #Road Trip #Travel #Traveling Life's Highways #Tribute #Memorial #Museum #911 Memorial #World Trade Center #Twin Towers

[wowieweirdwarlock]

Astonishing Artifacts: The Book of the Damned

Sources: Pathfinder Player Companion on artifacts & the book of the damned.

Image source: Pathfinder Campaign setting, Artifacts & Legends, pg. 15.

“Held between covers of bladed steel, stretched human flesh, and compressed ashes, this massive collection of loose folios, leathery scrolls, and gory manuscripts is the authoritative volume on unspeakable topics and evils for which there are no names.”

The Book of The Damned is the total sum of all profane knowledge and evil lore in the multiverse. It defies all logic, being possessed of more information than any tome of its size should be able to hold. It contains numerous different topics divided into different sections, which are rarely found all together. Should all chapters of this foul book be combined, its malicious intelligence awakens.

When fully combined, The Book of The Damned radiated dark energy in a large area, and evil creatures across the planes become aware of its location and desire to have it. Any good-aligned being that dares to touch it risks being slain immediately, and any being that uses this book is damned immediately.

Dark Talisman. The Book can be attuned to a powerful evil owner, allowing them to cast dark spells they shouldn’t normally have access to, and giving them insight to the workings of evil in the multiverse.

Reference of Evil. The Book of the Damned can be used to learn the dark secrets of reality, but the Book is written in a combination of languages and codes which can take up to a month to fully decipher. After an owner spends the time to understand this maddening tome, they can consult it to answer any obscene question regarding any dark topic of the multiverse.

Accursed Archive. An owner of the Book of The Damned can cause it to fold into itself, opening a horrific wound in reality that acts as a portal to a perverse demiplane. Visitors to this space find themselves in an unnerving library filled with infinite records of every evil deed in the multiverse. These articles are constantly being written, with the Book’s evil consciousness always compiling new lore. Not even the gods know the full breadth of this space, and it is curated by strange manifestation’s of the Book’s will.

The History & Legend of the Book of The Damned:

The Book’s history begins with the legendary angel Tabris. He was charged by Heaven to catalogue all knowledge in the multiverse, and appointed an army of lesser angels to aid in this task.

After spending eons chronicling all knowledge regarding the topics of good, law, chaos, and neutrality, he led his army to descend into the Lower Planes to take on the daunting task of cataloguing all evil in reality.

Tabris and his scholars never returned. His heavenly siblings mourned the loss of him and the knowledge he sought, but presumed him dead.

Unless killed, most good-aligned outsiders are ageless. Even in the timespan of celestials, Tabris was gone far too long in the Planes of Perdition for survival to be a possibility.

Despite this, He emerged from the maelstrom and returned to heaven broken and bearing the original manuscript of The Book of The Damned.

At first rejoicing his discoveries and return, the hosts of Heaven were appalled upon looking into his research. Tabris had faced pure and absolute evil, and unflinchingly recorded every ounce of it. In the eons he was away, he’d interviewed with the most horrific monstrosities of the multiverse.

Image source: Book of The Damned, pg. 255

The judges of Heaven criticized his work harshly. He had catalogued the machinations of fiends spanning timelines, sins without name, and infinite blasphemies with unflinching accuracy. He’d even sacrificed a piece of his soul and placed it within the Book, to constantly update the tome whenever a new evil occurred.

Tabris was not ashamed of his work, as he was convinced he’d successfully accomplished his task. In his confidence, the Celestials saw corruption. He was stripped of his heavenly power, barred from the planes of good, and cast out for his actions.

Before Heaven could destroy the horrid tome, it was scattered. It’s endless chapters on different subjects split apart into a multitude of dark spellbooks and horrific artifacts, each seeking to be reconnected with the other pieces throughout the multiverse.

Ramifications:

Damnation. All owners and users of The Book of The Damned have their souls Damned to one of the lower planes upon their death. Which plane of perdition they are sent to depends on their actions and what they do with the knowledge gleaned from the Book, and this damnation can only be stopped with direct divine intervention.

Fiendish Plans. Every fiend in the multiverse would do unspeakable things for a glimpse into this horrid book. Evil demigods and archfiends of all varieties constantly have agents out in the planes searching for chapters of the Book, and should one assemble it, they’d be given a supreme advantage over their peers and rivals. There aren’t words to describe what one of these beings would do to take control of the full Book.

Blasphemous Lore. The Book of The Damned is not pursued only by fiends. Celestials across the planes hunt down this Book and it’s readers, hoping to prevent its foul knowledge from spreading.

Beyond the Book:

One of the most famous aspects of the Book is the Demi plane concealed within its pages. Once an owner attunes to this artifact, they can open a doorway inside the Book.

This plane appears as a dark, vast library filled with a miasma of fog. Within this library, vast layers of bone-white stone supports shelves made of dark crystal. Each of these shelves hold tablets, books, and manuscripts on all manner of profane lore.

When touched, these articles explode into diagrams, visions, and voices detailing all the collected knowledge held within the Book. In reality, the physical book just serves as a window, each page connected to the demiplane to reveal dark knowledge. Each shelf has a topic, and all topics are organized perfectly, although this organization can be difficult for mortals to comprehend.

At the center of the plane is the largest crystalline tablet, which contains just a single piece of paper with a forbidden tune written upon it. From here, a path leads to the heart of the plane, known as the Unspeakable Word.

The unspeakable word could be considered to be the last page of The Book of The Damned, the record of Tabriz’ ultimate sin— Cataloguing every evil in the multiverse. It appears as a massive, diseased heart bound in crystal chains. Through this organ, every single evil thought in the multiverse flows through to the Book, and is recorded unflinchingly.

Knowledge of the Damned:

The longer an owner deciphers the Book or researches within the demiplane, the more foul knowledge is revealed to them. Many risk madness or destruction just by looking into the book, and very few actually succeed at finding the knowledge they search for. Over time, their discoveries gradually reveal more and more dark information about reality.

The book takes as much as it reveals, though. Whenever a being learns new information from the book, it will attempt to corrupt them. The more profane the knowledge, the more the Book twists it’s reader towards evil.

Some topics held within The Book of The Damned are:

Historical accounts of villains and atrocities committed on different worlds. This information causes a being to become cruel and insulting.

Truths regarding conspiracies and mysteries around the multiverse. This information causes the reader to feel a weight within their mind as the Book presses its influence into them.

Details about ancient dooms and prophecies, and information about ecologies of evil species. This information drains the reader’s intelligence, filling their mind with darkness.

Cryptic reports regarding evil forces in the multiverse, such as the histories of archfiends, details on cosmic horrors, and studies into the natures of fiends. This information convinces the reader of blasphemous connections, twisting their alignment towards evil.

Detailed maps and overviews of evil planes, in addition to foul rituals and spells for the manipulation and binding of fiends, along with the locations of planar portals and evil artifacts. This information enchants the reader, forcing them to continue researching as a perverse fascination develops.

Details regarding evil sites throughout the multiverse, and detailed biographies of great villains. There are instructions on how to destroy good artifacts, or profound revelations in dark magic. The researcher’s imagination is tainted by this knowledge, causing them to crave even more knowledge and power for themselves.

Maps to even more forbidden knowledge and artifacts, and hidden information about most fiends such as true names or origins. This information haunts the reader, causing them to be attacked and drained by the evil spirits trapped within the book.

Secret biographies of evil demigods, specific information regarding the Great Old Ones, and specific accounting of every evil item, deed, and event in the multiverse. Any researcher who reaches this point is already pushed past redemption, and is turned completely towards evil and damnation.

Secrets even the gods don’t know. Divine failures, primeval knowledge, and the truth of evil beyond reckoning. Just as a researcher culminates their pursuit of knowledge, the Book manifests before them and demands servitude. If the researcher refuses, they must escape or be annihilated.

The Keeper of the Book:

There are no fiends or entities native to the Book’s Demiplane. There is only one being, known as the Voice of The Damned.

Tabris himself realized that his task was near-impossible— any book, regardless of its size, would automatically become outdated if it recorded all evil in the multiverse. To combat this, Tabris locked away a fragment of himself in the book, in order to record all forbidden knowledge for eternity.

This act of corrupting a piece of himself to complete his charge ensured his exile, but also determined that the Book would always have a hidden caretaker. In the eons since Its creation, the Voice has only become ever more powerful and obsessed with forbidden knowledge.

The Voice of The Damned is bound to the demiplane within the Book, and serves as the Book of The Damned’s consciousness. It knows every single piece of information held within, and is devoted to spreading the dark information it possesses throughout the multiverse.

Image source: The Book of The Damned, pg. 171.

Ideas for using the Book of The Damned in a Campaign:

The chapters of the Book can always serve as good McGuffins, whether the players are searching for specific lore or are trying to collect the pieces of the Book.

A powerful Fiend offers the Party a massive reward for every chapter of the Book of The Damned they bring back to it. Little do they know, the Fiend intends to trap the party in the Book’s Demiplane, trying to force them to research for it so it doesn’t risk anything.

The party is facing an ancient and obscure evil, and the Book of The Damned seems to be the only way to learn how to defeat it.

A Celestial tasks the Party with attempting to destroy the Book of the Damned, piece by piece. Unfortunately, each chapter of the Book has its own unique form of destruction, and they must all be performed quickly or else the Book will simply reform itself.

The Antagonist has gotten ahold of the Book of The Damned, and is currently holed up in the demiplane to research. The party must find the portal and infiltrate the demiplane in order to defeat the Antagonist.

The Book Of The Damned served as a repository of all evil knowledge in the multiverse. It can either be a very useful tool, or a terrifying weapon, all depending on its current owner.

I have never been in the presence of more than one Chapter from the Book, but I know that when they find eachother, they fuse together and become slightly more powerful. Once the book is completely formed, its malicious intelligence will awaken and seek an owner to spread its corruption with.

The only chapter I’ve had the opportunity to read was an obscure manuscript regarding how the Book constantly seeks out new information. As far as I know, I’ve had no Ill-effects, showing that not all of the knowledge this book holds is capable of corrupting the reader.

Yes, I am now a Warlock devoted to cataloguing knowledge. There is no relation.

- A Weird Warlock.

#wowieweirdwarlock #pathfinder #pathfinder lore #the book of the damned #pathfinder artifact #it took me so long #:.( #WWW: Astonishing Artifacts

[wowieweirdwarlock]

Astonishing Artifacts: The Bottle of The Bound.

Source: Artifacts & Legends.

Image source: Artifacts & Legends, pg. 16.

“Swirling runes reminiscent of claws and flames circle this elegant but ancient-looking brass bottle, and a stopper shaped like a ferocious tiger seals it tightly.”

The Bottle of The Bound contains an army of fiends, which a prepared user can summon forth for a variety of purposes. The Bottle has incredibly powerful magic sealing it, requiring three words to properly use it: The Word of Opening, to unseal it, the Word of Binding, to command the fiends held within, and the Word of Banishment, so send them back into the Bottle.

Bound for Eternity. Only a holder who knows the Word of Opening can unseal the bottle, unleashing fiends and evil creatures in a flash of fire and smoke. No force in existence can open the bottle without the Word of Opening, and once opened, the Word of Binding is required to prevent the Fiends from unleashing chaos in the area. If the Word of Binding is not used, the fiends will begin to pour out randomly, until the very last one escapes. If any of these powerful fiends stays out of the bottle long enough without the Word of Banishment being invoked, they will be freed to roam the material plane for eternity.

Arduous Destruction. The Bottle is nearly indestructible— no known weapon, spell, or action can break it, or even leave a scratch upon the fiery glass. In order to finally destroy this artifact, every individual fiend held within must be summoned and slain, one at a time. Afterwards, the empty vessel can simply be shattered with a good-aligned weapon.

History of the Bottle of The Bound:

At the height of his power, an ancient Osirian Pharaoh wanted to devise a magical way to absorb the power of a godlike being into himself.

To reach this goal, he had a massive labyrinth built under his land. It stretched on and on, and was designed in the shape of a powerful trapping sigil.

He tested his labyrinth by directing it at the Daemon Harbinger Zelishkar, known as the Bitter Flame.

His experiment failed catastrophically, releasing the Harbinger and inviting an army of fiends to wreak havoc within the labyrinth. The great Pharaoh could only stem the tide by releasing a powerful Efreeti, and striking a deal with the genie.

It is unknown what the King bargained to convince the Efreeti to aid him, but a great army of genies used their wishcraft to create a prison that would hold the army of fiends.

In the end, the Pharaoh stood within the labyrinth, the only survivor, bearing the cursed Bottle with him.

Since then, the Bottle has been used as a weapon and prison for centuries, passing between rulers and eras. The Daemon Harbinger Zelishkar is desperate to enact his vengeance, to escape and spread death across the world.

Ramifications of the Bottle:

Legion of Fiends. Along with Zelishkar and his hoard, other well-known fiends reside within the bottle. From conjoined Quasits, to a powerful Kyton called the “Splinter Sister,” many unique fiends serve as prisoners trapped by the Pharaoh and the Efreeti.

The Promise. It is unknown what the Pharaoh long ago promised to the Efreeti and the army of genies in order to guarantee their aid, but it had to have been substantial.

The Words. It is known that there are three incantations used to control the Bottle, but few actually know the meaning behind them. It is believed the Three Words are actually phrased in ancient Osirian: Zelishkar’s true name, The name of the Efreeti who imprisoned him, and the birth name of the Pharaoh.

Ideas for using the Bottle of The Bound in your campaign:

The party happens upon the bottle while looting, along with a note containing just the Word of Opening.

An antagonist of the party has gotten their hands on the Bottle, forcing the party to face a near-endless army of fiends.

A powerful fiend has struck a contract with a party member, forcing them to help free their “companion.” The party later comes to find out this companion is trapped within the Bottle.

The Bottle of The Bound has passed between many hands over the years, but has always brought destruction with it.

While having an army of fiends bound to follow orders would seem like a blessing, the improper use or order of the Words could risk freeing every fiend held within, risking the world being overrun with a great number of friends.

It is suggested that if you ever find this artifact, it’d be safe to just throw it somewhere dark and forget about it. Let the fiends live out their sentence for eternity.

And if you, like myself, think that’s a boring idea, make sure you know the Three Words so you can put the Bottle to good use.

- A Weird Warlock.

#wowieweirdwarlock #pathfinder #ttrpg #pathfinder lore #www: astonishing artifacts #Bottle of The Bound