Books - Pracktical Hedgecrafte

A new wizard guild has been discovered, hiding in a magical tree close to Pekan Ford! It is the glory of hedge wizardry, and in the following days, I will be describing it in detail. For today, just take a look at the topmost platform I've been able to climb, which holds a new grimoire for wizardry, and 4 new spells!!

This wooden platform is most certainly not a library.  It has no rows of shelves, no desks, no chairs, no densely-packed volumes or tomes and certainly no reason for the already mind-bending physics of this giant tree to be stretched even further with the introduction of any of that L-Space nonsense.  There does appear to be one single, solitary book though.  It sits on a wooden lectern in the centre of the platform.

There are no obvious exits.

A closed bark-bound book is on the lectern.

> You hear a faint scratching sound, although it's impossible to pinpoint which direction it's coming from.

l book

This book looks more grown than manufactured.  A thick layer of bark serves as a front and back cover, and the pages seem less like paper and more like impossibly-thin layers of wood, as if cut directly from a thick tree trunk.

Motes of octarine light dance around the book.

It appears to have something written on it.

It is closed.

> 

read book

You read the cover of the closed bark-bound book:

Written in dark lettering:

Pracktical Hedgecrafte.

open book

You open the bark-bound book to page 1.

> 

read book

You read page one of the open bark-bound book:

 Table of Contents 

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  2 ... Luquayle's Longevity-Enhancing Ballast

  3 ... Ridcully's Travelling Furniture Manufactory

  4 ... Feyfirkin's Errant Trainee Collection Herbage

  5 ... Ralstorphine's Refreshing Draught

Books - A Thousand Dancing Frogs

This is not exactly a spellbook, but rather a booklet, or more appropriately, a leaflet, as it takes the form of a (jade, artificial) leaf at the top of the great willow of the Bes Pelargic L-space bubble. Consulting it is a bit perilous, as you'll need to climb the tree up to the top (sixth level), and the fall from any level higher than 3 can easily kill you. Besides, it only contains one spell, and a very well-known one at that.

This is a single jade leaflet. It seems to be a type of book, yet still part of the grand willow. This leaf is still connected to the willow by a single platinum stem, yet something ominous tells you this leaf is here to stay. The platinum lining of the leaf sparkles in the available light and sends dancing shimmers across all the other leaves and branches. 

Octarine sparkles dance and shimmer atop the jade leaf.

> open book
You open the tome to page 1.
> read book
You read page one of the open tome:


Table of Contents
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2 ... Jogloran's Portal of Cheaper Travel

Books - Spells of Thee Moste Ceremonious Rite of AshkEnte

At the moment, I think there are only four spells that I haven't been able to cast yet. Two of them lie inside this grimoire, not so long ago rediscovered deep into the aisles of the Unseen University library. The are the famous spells for summoning Death itself! Their very specific purpose, the really expensive components consumed in the summoning, the requirement of many wizards with top-level skills for the casting, all conspire against any uses in the near future.

Still, I decided to go and take a look at the book. Here it goes:

This is somewhere in the Library of Unseen University. You are at a dead-end: there are shelves to your right, to your left and in front of you. 

The air is filled with a low susurration, the sort of noise that would be produced if you took a thousand people wearing leather gloves and got them to play pianos with no strings.

There is a strange distortion in space and time to the left of you!

Your skin tingles with the discharge of magic and the air feels greasy and tastes of tin.

There are two obvious exits: backward and left.

A closed plain black book is chained to the ornate lectern. 

> 

look lectern

This tall reading desk has been fancifully fretted and carved with phantasmagorically interlaced gryphons, dragons, and twisting vines. Here and there, a tiny wizard looks out from the pattern, clutching the lines as if still trying to escape...

>

look book

This is a small and square book, whose cover is the deepest darkest black. A faint blue aura is visible when you are not looking directly at it. Small octarine sparks crackle fitfully through the creases and folds in the pages. It appears to have something written on it. It is closed. 

> read book 

You read the cover of the closed plain black book: Spells of Thee Moste Ceremonious Rite of AshkEnte

> open book

You open the tome to page 1.

> read book

You read page one of the open tome:

Table of Contents 

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  2 ... Malich's AshkEnte Summoning Incantation

  3 ... Malich's AshkEnte Circle

Books - Thee Secrets of Artifyce and Crafte

So... I've been away for about a month or so (maybe a bit more) and I find there's been a remodelation of wizardry in Sto Lat, with a new and better guild, centered on crafting magic, and with a new volume and 5 spells in the library. I've still been exploring and moving around it (many things to see), but I have to include this new grimoire the series first of all!

A closed imposing bronze book is sitting on the dusty antique reading desk.

The covers are made from solid bronze, three-quarter-bound in red gold. Intricate stylised flowers and vines have been engraved on the metal, and the staff-and-crossed-hammers symbol of the Academy of Artificers takes pride of place on the front cover.

Octarine flowers bloom and fade amidst the engravings.

Table of Contents
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2 ... Doctor Worblehat's Flaming Primate Premonition
3 ... Crondor's Marvellous Sequestration
4 ... Fiddelmaker's Auriferous Embrace
5 ... Rubayak's Power Dispenser
6 ... Ellamandyr's Hyaline Amulet

Books - Begynners' Magick

A tome and an old, battered chest are on the floor.

This book is an old, leather-bound tome with some strange designs on the front.

Octarine light seeps from between the pages.

Table of Contents
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2 ... Boolywog's Forbidden Pleasures
3 ... Memories of a Vicious Chicken
4 ... Rugged Victor's Rodentia Vivisection
5 ... Torqvald's Many Colours
6 ... Sorklin's Field of Protection
7 ... Independent Recurring Vocaliser
8 ... Worstler's Elementary Mineralogical Glance
9 ... Scolorid's Scintillating Scribbling
10 ... Collatrap's Instant Pickling Stick
11 ... Grisald's Chilly Touch
12 ... Pragi's Molten Gaze
13 ... Eringyas' Surprising Bouquet
14 ... Malich's Penetrating Ocular Lance
15 ... Friddlefrod's Hydratic Extrusion
16 ... Amazing Silicate Blorpler

NOTE: In the past, this book used to house the spell Finneblaugh's Thaumic Float, but it has moved and now lies within the Library. In its stead we have Pragi's Molten Gaze.

Books - Ye Booke of Polymorphe

Before I start rambling on the last of the magical grimoires that, for the moment, are accesible in the game, I remit all people interested in the spell Crondor's Fabulous Detection to my previous entry on the said spell, as I think a change has been implemented in it of late: a gold ring is now required too as a component. I still haven't tested it, but the output of spellcheck now certainly mentions it as a 'component':

The spell "Crondor's Fabulous Detection" is a miscellaneous spell requiring a gold ring and a staff.

For stage one using the staff skill, you would most certainly succeed.

For stage two using the gold skill, you would most certainly succeed.

For stage three using the turning skill, you would most certainly succeed.

You complete checking the stages in the casting for Crondor's Fabulous Detection.

And now, back to sorcerous books. 'Ye Booke of Polymorphe' appropiately honours its subject-matter by having many changing forms, alternating between them from time to time. When in the room with the book, you'll get from time to time a line that says:

'The book is so bored that it decides to change its shape slightly'.

After which looking at it will give another new description.

The changes are of two classes: some are specific to this grimoire (and the ones I've been able to find are provided below); others are borrowed from the other spell books in the game (of these, I've seen it addopt the forms of Thee Dyscyplyne of thee Stoane, of the Fire tome and of the 'Occult Primer' guide, but I imagine it can alternate through all of them...).

A closed chitin-covered brochure is on the floor.

This is a small black brochure. Its cover seems to be made of a giant insect's exoskeleton.

Small octarine sparks run to and fro across the black surface of the brochure.

or

A closed furry book is on the floor.

This book is covered with soft brown fur and equipped with several sharp-looking boney thingies. If it grows some more fur, claws and fangs, you wouldn't let your pet cat near it.

Octarine sparks play in the fur that covers the book.

or

A closed quivering tome is on the floor.

This tome seems to live its own life: it shivers, quivers and tries to look completely independent of you, this room, and the rest of the world.

A single octarine spark travels across the surface of the book in an independent manner having as much fun as it can.

or

A closed weird dusty grimoire is on the floor.

This is a dusty grimoire with a pair of eyes bulging on its surface. The eyes do their best to watch your every move.

Pure octarine radiance pulses menacingly in the pitch black pupils of the book's eyes.

or

A closed magic tome is on the floor.

This book is an old, leather-bound tome with some strange designs on the front.

Octarine seeps from between the covers.

or

A closed friendly noisy book is on the floor.

This book doesn't want to lie where it should be. Instead, it tries to nuzzle you affectionately and says woof and arrf every now and then. Perhaps you can call it Fido.

On the surface of the book, two octarine dots are busy chasing each other.

or

A closed huge leather-bound tome is on the floor.

This huge tome is bound in leather that looks and feels suspiciously close to hardened human skin.

Fingerprint-like patterns on the cover glow faintly with octarine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Booch’s Extremal Polymorphism

3 – Stacklady’s Morphic Resonator

4 – Yordon’s Extremal Extension

Books - Spelles of thee Oryent

A closed date encrusted grimoire is on the floor.

This is an old book, bound in camel skin. It is sticky with dates, as if someone read it at breakfast and dropped his date marmalade toast upside down on it.

Octarine sparks crackle intermittently down the spine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Al’Hrahaz’s Scintillating Blorpler
3 - Pragi’s Lost Gaze

Books - Advanced Arts and Sciences of the Cunning Artificer

A filigreed hardcover is on the floor.

This book is constructed completely from some form of hard wood. Its intricately filigreed and shows fanciful carved scrollwork throughout. The pages of this book are no exception to the rest of it, they too are seemingly carved from the same type of wood. It is bound with the highest quality octiron and its spine is adorned with a perfectly sculpted rowan wand.

An octarine snake slithers arond the rowan wand on the spine of this book.

Table of Contents
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2 - Thousand Dancing Celestial Fates

Books - Divinational Arts

A closed origami tome is on the floor.

This book is made from traditional, Agatean origami. How someone was able to fold a single piece of rice paper into a book of this size, complete with seperate pages, we may never know. The face of this book is shinier than most books you've seen before. It calmly reflects your image subtly across the cover.

An octarine shimmer plays across this book slowly and hypnotically.

Table of Contents
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2 - Reckless Encouragement of Arcane Peacock

3 - A Cup of Tea and Sake

Books - Illusionary Arts

A closed shimmering grimoire is on the floor.

Phasing in and out of reality, this lost grimoire sits here calmly passing the time. Odd that it should change colours and transparency. Its spine is decorated with what seems to be an rice-paper dragon and its pages are guilded in platinum specks.

The rice-paper dragon exhales octarine fumes slowly but steadily.

Table of Contents
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2 - Union of the Phoenix and Divine Dragon
3 - Calm Embrace of Illusionary Beauty
4 - Cherry Blossoms in Bloom

Books - Heavenly Arts

A closed gemmed volume is on the floor.

A small, dancing lotus moves over the face of this majestic volume while lightning crackles along the spine and edges. A masterfully crafted book, it seems to almost dare you to open it. Gems line the spine of this tome and sparkle dangerously.

The dancing lotus leaves trails of octarine sparkles across the face of this volume as it moves.

Table of Contents
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2 - Journey of the Heavenly Storm Dragon

3 - Patient Taming of the Quantum Weather Butterfly

Books - Intermediate Artifact Magic, fourth ed.

A closed solid book is on the floor.

This looks solid and well constructed. Finely-crafted leather makes the cover of the book, with beautiful golden bindings. In the cover is an illustration of a staff, a rod and a wand crossed.

Octarine sparks crackle intermittently down the spine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Crondor's Mysterious Sparkling

3 - Crondor's Fabulous Detection

4 - Turnwhistle's Effulgent Autiridescence

5 - Wonker's Wicked Wobble

Books - My Firste Demon-Summoning Booke!

A closed cheerful yellow book is on the floor.

This book is a cheerful yellow colour, decorated with the normal scenes of children’s books: puppies, bunnies, and boys and girls running and frolicking. However, they all have bat wings and horns. Except for the bunnies. The bunnies have tentacles.

Octarine light crackles intermittently down the spine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Doctor Kelleflump's Deadly Demon

3 - Professor Flambardie's Grim Amulet

4 - Kelleflump's Irritating Demon

5 - Skeetbraskin's Fuliginous Perdition

6 - Sageroff's Sentry Summoning

Books - Body Parts for the Advanced Student

A bone book is on the floor.

This book has a cover and bindings of beautifully worked bone, with intricate carvings of skulls and wings and other nifty things.

Octarine light crackles intermittently down the spine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Narquin’s Mist of Doom

3 - Myrandil's Vicious Seizure

4 - Wungle's Body Part Suggestion

5 - Grisald's Reanimated Guardian

6 - Wungle's Great Sucking

7 - Von Hasselhoff's Skin Condition

Books - Weather Magick

An impressive grimoire is on the floor.

This is an impressive book. Why do you think so? Well, in one corner there’s a little tornado, while in another, there’s a thunderstorm; a third corner is covered in snow, and the last is hot and a little sandy. And that’s not decoration or anything, it’s actual phenomena! As you watch, the snow gets deeper and lighting flashes.
Hazy streams of octarine light flow from the book into its very own microclimate.

Table of Contents
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2 - Gillimer's Ring of Temperate Weather
3 - Nargl’frob’s Empyrean Spear

Books - Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Everything

A closed mysterious book is on the floor.

This looks mysterious, as if it holds the keys to much knowledge. It is bound in old leather, and has a faded picture of a crystal ball on the cover.
Octarine light crackles intermittently down the spine.

Table of Contents
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2 - Polliwiggle's Puissancy Probe
3 - Floron's Fabulous Mirror
4 - Worstler’s Advanced Metallurgical Glance
5 – Kipperwald’s Perlustration Prevention

Books - The Olde Arte of Foode

A sticky grimoire is on the floor.

This book looks vaguely like a ham and cheese sandwich. It seems to crackle with energy, probably from all the carbohydrates, seasoned with condiments from the Dungeon Dimensions.
Octarine sauce runs all over the core.

Table of Contents
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2 - Wurphle’s Midnight Snack

3 - Wurphle's Packed Lunch

Books - Introeductyon too thee Strukture of thee Multyverss

A well-read volume is on the floor.

The covers of this book are well-creased and the pages are dog-eared, with many a fingerprint and grease stain on them. You’d guess that this is one of the main texts for a course at the University.

Small octarine sparks crackle fitfully through the creases and folds in the pages.

Table of Contents
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2 – Rubayak’s Power Storage

3 - Frygellan’s Fiendish Orb Disruptor

4 - Brother Happalon’s Elementary Enchantment

5 - Jogloran’s Portal of Cheaper Travel

6 - Endorphin’s Floating Friend

7 - Heezlewurst's Elemental Buffer

8 - Fabrication Classification Identification

9 – Master Glimer’s Amazing Glowing Thing

Books - Ae Thouesand and Onne Thyngs ae Boye cann Do with Corpse Partes

[We keep the topic in the field of Necromancy, as it seems... Today, the book description of the first of the two cadaver-fiddling grimoires we keep at the library. This first one contains easier spells to cast -most if not all of them will very soon be in the range of any midbie wizard-, among them the famous exploding eyes discovered by Pragi and which form the basic room-offensive spell for all of us (I personally prefer EHA, but candles are rarer to find than eyes).

On the personal anecdotical register, I can announce that I've improved my domain over the weather-ring spell enough to get a 50-60% of successes. Stuffing the elegant rings in my pants, I am starting to feel I little bit like Sauron... Winswand, the Lord of the (Weather) Rings!]

A closed skin-bound grimoire is on the floor.

This heavy grimoire is bound in some sort of pale skin; you try not to think about from what manner of creature the skin was taken.

Octarine slowly pulses across the surfaces of the book.

Table of Contents
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2 - Dismal Digit of Doom

3 - Pragi’s Fiery Gaze

4 - Myrandil’s Mask of Death

5 - Narquin’s Hand of Acquisition

Books - Cunjuryng for Begynners

A nice and shiny book is on the floor.

This book has two mirrors for covers, and sparkly bits down the spine. The pages are edged in silver foil too.

The shiny surfaces of the book catch and reflect octarine light.

Table of Contents
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2 - Brassica Oleracea Ambulata

3 - Torqvald’s Illusion Generatrix

4 - Master Woddeley’s Luminescent Companion

5 - Mugwuddle's Muddling Mirage

6 - Objandeller’s Thaumic Funnel