Galadorna's Grimoire

History: Galadorna was a short lived realm which lay east of present day Delthuntle. It is unknown who set down the spells found within the Grimoire or what their origin but Elminster, having seen the realm it it's waning days, believes the great tome must have been written by one the fledgling realm's first court mages, the highest ruling position any mage in Galadorna could reach. It is possible, though unlikely, that the tome was written by a court mage known as Ilgrist who was later revealed to be non other then the mage Nadrathen, a fallen Chosen of Mystra. although Elminster doubts the truth in this claim it is this rumor that has made the Grimoire one of the most sought after tomes of magical lore amongst the few who know of it. The first recorded appearance of Grimoire was in the year of Three Faces, 1089 DR, in the hands of a warrior in the city of Westgate. The warrior, a boastful Amnian, offered the tome to a mage by the name of Maligan, claiming he had retrieved it from the tomb of a lich of the day known as Argilor the Three Faced after a spell he would use that summoned three giant heads to bite at targets chosen by the lich. The warrior claimed to have defeated the lich and Maligan bought the book from the warrior who promptly disappeared, never to be seen again. Maligan studied the Grimoire for a season before his tower was ravaged in an attack from a powerful and vengeful dragon who's mother Maligan had slain in his adventuring day. Maligan did not survive the battle that ensued and his tower was looted by the dragon err it fled the city. The next siting of the Grimoire was in the year of the Seven Kings Horde, 1131 DR, when a mage of Starmantle recognized the Grimoire in the hands of a passing adventuring mage whom , together with his band, The Flaming Mane, claimed to have slain a great wyrm in the mountains southwest of the city. The mage of Starmantle, one Rantherlin the Thrice Cloaked, paid the adventuring mage for a chance to glean the Grimoire's spells but was unable to convince the young mage to part with the Grimoire. The spell tome vanished soon after and was not seen for a long time though it is assumed that it found its way into the hands of at least two mages of the hartlands as mages in both Berdusk and Elturel were seen using spells from the spell tome in spell battle in these city's streets over the next few years. Weather they had access to the original tome or just copies of its spells is unknown. The Grimoire must have traveled much for when it next surfaced to be identified it was in the hands of a wizened old man, who's life had been all but drained away, who fell at the doorstep of the mage Kalif-Al-Sharben in the city of Calimport in the year 1157 DR, the year of the Wizened Mage. Kalif-Al-Sharben discovered the Grimoire's true value through his spells and bore it with him to his old friend, the mage Serth, in the city Waterdeep when he left for that splendid city. The Grimoire then shifted hands, as a gift, to the ownership of Serth who later had it stolen, along with other magic, from his mansion in the year Long Shadows, 1164 DR. At this point the Grimoire vanishes from history for the longest time yet until the year 1324 DR, the year of the Grimoire. The spell tome finds it's way to Tantras in the hands of the adventurer mage Elain who secrets the Grimoire in her tower in the city after returning from a long adventure. She does not leave her tower for a long period of time and when she finally does it is on another adventure. after nearly a year without word or sight of the mage a merchant mage of Sembia known only as the Masked Merchant hires the thief Murthel of the Long Reach to plunder the mages tower and retrieve the Grimoire but after finally reaching the towers inner rooms the near dead thief finds the spell tome is not to be found in the mages library. It's current whereabouts are unknown as is Elain's fate, she has not been seen to this day. What little we know of the Grimoire we glean from the notes of the mage Kalif-Al-Sharben who's notes were sold to a merchant of Waterdeep after his death in that city while on a visit.

Description: The Grimoire is a large tome, seven bandwidths high and five bandwidths wide. Its covers are of well worn blue dragon hide smooth to the touch and bound by two silver straps, one at each end of the tome, which lock the tome magically when closed. To open the Grimoire it must be held while the words "long live Galadorna" are uttered over it. The straps will then vanish and the words "Galadorna's Grimoire" will appear in a soft sapphire glow on the spell tome's cover. The straps lock again the moment the tome is closed. No known spells short of limited wish and similar magics are known to be able to open the tome. The tome is immune to all lightning damage and receives a +5 saving throw vs. all other hazards. The sheets within appear to be of vellum made of dragon hide. The pages within appear to be laden with the history of the lost realm and the tales of it's kings. When a page is touched and the name of a former king of the lost realm is said aloud a spell appears on the page in the place of the other writing. The names need not be spoken in a particular order, any name will work on any one page but only once and only on one page by the same person. This is right for each new user, so one person could read the whole Grimoire with but one king's name but one would need as many mages as there are spells in the Grimoire. All pages revert to their normal visage again every time the Grimoire is closed. The names of the realm's kings were: Terinsheaf, Lithranor, Orlikar, Arminthior, Mardinth, Kaligor, Morthins, Porhiston, Selarioi, Yonthilis, Baerimgrim. The Grimoire contains several well known spells and three unique spells thought to be set down in this spell tome alone.
The spells within the Grimoire, in their order of appearance, are: Dispel Magic, Slow, Shout, Cloudkill, Poison Ray, True Seeing, Telekinesis, Legend Lore, Blood Magic, Spell Shield, Symbol.

Special Spells:
Poison Ray
Blood Magic
Spell Shield

Poison Ray
(Invocation/Evocation, Necromancy)
Level: 5th
Range: 30 yards
Duration: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: One creature
Saving Throw: Neg.

When casting this spell the caster points an emerald of no less them 1000gp value at the target creature. The emerald then disappears; in its place a pale green ray shoots forth, which unerringly strikes the target, which in turn must save vs. poison or die agonizingly in one round. The only way to avoid death is a Neutralize Poison or Heal spell cast on the victim prior to death. Creatures immune to any type of poison are immune to this spell. The casting of this spell is in itself not a good act and the use of this spell by good characters should be monitored.

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Blood Magic
(Alteration, Necromancy)
Level: 9th
Range: 0
Duration: Instantaneous
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 7
Area of Effect: Caster
Saving Throw: None

This spell has two effects. The spell's cleansing fires heal the caster of all damage and at the same time purge the body of any poisons or diseases (but not magical diseases) that might afflict it. Severed limbs are not restored by this magic but any continual damage caused by their loss is ceased. In addition the caster can, if he chooses, call on the spell's magic to teleport him without error (as the spell of the same name) to the location of any of the casters blood that has been spilled within the last two rounds. The caster can call on the teleport ability of the spell up to two rounds after casting the spell. The material component of this spell is a diamond of at least 5000 GP value which will crumble to dust during the casting of the spell.

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Spell Shield
(Abjuration)
Level: 8th
Range: 0
Duration: 1 round/level
Components: S
Casting Time: 1
Area of Effect: The caster
Saving Throw: None

When memorizing this spell the caster casts any three abjuration (including those of multiple schools as long as one of the schools is abjuration) spells he has in memory. With each such spell he casts he adds a single gesture at the end which links the spell to the Spell Shield and is latter the gesture used to call the shield into being. The slots of the casts spells are then empty and can be filled with new spells. When the Spell Shield is cast it forms an invisible sphere around the caster, visible only as a fait shimmering when it forms. This shield has all the powers of the spells linked to it. Only abjurations which affect the casters person or are centered on the caster can be linked to a Spell Shield spell. Spells which have an area of effect, have their usual area of effect when the shield is cast but regardless of their usual restrictions are mobile and move with the caster. Only spells of 7th level or lower can be linked to a Spell Shield. Regardless of the duration of each linked spell the shield lasts for 1 round per caster level taking all spell effects with it when it ends.

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