The Collected Works (Canon as Spellbooks)

 Writing on the theme of a lost spellbook, suggested by Semiurge for Glaugust 2026.

Inspired by this post over on Oversights and Oubliettes, as well as the same book that inspired it, I present six manuscripts attributed to the same author. Unlike Regalia’s work, these are not based on the works of real history, which risks a diminished sense of grandeur— few settings have a Caesar that excites us as much as the historical Caesar. But I hope the relationship between the fictional history and the ongoing in-game conflict can maintain interest.

Charops, Father of Cartographers
Every scholar basically agrees that Charops was born in Cessily, moved to Fantasy Rome as a young man, and rose to prominence as a wise man, administrator, and scholar. Charops’s books on distant lands, gathered from both firsthand and secondhand research, are legendary. His signature method of discerning whether men who brought him tales of strange sights had actually been far abroad, checking their memory of the route they took against his own later voyage, provides us with accurate reports of shipping lanes and geography of use to this day. In later years, Charops was accused by his enemies of embezzlement and exiled to the countryside. Many of his writings were burned. The resulting lacuna spurs on fanciful rumors that the scholar was perfecting a book of spells to utterly perfect human virtue, granting someone a truly optimal character. Common folk remember him as a cautionary tale against politicians getting too airy-fairy and ungrounded. Scribes remember him as a cautionary tale against bright minds getting involved in politics.

Travels: 

• Exemplary: Bubble Trick (creates an orb of breath that cannot be breached, saved by very careful sawing, for up to six hours. At your discretion, it can be buoyant or static.)
• Decent: Weight Anchor (discern the relative quality of ships and their crew. Among other things, detect the result of any Reaction Roll made with them.)
• Poor: explains the forms of address and request for hospitality of the gnolls of Thrinos, famously mercurial and irascible people with the heads of beasts, but whose high priest is thought to be the most beautiful yet living, and bless'd with clear vision of the days to come.
• Mouldering: warns of the location of the Thassopinon, a whirlpool that wanders through a given territory throughout the year, created by a giant fish from the underworld.

Lesser Travels:

• Great: shows an infallible index for predicting the weather, with just a banner and a simple sextant.
• Decent: details the ruins of the town of Bourda, outside Vasilaea, and means of accessing the hidden stairs to a foyer of the underworld, where prisoners were exchanged with the long-dead, and gold was brought from below. Infested with shades, shelled monsters, and chthonic doubloons.
• Mouldering: Klarion (fires a magical burst straight in the air, leaving a floating, glowing, colorful sigil for four hours. If it strikes someone, deals 1d6 damage.)

On Moral Character: 

• Exemplary: sets out a general method for maintaining the proper relationship between patron and client. While practicing it, retainers and hirelings have +1 loyalty, and they never abandon or betray you without notice.
• Great: Expounding Principles (speak at length on the moral and historical considerations before a crowd, and they will listen. No one can ignore you. By the end, at least one important listener will become your hater, but another important listener will become your advocate.)
• Decent: Empathy (consider three questions about someone you've just met, and the DM will provide three truthful, perhaps incomplete, answers)
• Mouldering: provides meditations for diligence, allowing you to go a night without sleep, at no penalty.

On Perfection: pseudepigraphic. A trap for true seekers, but a good source of income for copyists.

• Decent: sets out the proper Fantasy Roman method for a proper patron-client relationship. While practicing it, retainers and hirelings have -1 loyalty, and will take the opportunity to screw over their overbearing and pompous boss on the way out if they abandon them.
• Poor: sets out a description of Charops's estate outside of Fantasy Rome, including its location and the valuable treasures, rare books, and magical experiments he accumulated to perfect his magnum opus. The entire description is fake, a combination of pecuniary motive and wishful thinking. Those who follow the directions to the estate will instead find a thorny woods in the middle of troll country, and get their asses hunted by a pair of panther-yechas.
• Mouldering: Interrogate the Soul (deals 1d3 permanent wisdom damage to the caster, but initially tell the player the book describes it as a spell to “glimpse the self, unvarnished by pride or cowardice, to grant the bravery understand oneself truly and know what faults must be excised.”)

Monstrous Manual: also called the Hand of Omens

• Exemplary: catalogues many types of creatures, with an index to aid study. 2-in-6 chance of identifying creatures upon seeing their true form, learning their name and their D&D 5e statblock (if not playing 5e) or their 1e MM statblock (if playing 5e). If the monster can't be found in the right source, it isn't described in the Hand of Omens beyond its name.
• Great: describes the differences between various dragons and semi-draconics and ranks them according to "Zariazois", a difficult-to-translate word that means something between hardiness and durability. Sets out their different abilities.
• Decent: Tireless Tracker (Shows the tread of the most recent creature to go through an area as silvery footsteps. Lasts until you stop following them for more than ten minutes)
• Poor: describes the differences between various goblinoids, including their Hardiness-Durability. Postulates what differences arise due to natural cultural development and what from different deific impacts on them.

My Life: 

• Exemplary: rare account of Charops's shameful exile, and a true account of his estate not near Fantasy Rome but in Cessily, the land of his birth. Describes how he used his modest means to prepare and fortify labs in his basement, and how he was saved from penury from the contributions of his friends and admirers who wanted him to continue his study. Sets out description of a lapidary vault with a combination-lock whose cypher changed with clues hidden throughout the house, an "angelic engine" which animated the lower workings, and an alchemical project to isolate and extract character traits. Careful study of context clues can reveal its precise location.
• Great: Tally-Line (conjures an intangible line segment that allows for accurate measurement of distances and lengths. Gives +2 to ranged attacks using it as a guide. Lasts ten minutes.)
• Decent: description of Charops's youth and exploits after coming to Fantasy Rome to seek his fortune. Partial map of the sewers under Fantasy Rome, as well as an indication of a hideout which has been home to a variety of denizens over time, always driving previous residents out. In his time, it was primarily home to a union of thieves who worshipped a patrician mummy. +3-in-6 chance of detecting secret doors in Romedeis's Shit-Hole.