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Artifact Illustration | Book of Scrybing
🕑 Added 2022-11-17 16:57:46 +0000 UTC[Art by Steven Bell, Submission by Lukas Polansky]
I am very pleased to present our first patron-voted Artifact Illustration - the mysterious Book of Scrybing.
Description
This large and well-crafted tome is bound in a heavy, charcoal-dyed leather and filled with rich pages of high-quality vellum parchment. Its cover has been etched with the silver sigil of the School of Divination, and two silver circles appear side-by-side upon its spine.
Operation
When the owner places their thumbs upon either circle along the back of the book, they can split the book into two identical copies. Anything written in one of the books appears instantly in the other, its letters holding a fiery glow that eventually turn to a charred black. This can happen over any distance.
Adventure Hooks
While the book could simply be an artifact found and used by the party, it could also be used as a plot device to introduce some element of mystery, with the party finding only one half of the book.
1. The book details a complex ritual by a wizard in the field that went awry. Something else is now writing in the book in a different language.
2. The book is given to them by a messenger and becomes the way their mysterious employer communicates the jobs they take.
3. The book is discovered on a body in a dungeon. The last entry details where and how to obtain an item of power within and a dialogue between some other partner. After some short time of owning the book, a new line appears, "Were you able to find it?"
I hope you enjoy this artifact illustration and can use the artwork, as well as the idea, for your campaigns and adventures!
Comments
Oestred
I like the plot hook #2 a lot. It is flexible to tie into many things but introduces the unknown employer, why are they secret, what is their purpose, etc.
J. T. Rador
I'll echo what Lukas said above. Super excited to get custom items with very useful abilities. But to get *Plot Hooks* too?! Astonishing and very helpful! If I hadn't already introduced something similar in my current game, I'd know just where to put this in the dungeon the party's in, but I'll certainly keep Plot Hook 2 in my back pocket.
Lukas Polansky
This is beyond words. I can not express how grateful I am that this exists. The description is beautiful, and the plot hooks aligned with it are amazing. Thank you so much, and thank you Steven Bell, your work is immaculate.
