Book

Book

gold coin	500
	995,000
	50

A book is an item found as a drop from Greater Demons, Sunken Treasures, or Satchels.

Uses

It can be read or burned, it has no other known use at the moment. There are many different kinds of book. They sometimes give information on events, like A Holiday Rhyme.

Text

A Bit On Miners

Rumor has it if you press your ears to the ground, a sound can be heard. Like a metronome: "tink, tink, tink." A miner, lost to the depths below, but still mining. I don't know much about miners, but I'll tell you what I know. In search of runite ore, Nuoluoski dug and dug. He dug a great pit. Trip after trip he came back with thousands of ores - runite. He made hundreds of trips, bringing up tons of this fancy new ore. Until eventually... He didn't come back. In search of his source, JanisPetke followed his tunnels down and eventually came to a great chasm. A pit deeper than the light would penetrate and wider than a king's castle. In the breach it seemed as though rocks were whispering. A secretive society of whispering stones. Fearing insanity, Janis left this place, but not without taking a whispering stone to study.

Removing it from it's home seems to have woken up more. I don't know if they've always been there, or if the stones from that pit have started wandering out themselves, but now those stones, those "rune slates" can be found all over. That is all I know about miners.

A Holiday Rhyme

Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the chat,

each soul was stirring, looking for hats.

The search was on, and the hints had been placed

And every new thought felt just like a race.

Sankyuu, and Zero, Zaros and Zulu,

Magnus and others. How many, who knew?

Though many a hint Fariel had brought,

It wasn't discovered: from spiders they dropped.

So added some more we thought that we would,

an evil snowman who brought a new hood.

Go play in the snow and get in to shape,

quick don't sit idle or the hats might escape!

From Whence Runes Came

The ground trembled. Boom. The ground trembled again. Boom. Boom. All through the night. Was it below the earth? On the earth? Many were too scared to find out.

It seemed that JanisPetke had set forth a chain of events.First with the whispering stones, then with the talismans. A new face saw what JanisPetke had accomplished and studied it further. Mammothb, as he was known, discovered how to use the essence of these talismans to create many runes. Driven by a mad need to "make them better" he created so many runes that they brought the attention of other things. Hungry things. Demons began roaming the great pit dug by Nuoluoski. Giants began wandering the land above.The lands were no longer safe. A new power would be needed to aid in these dangerous times. Perhaps these runes could be used for something?

Skolonmade's Savor

It's a big world out there, full of all kinds of sights, smells, and especially tastes. Not only is food delicious, but it also plays a crucial role in recovering health. With so many big-mean-and-nasties running around slapping the shark out of you, you want to be sure that you're well stocked on food. Y'know, so you don't die. But just because food is a necessity doesn't mean it can't also be tasty! Sure, you can put anything you want into the cooking pot, but that may lead to some questionable results. And that, dear Reader, is why I'm here: To show you how to make the most of your meal! So get your +20 ladle and let's get cooking! What's that? You don't have one? Well, I guess anything will do. Hell, use your boot if you have to. Just be sure to follow along with these simple recipes and you can't fail! 100% guaranteed most of the time!

Now let's get cooking!

Seared Steak:

Delicious, tender steak seared to perfection. Take your favorite animal meat and grill it. Don't even think about ruining it with seasoning. If the meat isn't good enough on its own, GET BETTER MEAT.

Seared Fish:

Fresh caught seafood is not only a staple diet for many people but it also makes for a fantastic meal. Its savor is in its simplicity. To prepare, gut and clean your fish prior to cooking. Skewer your catch and roast it to perfection over an open flame.

Seared Poultry:

You warned that bird plenty of times about what was going to happen if it didn't stop eating your garden seeds. Well now it's dinner! Not so tough now, are you bird!? Ahem…

Seared Poultry is a great choice for simple hunger while out camping or just when you want to eat some bird. Defeather your bird and clean it for cooking. Then drop it on the grill or cook over an open flame until golden brown. Then enjoy sweet sweet revenge.

Birdie Pasta:

Cooking your avian enemies doesn't have to be limited to the simple seared variety. Add grain and take it up a notch. Adding equal parts pasta and poultry will result in a delicious meal that still sends a clear message to the other feathered fowl.

Spaghetti & Meat:

An absolute classic. Just like mother used to make. Bring water to a boil and add grain to the pot. Reduce heat and allow spaghetti to cook. Strain. At the same time add beast meat to a separate pot and cook until ready. Mix together at the end. The final result should also have a sauce but it just sorta… happens.

Meat Roast:

No frills, no nonsense, just good old fashioned slabs of meat on a plate. Preparation is simple; take equal portions beast, fish, and poultry and cook them together. Plate and serve to your barbarian friends and neighbors.

Jerky:

A classic snack that almost always ends up as a meal on its own, there is just something special about jerky. To prepare, add preservative to the meat (about equal to the meat by weight), then hang it up and smoke dry it till its perfect. It's not nice to lie, so don't promise anybody that you'll share.

Kebabs:

Meat on a stick is great, vegetables on a stick is great. When you put them together they become the delicious force known as kebabs. Kebabs are a handy and delicious entree that every idlescaper should know how to make. Simply prepare the meat and vegetables, Skewer with a… well with a skewer and roast over an open fire until cooked.

That's all for this edition of Skolonnade's Savor! Catch us next time for some blessed baking.

Chronicles Of Zekret

Vol. I

It was a strange day when that mage from the outlands showed up. Why would a supposedly accomplished practitioner desire to attend an academy built to teach commonfolk the ways of magic? This seemed suspicious even to me. But lo, the administrators let him in, gave him a bunk, let him study. On this day my focus changed. No longer would I focus on illusions. Instead I would focus on him. On Zekret.

Over the coming months he seemed to jump around from subject to subject. First it was raw energies, or what seemed to be evocation. From there, he seemed to take fancy to enchantment. Then it was summoning and conjuration. After a time, he settled on the specific subject of portals. He was very secretive about his work, but also friendly and warm to those who crossed his path... I made a point to watch from a distance.

Once on the topic of portals he seemed to hang, like a scarf on a nail. Something about them had caught his interest, drove him on. He began to toil day over night working to perfect some new spell. At sundown I would often find him opening small portals. These portals would form like a dinner plate thrown into the air, then burst into a column of energy and collapse into itself. The sight was enchanting, but also... unpleasant. It seemed to me as though something was trying to get through from the other side.

Vol. II

While I slept, it called to me. A swirling mass of energy; of wings and tentacles. A buzzing sound, like a thousand mosquitos around my head. The mosquitos spoke to me in murmured voices. Over the nights that this dream occured the voice became more and more clear. "Release me." Panicked, I awoke in a cold sweat.

This night I knew I had to confront Zekret. I had to know what was through those portals, what he was trying to bring forth. I hastily donned my night robe and stormed off to his usual place of work; in the deep basement of the Academy. I flung the door open and demanded answers. "Zekret! What demons do you conjure forth?" He looked at me, his head tilting to the side. The look of confusion.

"There are no demons here, my friend. Are you unwell?"

I told him everything; that I had been suspicious of him from his first day here, that I had been watching his work, and that I had been having these terribles dreams of late. Dreams of him and his portals. He began to explain.

"There exists, through the veil of reality cast around us, another world. Dear friend, that world is teeming with magical energy. Such magical energy that we could do near anything. Imagine if us lowly mages had the power of the gods. Imagine what we could create, who we could help. That is my goal, dear friend. Like I said, there are no demons here."

He pointed towards a great crystal in the center of the room. "This is how we will contain that energy. We can use it as a source of power. We need only open the portal for a short time, enough to push the magic into this crystal. You will join me, won't you friend?"

I don't know what possessed me in that moment, but I found myself nodding in agreement. "Yes, I will."

Vol. III

Over time I had learned more about the man. Zekret was a jovial character. A large man, bearded, with locks of bushy brown hair growing untamably from the top of his head. He was a friend to everyone; even those I would have deemed undeserving. He didn't carry himself like a practitioner of magic, either. He didn't wrap himself in mysteries and enigmatic talk as so many of our peers would. No, Zekret had the air of a businessman, or perhaps an innkeeper. Nor was he cruel in those days. In all his time at the Academy, I never once saw him so much as swat at a fly. My suspicions of him, his motivations, his actions... perhaps I had been wrong. Despite all my misgivings it struck me that he genuinely seemed as though he wanted to do good.

Finally the time came to perform the spell. We set everything up in the basement of the Academy, in the old library specifically. We would open the portal above the crystal. The great crystal in the center would be the target of the energetic blast. This time though, we would open the portal larger than had been opened before. With everything in place, we decided to rest and attempt the feat the following night.

That night I hardly slept. Logic fought with emotion. I found myself in a mental duel, battling for whether this Zekret was truly some evil being. Alas, day came, and I went about my studies. I remember nothing of that day. Finally, at length the sun vanished behind the horizon. Day turned to night. Without conscious effort I found myself standing in the library well below Academy grounds. Zekret began the spell. The portal opened.

Unnatural clouds formed in the upper reaches of the library. The clouds swirled, like a whirlpool to the heavens had begun to form. Through this whirlpool came light, in great horizontal beams. The crystal seemed to open up and drink from that unearthly light.I stood transfixed, I don't know for how long, watching this awesome sight. It felt like an eternity. I tore my eyes away long enough to glance at Zekret. What I saw filled me with dread.

He too stood transfixed, as though possessed. I beheld what looked to be his soul pulling from his body and drifting up towards the portal. I had to act for I feared what might happen to him should this continue. I ran over and shook him; he felt ice cold to the touch, as if he had died days before. Without hesitation I pushed my terror aside and called forth my magic. I conjured up... something. Great magical hands came forth from my arms and grabbed Zekrets essence as it drifted upward. These hands, my hands, pulled at his soul, dragging it downward. Zekret's soul stretched and separated. Grabbing what I could, I pushed it back into his body. Finally the spell lost its hold on him and he collapsed to the floor.

I turned my attention towards the now uninhibited portal. Something pressed forth from the light. No, not something. Many things. Faces, with trails of energy streaming behind them. "What?... souls?" I sputtered through trembling lips as they began to emerge from the portal...

Vol. IV

Panic washed over me. I fled. The next few moments were a blur. I had to warn someone. I had to warn everyone. As I ran the souls pursued me like a swarm of angry hornets. They easily overtook me. I conjured forth the magical hands again and used them to keep them at bay. Continuously they attempted to fly at me, to what I can only assume was possess me. I had no way of stopping them from invading this world, but I could at least keep my body my own.

Just above the library were the dormitories. There I would be able to warn everyone. Perhaps we mages could stop this incursion if we worked together. As I neared the top of the stairs the doors flew open in front of me. People began walking through. Not just any people... the mages of the academy, the administrators, even the cooks. They walked to me, then walked past. Their faces were all identical and expressionless. All save for an unholy glow emanating from their eyes. They had succumbed to the fate I had only narrowly escaped... possession. All of them. Somehow these spirits had reached them before I could even warn them.

Perhaps I could still help these people. Perhaps I could help Zekret. I turned and pressed past the front of the crowd, rushing down to the library again. The souls, seemingly uncoordinated and meandering, still occasionally tried to attack me. The crowd followed close behind me. Reaching Zekret, I grabbed his lifeless body and dragged him away from the portal. There had to still be something in there - I had pushed his soul back into his body myself. I used what magic I knew to attempt to resuscitate him.

The crowd didn't stop in the room. They didn't stop at the crystal. They didn't even stop at the portal. Reaching the center of the room, they began climbing over eachother until they could push themselves through.

My panic suddenly turned to a sharp clarity. Though, from what happened next, I knew this clarity was not my own. I felt something tug at me from within, and then I found myself standing in a place beyond. Zekret stood in front of me.

"My friend, things have turned for the worse. You were correct, something does lurk beyond this portal. That something has a piece of me. It has me anchored here, between realms. Run, my friend. Warn the mages of this land of what lurks in this basement. Find those who can help. I will contain it here."

And with that, I was standing in front of Zekret's motionless body again. As I turned to do as I had been instructed, I saw a pulse of light emanate from the crystal below the portal. Suddenly, a great pressure enveloped the room. Those who had been possessed fell to the ground. Their flesh seemed to be pulled off from their bones as this energy washed over them. It came to me, then it passed through me. I was unharmed. I heard a familiar voice whisper from deep within my mind: "Hurry Reamus."

The Whispering Stones

The whispering stone brought from the depths by JanisPetke seemed to trigger a resurgence in mining. The hunt for whispering stones had begun. Droves of 'scapers flocked to the mines, discovering treasures previously discarded. Geodes, as they came to be called, often contained small collections of ore. Some 'scapers had the misfortune of mistaking average stones for these geodes. Some have even paid tens of millions of gold just to get a look at an average stone. But not all was amiss. Some more fortunate 'scapers discovered something new in the geodes. Talismans. These strange carvings seemed to gather essence when in the presence of certain tasks, allowing the wielder to later imbue whispering stones with something akin to magic. This magic, however, has caused things to stir. Dark things. Hungry things.

Lost Journal

19 January
I never thought he'd be able to do it. That jolly old man just had to
recruit them and craft them that special armor. My army of minions
gone... all dead. I barely made it out alive. I guess alive isn't the right
word to describe it. I am living... but I just don't feel quite alive. I can
tell that I'll be completely dead before tomorrow if I don't feed soon.
22 January
My body is changing, I can't sleep anymore, my cape has decayed
and the skin on my face is mostly deteriorated... I can't shake this
rancid smell of death... Ever since I found my way through that
volcanic maze and ate those demons, I haven't felt the same.
25 January
It was so simple. The blood, it was the blood.... it heals me, it holds
special properties. I can feel their demonic power flowing within me!
There must be some way I can further use this substance...
27 January
The soil has become infected from the blood... New minions... I can
grow a new army! These trees and these creatures are my new
minions. I'll grow our numbers and soon take my revenge! I'll create
a new kingdom on this soil!
1 February
My army is respectable again. We've grown.... I can plan my next
invasion. They have no idea, but this is far from over.... No matter
who you recruit I will take back what's truly mine... soon...

Demonic Orders