Vecna's Ineffable Variorum is an ancient spellbook believed to have been written by the lich-god Vecna. It notably contains several rare spells, some attributed to Vecna himself: depth perception, Vecna's conflagration, turn lightning, and an unfinished ninth level spell called Vecna's ultimate abjuration.[1]
The book's whereabouts are unknown even to the greatest of sages, and it is speculated that it was destroyed during the Twin Cataclysms which destroyed the Suel Imperium around a thousand years ago.[1]
Appearance[]
Vecna's Ineffable Variorum is two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and four inches thick. It is bound in interconnecting bones, fused magically together with joints at the edges where the cover bends.
The pages of this book are sewn into the hand by braided hair. The pages are made of parchment, and each is from the flesh of a different species of creature.
A small skeletal hand, operated by two separate command words, magically opens and closes the book's clasp. No known magic short of a limited wish spell can otherwise open it when it is shut.
The book is inked in red blood, kept fresh and liquid by way of magic. The handwriting is symmetrical and assertive, with a slant to the left side.[1]
Contents[]
The book contains numerous spells, a few of which are not widely known by modern mages. It contains thirty-six spells, in order: chill touch, detect magic, identify, magic missile, read magic, knock, spectral hand, depth perception, dispel magic, fireball, hold undead, lightning bolt, phantom seed, wraithform, contagion, enervation, polymorph other, polymorph self, cloudkill, telekinesis, Vecna's conflagration, wall of force, chain lightning, death spell, globe of invulnerability, mass suggestion, turn lightning, control undead, delayed blast fireball, teleport without error, incendiary cloud, polymorph any object, energy drain, power word kill, shape change, and time stop.
Additionally, it contains a half-inscribed 9th level spell known as Vecna's ultimate abjuration, intended to protect a lich from all manner of control and harmful effects, including those of gods of death.[1]
History[]
Creation[]
Vecna's Ineffable Variorum is believed to have been written by Vecna himself during the rule of the Empire of Vecna. This would make it at least a thousand years old.[1]
Discovery[]
Around 400 years ago, circa 185 CY, adventurers in the World of Greyhawk sold an untitled ancient Suel text to a book dealer, claiming to have found it in the ruins of a city in the Sea of Dust. This book, itself dated no earlier than the year -422 CY, contains one of the few reliable references to Vecna's Ineffable Variorum.[1]
Around 330 years later in the year 517 CY, a journal captured from the male drow wizard Eldarath Allythyr describes that he once possessed a tome which matches the description of Vecna's Ineffable Variorum. However, the book itself was not discovered.[1]