Riloth 19th the 11th

Dear Spellbook,

Today would have been Riloth 30th, my birthday, had time not stopped progressing, I would have turned 20. But that's okay because today is still a day to CELEBRATE!

This morning I woke up, feeling as previously described, terrible. I ran down to the front desk, grabbed the clock from a confused Simon, and then I had to sit in the lobby for 5 minutes because I got down there much too early.

As the clock struck 9:15 I walked straight to the roulette table. Trying to mimic my previous behavior as closely as I could remember I placed my five gold coins on 12. The dealer, clerk? What is the name of a person who runs a roulette table? Anyway, the employee of the Parlor spun the wheel before noticing my large bet. When the other early bird gamblers saw my large bet, gasps spread across the table.

“The lad is mad!” one older gentleman yelled who himself had placed a 5 bit bet on black and was about to lose his money.

As the ball slowed and started to clank around the wheel. I think it's called a wheel. For a guy who's been trapped in a gambling parlor for over 2 weeks, I know very little about this kind of thing.

So, the ball was clattering from number to number and you could feel the tension at the table. A woman grabbed my arm nervously, at which point I realized I was still dressed in my courtesy Crystal Dragon Gambling Parlor sleepwear. Which is to say, a bathrobe. I see now why Simon looked aghast. The ball finally slowed and landed in 28 and just barely rolled over into 12. Around me the table erupted into chaos and cheers and my whole body relaxed, releasing tension I had not realized I was holding. Despite knowing the results and that nothing in my life is really of any consequence, I was pretty nervous.

While the ball had been spinning around the wheel, the murmurs from the table had attracted a large crowd. Shouts of “Riloth’s Blessing” and curses of “Faust’s embers!” could be heard amongst the chaos. At the first one I blushed.

If I truly am Blessed by Riloth, his Blessing has not been working for me these last dozen todays.

The crowd started to disperse as two armed security staff in the livery of the Parlor walked up to me. Fearing that I was being caught out in my cheat I glanced around for a way to escape, but as they got closer I could see they were relaxed and smiling, not preparing for a confrontation. The taller of the two spoke, “Congratulations on your big win Master Theral! Would you like to keep playing on the floor or would you like us to escort you to the cashier to collect your prize. At 35:1 odds you are set to collect a hefty sum. We do offer credit notes accepted at all the major halfing house banks.”

Relieved, I said “I think I’d like to collect a small portion now and leave the rest for the remainder of my stay.”

We walked over to the cashier, and before me they counted out 175 gold coins, weighing each one before me. I knew it was not permanent and that I couldn't keep it for long, but that amount of money before me was captivating. I stood there, just taking it in. For that much gold I could buy a seafaring ship large enough to house a ship clan. I could purchase a house in the capital or hire a private army for a year.

After allowing me to stand there gawking the clerk eventually coughed to get my attention and asked, "How much would you like to take with you today sir?"

I took only forty coins, HA, only forty gold coins, like that's a pittance. Look at me already blinded by my wealth.

I took the gold and ran to Levar’s, barging in I found him gathering ingredients onto a cart.

Surprised by my sudden entrance he turned to me and started to say, “Greetings, young si-” before I cut him off.

“I would like one clarity potion and something to help with sleep deprivation please.” I dropped my coin pouch on the counter, allowing its contents to spill out.

Seeing the purse of coins, his demeanor changed from bewildered shopkeep to composed salesman “Ah yes, I have just the thing, you are in luck I just made a batch of clarity potions yesterday. As for sleep deprivation I have a few options. A potion of forgone sleep, made from the brain of a dire owl and stabilized with the bark of a dryad’s tree. This concoction will forgo the need to sleep for up to 24 hours, depending on the dose, but when it wears off you will immediately fall into a deep slumber that lasts twice the time spent awake. The other option is a potion of vigor made from the essence of a pixie dissolved in the blood of a blitz hawk. This will give you the energy to ignore sleep for a day, but you will feel,” he paused, as if choosing his words carefully, “Very energetic.”

My curiosity got the better of me despite my excitement for the cure to my ailments. I asked, “What is the essence of a pixie?”

Levar replied with embarrassment, “Well pixies are quite small, so you really just mash the whole thing up, dry it, and turn it into a powder. But don’t let that get around. Essence of pixie sounds better. I don’t know what you need this for, but I recommend the first option. If you can arrange to be taken care of when it wears off, the time you gain is much more productive. The energy potion makes you rather manic and prone to... making poor choices. It's a favorite amongst adventurers, but I don't recommend it to my more civilized clients.”

He said all of this to me as I stood barefoot in his store wearing what amounts to a bathrobe. A sack of gold will do wonders to change how people see you.

I purchased the two potions for thirty gold, twenty-five gold for the clarity and five for the foregone sleep. It seemed that I missed the discount by not catching him at the right moment. The potion of foregone sleep was a bargain in comparison, dire owls must not be that dangerous.

After paying, I immediately downed both vials. The potions looked very beautiful in their glass tubes. The clarity was the clear blue of The Ocean reflecting a cloudless sky, and the foregone sleep was a pleasant yellow foggy liquid, like the center of a daisy. Their pretty appearance hid their true nature. The taste was foul, and I am not going to describe it in your pages and be subjected to tasting it once more. Suffice to say, I can see why someone would suspect that dirt could cure a hangover if the real cures tasted this bad.

The taste was terrible, but the effects were immediate. The fog on my mind was lifted. As if I had been carrying a burden I had not realized... no that's bad. As if I’d grown accustomed to a heavy travel pack and finally could put it down. No, those are both so cliche.

It was as if a colony of goblins had been living inside my head, slowly eating my skull from the inside, and defecating on my brain. And now that's not happening anymore, my mind feels clear and I feel completely rested as if I just woke up from a good midday nap. An instant recovery, as if the previous state of misery never was.

Levar broke into my thoughts, “Are you well young master? Is it all as expected?”

I had been standing there like a fool for a long time, enjoying the lack of pain. I see now I must have looked insane. Barefoot, in a bathrobe, haggard and just staring at the wall with a huge grin. It's a wonder he didn’t call the guard.

The power of gold. I can get used to this. Maybe next time I show up nude.

Coming back to reality I said, “I’m fine. No. I’m great! Thank you so much, I don’t think you understand how much I needed these.”

At that, I left the shop, and flipped him a gold coin as a tip. It feels nice to make people happy, even if they won’t remember.

When I left Levar’s it was just past ten, judging by the sun, and headed back to the Parlor. Amazing, this whole day I walked through in a blissful cloud, not a care in the world. I did not consider the time for even a moment, yet writing here I can picture the sun's position at any point I attempt to recall.

I now sit in the baths writing this. If you did not know, you are waterproof. It seems the only thing your pages absorb is ink. I have spent the last few hours lounging in here basking in my pain free existence. I plan to spend the rest of the day here doing the same. I deserve a vacation, so I am taking one. The afternoon wasn’t a total waste either, I learned a few important things.

A gold coin will get Simon to do pretty much anything for you. The best food to eat while floating in a bath is grapes.

Tomorrow I will get back to work, but tonight I am going to enjoy myself.

I’m so bored.

I thought relaxing all day would be great, but now that I am not feeling ill and sleep deprived, I am getting antsy sitting here doing nothing. I tried again at deciphering your mystery text, but it's still as mysterious as ever. Do you have anything that might help?

What languages are written in you?

Show me the first page of each language written in you.

A page of mystery language, page of Torcish, and Entry 1 appear

Well, it seems I was hasty to assume everything here was written in that mystery language. I need to name it, let's call the language on the spell forms Bookish.

Hide the Bookish page.

Bookish page disappears

Show me all the text you have in Torcish.

The second page you revealed is called Torcish. While we are at it, the language I am writing in is called Rilith.

Show me all your Torcish.

Field report sheet Z127, destroy by Illunia 30 or after mission completion

Emergency Field Report - Illunia 10

Master, I apologize for writing in this report now but my mission is likely no longer relevant. I am writing from Containment Flow Regulation Station 3. All communications have been cut, we have not received scheduled updates from any of our neighboring outposts and have just repelled an attack from The Fallen.

I believe you should expect an attack imminently and reach out to the Dwarven Confederacy to put all forces on high alert.

The Fallen have breached the tunnels surrounding this outpost. I fear we have lost control of the rail system, which means the enemy now has free reign in The Continent and access to the Torack.

We survived the first assault due to chance. A work crew was foraging in the outlying tunnels and heard digging. They reported back and we were on guard when the assault occurred. We successfully repelled the incursion of The Fallen but this boldness is unheard of, and we are expecting further attacks.

A supply railcar is expected any minute now. When it arrives we will assign the guard detachment to remain as reinforcements. Please, provide any updates you can to the situation.

Well that is not what I expected to find in a spell book. Was your previous owner some sort of dwarven wizard spy master? This looks to be written in two distinct hands. It is hard to tell, being different languages, but the first line looks to be written in the same hand as the Bookish text. It is written in Torcish using a quill. The rest is very hastily written but used the proper Torcish ink chisel implement.

It's strange that this is the only Torcish entry in your pages. Were they erase? Or is this the only one?

Illunia 10, assuming that was this year, was the day the Dwarven Outpost near Edgewater was attacked. Whoever this agent was, their assessment was correct. The Fallen led a coordinated strike against the Dwarven Confederacy. Did Ludvic and Deshave know about this when they warned us about the attack in Edgewater? Did they send us into that battle knowing what we would face?

I am being paranoid. They gave us no reason to mistrust them. If the communication black out was as complete as this note implies, I think I am just seeing treachery where there was only confusion.

If the invasion of Edgewater was any indication, that railcar likely brought reinforcements for The Fallen, not the fortress. Maybe there was treachery involved, but not against me.

What is fascinating about this note has nothing to do with its contents, which at this point are pretty useless to me. Somehow this agent wrote in this note and the writing appeared in you. I don't know where this flow control station was, but if Edgewater was a guide, it was located at the head of another river. The nearest being at least 100 miles from where I found you. At first, I thought it was simply a torn page that returned in the morning, but the heading and message imply that this was meant to be used to report back after some time, at least weeks, later.

Lets try this out. Copy whatever is written on the next page I tear out here onto this page.

Tal tears a page out

That did not work. How did he do this? That report had a heading, maybe that's important. What if I title the page and assign it a number? I will create two pages labeled Test Sheet 1. Make anything written on one of these pages appear on the other.

Tal writes Test Sheet 1 on the top of two sheets

It's working, I suspect the connection needed to be formed between the sheets before one is removed. Does it work if I remove a sheet?

Tal tears out one of the Test Sheet 1 sheets

Still working. Lets try removing them both now.

Tal tears out the second Test Sheet 1 sheet

Still working. So, to summarize, if I twin two sheets before they are removed, anything I write on one appears on the other, even if they are both torn out. Let's call it twinning.

If I tell you to twin sheets, I am instructing you to copy all contents that are written on one sheet with that heading, to all others that share it.

Can I twin a third copy of removed sheets?

Test Sheet 1

Copy Test Sheet 1 here

Twin this to Test Sheet 1

Well, this isn’t working

Tal puts back both sheets labeled Test Sheet 1

Test Sheet 1

Test

Looks like it is working. Will it work if I tear it out?

I am writing this on the torn out page

I am writing this on the page still in Spellbook

I am writing this after both sheets are torn out.

Test Sheet 1

Test

Looks like it is working. Will it work if I tear it out?

I am writing this on the torn out page

I am writing this on the page still in Spellbook

I am writing this after both sheets are torn out.

Twin Test Sheet 2

Tal writes Test Sheet 2 on three sheets and tears two out

It worked, anything I wrote on one appeared on the other. Can I now twin it once more?

Test sheet 2

This is written in the book

This is written in the first torn out sheet.

This is written on the second torn out sheet.

This is written on the torn out copy

Maybe if I create a third copy and keep that in the book.

Make a copy of Test Sheet 2.

Test Sheet 2

This is written in the book

This is written in the first torn out sheet.

This is written on the second torn out sheet.

This is written on the torn out copy.

It appears that a connection must be made while all are in the book, but if a copy remains in the book I can further copy it.

This can prove very useful. If I ever escape this day I can think of a dozen uses already. Magical communication is very expensive, I can just mail sheets of you to people and communicate instantly at the cost of postage. Well, that's one small thing to look forward to.Looks like my vacation ended up being a working one.

I still don't know how your previous owner prevented the sheets from disappearing each morning, but that's not exactly something I can test now.

I can finally relax now that I have something to occupy my mind with. I'll go soak and plan more uses for you as I stare at a clock and finally figure out when the reset occurs.