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In old Eras, when magicks were common, there were many books of magick. The oldest of books had simple names, such as The Book of Light or The Grimoire of Flame. As the books became more numerous, their titles grew by necessity. A Treatise on the Reading of the Stars, and Their Implications is such a book.
There were references, even in the oldest days, to a magickal tome that predated all other books, one that had the shortest of names. It was a name spoken in hushed, reverent, fearful voices by even the boldest mages: The Codex. Sages tried to add to its name, to give it a common title, but it invariably remained The Codex. It is rare indeed to find one in our Era who knows of this tome, and even in the Eras of high magicks, there were few who were conversantly familiar with it. But the greatest of mages know of it. Some claimed even to have seen it, or to have read passages from it. All agreed that The Codex was old, older than any other book of magick. It was hide covered, with leather from a creature that was long extinct when our world was new. Its pages were of a material found nowhere else, yet it was written in the ancient al-Rhayidhian tongue of Aseldzhatn. The five hundred forty-six pages of crabbed manuscript instructs the reader in rituals to harness magicks older than life itself, magicks that could rend asunder reality. Few mages attempted more than one or two dweomers found within The Codex, for using such magicks always exacted a high toll on the caster, corrupting the caster's very mind, for living minds can not contain such eldritch knowledge.
The magicks of The Codex were undeniably evil. They were not the evil of malevolence, however; they were the evil of indifference. Magicks of such great efficacy could never do only good. At the very least, the caster suffered for using The Codex.
The Codex is perhaps most famous, albeit indirectly famous, for its role in sealing the Dark One within his prison. The thirteen mages, seeking to stop the Dark One, used The Codex to seal the Dark One's Palace, creating a tomb-prison for the caliph/mage. It was only with such dweomers that the thirteen mages were able to prevent the Dark One from continuing his plans for ruination. There are other rituals with which The Codex is associated, unspeakable rites that are supposed to unleash godlike monsters to ravage the Oerth. These rites are dweomers that the gods supposedly can not stop.
The theological implications of the existence of The Codex alone are disturbing. Rituals older than our world may well be older than our gods. Could such magicks affect our gods? Mages who have looked within The Codex believe they can. What would happen if such powers fell into the hands of one determined to destroy the gods? To be sure, that is a cataclysm to avoid.
There are stories of secret organizations whose goals are to ensure that dangerous works such as The Codex are kept safe from malevolent individuals who would wreak devastation on our world. Such organizations may never safely reveal themselves to the world, for they are then vulnerable to those who seek the knowledge they withhold. One must surely hope that The Codex is once more in the hands of such protectors.
From the musings of Father Rishala McKinnon, advisor to the Emperor
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Original Draft 21 March 2005
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