Tome of Refractive Planets | GLOGtober Grimoire Post

Vast and trunkless legs of stone found here (GLOGtober 23')

CHALLENGE #3 [Semiurge]

Come up with a grimoire with some unique spells, a story behind it, perhaps some trap or riddle to figuring it out, etc

The Road of Dead Buddhas

A vaguely Middle East + Central Asia inspired setting, evoking the historical Silk Road in themes and setup for adventure. Few walk it in its entirety; yet spices, silk and expensive goods span its whole breadth. When a traveler speaks of the long road, they call it The Road of Dead Buddhas. Since the ascension of Annuvaran Monasteries over those of The Burning Heart, not a soul can forget the wisdom of the sages: "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him."

As people travel these lands for gold, certainty and conviction are as picked-over by vultures as the many corpses that litter its trails.

Reader Be Warned

By the Grace of G-d the Most High, The Merciful, stay away from that book.

Rumor says that it come to or corner of the world from the first Royal Scribe of Manalabad, but this cannot be true. Its craftsmanship is too fine to have survived pillage or burning by The Topaz Khan. Others say that Khaldun the Traveler met its author while he was on his Seventh Journey, and was so thoroughly debased by his witchcraft that he swam seven times in The Sea of Ivory to cleanse himself of its presence.

Its reputation for sorcery weighs like a cloak of lead even upon writing its name: The Tome of Refractive Planets. It is rumor-shadowed unlike any book or great work in Creation. All the wizards and "occultists" of the lands beyond us seek it with great fervor and lust. Is that not enough warning, Dear Reader?

I only speak of its power to warn you, to steel your mind and soul against the evil of shaytans. I would never write to sensationalize or titillate...to entertain in writing is beneath us.
Monks only ever impart wisdom.

And yet...

We must know of What We Must Not Know, so it comes to me to warn the righteous. I will take this task, and only endeavor to safely guard us against sorcery and witchcraft. Through wading in the territory of shaytan, I may rightfully guide us all away towards that which is Good.

I would never dare do otherwise...

-Rashiyd al-Havurot, Head of the Anbithiyya Order

The Anbithiyya Order are a mystical sect of Iwwahid monks, scholars and sheikhs who operate across The Road of Dead Buddhas, even as they are in conflict with The City of Brass.

Path to The Valley

You are not the first to hold this book, nor will you be the last. Its cover is cool to the touch, silvery gray and tarnished at the edges. No title graces its cover; on the front is a pattern of squares. Any writing pressed or written onto the surface fades, fading light so much light in the setting sun.
No lock or clasp can be seen on the outside, yet attempts to pry open the book are always in vain. 

One must be privy to some of the inner mysteries of The Anbithiyya to continue their journey into The Tome of Refractive Planets. It is guarded so the unrighteous and wicked may not have it.

How does one prove themselves worthy of gazing upon the mysteries?

• Find an Anbithiyya teacher (or other Muwwahid spiritual master) and beseeching them for tutelage.
• Write out the 99 names of G-d in ink, then wash them into a glass of water. Fast for 7 days and 7 nights, breaking your fast with the names of G-d-in-Ink.
• Engage in discourse with an Angel or another Being (djinn, marid, etc) and succeed.

 

"To "do combat" with an Angel is to engage in Discourse about G-d, at least in the only way that truly matters"
-Rashiyd al-Havurot

One or all of these trials may bring one closer to the Truth. That truth is piety; the reputation of the book is sorcery and witchcraft, but reputations are a kind of shield. Through closeness and approaching G-d one can call upon greater magics than even the wizards of Elder Days. This magic is not taken, but earned.

When one becomes pious enough - enough that a Master or a Higher Being believes them ready - the real puzzle begins. A wind blows across the land, carrying the scent of oranges and frankincense. 

Writing appears on the cover of the book:

A grid four by four. It is surrounded by letters of great significance. The pupil gets one shot - or else risk being flogged with calamities - but the right student only needs the one chance. Write the missing numbers upon the grid and enter The Valley of Annihilation.

For every ordeal undertaken on the path to unraveling the mystery, the PC gains a Clue:

Clue 1:

The letters surrounding the grid are a clue unto themselves. They are gimel and yod, whose sum comprises 10 and 3. Thirteen written thirteen times upon the grid.

Clue 2:

This is a grid of four by four, where each line must total in the number 13 each way. Each row up and down must equal 13 and the same number cannot appear twice in the same row. 

Answer:

First row (2) | Second row (3) | Third row (7) | Fourth row (6) 2, 3, 7, 6
Having completed the grid like this, the book opens and The Valley of Annihilation opens...

Inner Mysteries

The burden of knowledge is great, but the sweetness of spiritual satisfaction is enough to make all the sweets of the world pale in comparison. One ear and one eye are permanently set into Al-Ghayb - The Unseen Realm - and you are privy to the chorus of Heaven. So numerous and populated are the heavens with angels that they creak, barely able to contain His Glory.

The Tome of Refractive Planets lists the True Names of the Planetary Angels, the servants of the Heavens that guard the movement of the planets and Creation itself. Even greater than that, it outlines the cosmic theory put down by the tome's first author: that all angels - across all the faiths of The Road of Dead Buddhas - are reflections of the same source. 

One faith may call Azraiel to guide the way unto the afterlife, and another may call upon Qasaphiel for the same duties of Death. The tome outlines that they are not different but the same, the way the light of the sun refracted through a prism splits into myriad colors. The names are not broken or corrupted by translation, they are two rays of the same Godly light that emanates from The Infinite through the planets to our world, different and equal in all the ways that matter.

This is why the inner mysteries are so carefully guarded, why The Anbithiyya and those that came before shielded the book in such an air of mystery. Were the wrong person to walk the path and steal the wisdom of the righteous, great calamities and perversions could be worked. To know that all divine beings are emanations from one source - that we are ourselves are just one modicum of The All-Mighty's power and creativity - one could work Miracles or Total Destruction.

Carrying The Tome

Unlocked through devotion and persistence, The Tome of Refractive Planets becomes as light as a feather. Every room it sits in is perfumed with the scent of frankincense and orange, and rest and safety are found much more easily in its vicinity.

When you speak, everyone who can hear you understands.

You permanently gain 7 MD (or seven units of whatever magic resource your preferred system uses).

As an emissary of The Heavenly Chorus, Angels will not attack you. They are receptive to your entreaties and desires, as long as they do not conflict with the heavenly plan. Otherworldly beings of Al-Ghayb - djinn, shaytan, sheydim, etc - react as Neutral to you, either in awe or in fear of what harming you would bring down upon their head.

Once, you may cast Beyond the Valley of Annihilation.

Beyond the Valley of Annihilation [7MD]

Spend 7 MD (or seven units of whatever magic resource your game uses). Write your name into the back of the book. Experience a death beyond ego death, annihilate yourself such that there is no You. There never was a You, just a mote of G-d's creation learning to appreciate itself.

This lets you assume the form of The Simurgh. A bird vast enough to carry elephants in its talons, with a wolf's maw for a beak and flesh of smokeless flame brighter than the sun. It has seen the end of Creation thrice-fold, and now you are privy to that as well.

The Simurgh may do one of the following:

• Light aflame an area up to the size of a metropolis
• Completely raze an area up to the size of a large town / castle / encamped army
• Completely immolate up to 40HD of enemies with utter precision, not harming a single bystander or person nearby. 
  

Flowers grow in the immediate aftermath, and the land will go to seed with groves of olives, orange and date trees on the dawn of the seventh day after.

This kills you.

FIN

This post is inspired by the very real Shams al-Ma'arif, a great example of "real world grimoires" from the Medieval Islamic world. It's never been (fully) translated into English, but if you want to know more look into Let's Talk Religion's video on the subject, or subscribe to the Head on History podcast by Ali o Olomi (whom is releasing translations of planetary angel scholarship next year!)

This is an Islamicate inspired grimoire, but I use Hebrew in the puzzle because a) I am more familiar with Hebrew, and the Judeo-Islamic tradition in North Africa is my inspiration and b) because I'm messing around with cultural bones beyond my purview and I'm not gonna transmit real Occultist lore into the blogosphere