The Archaen Codex THE ARCHAENCODEX Lost Secrets of the Forgotten Age 0 1992 by SMS and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. by Stephan Michael Sechi WOC 2202 Design: Stephan Michael Sechi Design Contributions: George Lowe. Jeff Goldman. David Sandberg, Thomas Lents Design and Development Director: James E. Hays, Jr. Talislanta Archivist: D. Gene Frye Editing: Beverly Marshall Saling Production Director: Lisa Stevens Art Director: Jesper Myrfors Layout Design: Jesper Myrfors, Lisa Stevens Typesetting, Layout, and Paste-up: Melissa Gustafson Cover Art: Dameon Willich Front Cover Border: Ron Spencer Interior Illustrations: Rick Emond, Jesper Myrfors, Anson Maddocks. Richard Thomas Cartography: Eric Hotz, Jeff Goldman Illuminated Letters: Kurt Cagle Nifty Interior Borders: Jesper Myrfors Appendix and Index: Beverly Marshall Saling Talislanta Logo: Rich Kaalaas The Apothecary Mailing blst If you would like to be on the mailing list for our bi-randomly released company newsletter, The Apoth- ecary,send your name and address to: The Apothecuy P.O. Box 707 Renton, WA 98057-0707 By the way, we are interested in your comments. Please don't hesitate to write and tell us what you did or didn't like. Who Are We? Wizards of the Coast is a company of dedicated gaming professionals based in Seattle, Washington. Our goal is to manufacture the highest quality and most innovative products possible. To this end, we have adopted a policy of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) as a means to best serve the gaming industry. This includes you. At Wizards of the Coast, releasing a product that is "good enough" is not good enough. Quality is a foundation we build from, not just a slogan we stamp on the cover. If you have any questions, suggestions. or comments, or would just like to say hello, don't hesitate to drop us a line. WotC Blectronic Mail Msts Computer communication is an important part of our work here at Wizards of the Coast. Through it, we have a direct line to many of our fans and critics. It is through their advice that we are able to make high quality products that everybody wants to see. To this end, we would like to announce the formation of two mailing lists to support our Primal and Talislanta lines. If you have access to an Internet account and wish to participate on these lists, send your email address to: [email protected] or [email protected] America Online@ Currently. Wizards of the Coast is an active participant on America Online@. We have folders for discussing The primal Order and Talislanta online, in addition to a company support area. Authors Stephan Michael Sechi (original creator of Talislanta). and Peter Adkison (author of The primal OrW are also online to answer questions. You can contact them at their screen names Stevesechi, and WotC. Send any requests for information to: America Online@ 8619 Westwood Center Drive Vienna, VA 22 182-2285 There are no set-up costs, the software is FREE and you even get a FREE hour to browse around the services. So what have you got to lose? Check out America Online@:we'll see you there. I INTRODUCTION The Archaen Codex is a sourcebook of advanced magic, legend, and lore for the Talislanta game. It contains information about the Forgotten Age-the golden age of magic in Talislanta, of which precious little is known by Talislantans of the New Age. It also clarifies certain of the misconceptions and inaccuracies that may be found in earlier works, providing the reader with a glimpse into Talislanta's dark and mysterious past. For the gamemaster, The Archaen Codex provides a comprehensive overview of Talislantan magical history that can be used to establish a solid foundation for the Talislantan milieu. A wealth of ancient tomes, spells, and enchanted items have also been included, offering a diverse selection of artifacts that may be found in the many ancient ruins that dot the Talislantan landscape. Other useful materials include a descrip- tion of the most common extradimensional entities and a section on lost secrets of the past. For players, The Archaen Codex provides a tantalizing hint of the ancient treasures that may lie hidden among the ruined cities, crypts, and wastelands of the Talislantan continent. Do the fabulous artifacts described within the Lyceum Arcanum's recently unearthed Archaen Codex truly exist, or are they merely the products of legend and hearsay? How many of these artifacts still remain to be discovered, and how many are lost forever? The answers to these and other questions lie buried in the ancient ruins of Talislanta. How to Use This Book Gamemasters take heed: The contents of The Archaen C& should not be readily available to player characters. Rather, PCs must search for this information in the crumbling ruins of ancient cities; in molder- ing crypts, dusty archives, and sealed vaults; in the rotting hulks of sunken vessels; in archaic tombs buried beneath the desert sands or cities frozen in ice; in the arid expanses of the Lost Sea, the towering mausole- ums of Hadjistan, the gilded tombs of Phaedran wizards, and the City of the Dead in Khazad. This book provides clues to the location of these lost secrets. But it is up to you as the gamemaster to determine where or even if these clues might be found. Until the characters succeed in locating the informa- tion for themselves, this material should be considered no more than rumor, its existence awaiting proof by those who are willing to undertake the challenge of exploring the farthest and most desolate regions of the Talislantan continent. To the player characters, we say good luck and good hunting! Author Biography: Stephan Michael Sechi Stephan Michael %chi is the creator of Talislanta. Formerly president and creative director of Bard Games, he now works as a freelance designer, writer, and editor. Stephan has written thirteen fantasy roleplaying titles for the Compleat Fantasy,Atlantis, and Talislanta series. His inter- ests include the works of William s. Burroughs, football (he's a diehard New York Giants fan), the music of Steely Dan, the Police, and Tom Scott, the art of Phlllipe Druillet. Moebius, and Rodney Matthews, and lots of other stuff. Despite supposedly knowing better, he continues to be involved in the music business as a saxophone player and sometime studio musician. I1 TABLEOF CONTENTS Introdnction: How to use this book i1 Chapter 1: History of the Forgotten Age 1 The New Age 8 Lore and Legend of the Forgotten Age 10 Lore of the Phaedran Era 21 Secrets of the Past 22 Chapter 8: Forgotten Arcana 25 Magical and Alchemical Research 36 Chapter 8: Magicians of the Forgotten Age 39 Magicians of the Early New Age 48 Other Individuals of Note 53 Chapter 4: Forgotten Spells 55 Chapter 5: Lost Books of Magic 98 Written Works of Lesser Renown 117 Chapter 6: Artifacts from the Forgotten Age 119 Artifacts of the Legendary Magicians 132 Spell-Powered Artifacts 136 Unknown Artifacts 146 Chapter 7;. Ancient Ruins 148 Archaic Period: Khazad 148 Middle Period: Phandre Mausoleum Tower 149 Latter Period: Elandar Cloud Palace 151 Phaedran Tomb 152 Chapter 8: Summoned Entities 155 Statistics for Summoned Creatures 168 Appendix: Listing of Spells by Magical Field 169 Index: 170 The T.1Lkot. game and fantasy world are the creatlons of Stephan Mlchael Sechl. T.li.knt.Is a trademark of SMS. and Is used by IH Wlzards of the Coast under authorlzatlon All rip&reserved. 7heArchnen CakP Is 61992 by Stephan Mlchael sechl and Wizards of the Coast. Inc. 'Ihe T&htn Culdebodc (third edltlon).Ta&s of T&lantaTy. 7he scent of the Beasp. 'Ihystmm's Collectnnea". 7heArchaen CodeP. TaUslanta Geogmphican. and 7he T&lanta Omnibus'" are trademarks of Stephan MIchael Sech1 and Wizards of the Coast Inc. he Clmmlcles of'lWslantam. he NaiwaUst's C& to Talfslntitan. he c4dopedla TallSlnntoN series. TaUsLmfa Sacera's Guide'". and TaUsLmfa III CHAPTER1 History of the Forgotten Age 2tdneus is a dorld older than mckmmg, steeped m magic and littered with the ruins @a SuCaesriDR of pad ages. Its hktw is as ancient as time, its on** last m an-. " -Hotan's History ofthe World The Forgotten Age spanned a period of many thousands of years, beginning even before the discovery of the orb that brought magic to the Men of Talislanta, continuing through The Great Disaster, and lasting until the founding of the Phaedran Empire. During thIs time, a single tribe rose from humble, primitive origins to become the greatest magicians in all the world: the Archaens. Modem Talislantan scholars have divided the history of the Forgotten Age into seven major periods: the Time Before Time, the First through Fourth Millennia, The Great Disaster, and the Age of Confusion. Records of this long-past time are practically nonex- istent, thanks in large part to the effects of The Great Disaster, the burning of the Library of Badijan, and a handful of similar catastrophes. So,for aspiring Talislantan historians. the fragmented accounts of ancient chroniclers and savants must sufflce as the only primary source materials on this period. As a result, all dates mentioned in the following text are estimates based upon the ancient Archaen calendar. The Tfme Before Tfme Despite the best attempts of Talislantan histori- ans, little is known of this ancient epoch, which stretches back across countless millennia to the beginning of the world. The only evidence of civillza- tion during this period can be found in the desolate land of Khazad. Here, rows of ancient grave markers bear mute testimony to the presence of the Thane, a race of seven-foot tall humanoids who once dwelled far to the north in the unknown land of Thanatus.