Mia's delvings into the Monster book - DM Dagon

[ValerieJean]

After having received the small bound black book from Isabella Villame, Mia traveled to Nashkel where she rented one of the guild rooms. Setting her pack on a chair she would find an available desk placing the chained book upon it which continued to attempt to snap against her.

"Quite rude of you!"

She huffs tittering at the book as if it were an impudent child before sitting in front of it with extra rope as she fights it trying to bind it up further. "No no, stop it. Please stop. You need to hold still book! This is for your own good so I can figure out what you are! Come now."

Quite a bit of time later she finally is able to wrestle the rope around it and ties it off.

"Now then, let's take a look at you. Black, small...an appetite for fingers and I'm sure more..Isabella stated you have a magical aura which I can confirm with..."

She would speak the words softly her hands moving before her in the required pattern, her eyes would be set on the book before her as she concentrated on holding the spell for as long as she was able to gather as much information on it as she could.

[ValerieJean]

"Oh dear!"

She exclaimed while scrambling back away from the book. "Oh no no a curse?! Well at least I know I can remove it.." She sighs a bit while lifting a finger to the bridge of her glasses and pushes them back up her nose. "Any sort of power is minuscule at best...still better to prepare for anything than go in blind!"

Mia brought her hands before herself and then would begin to move them into a certain complicated pattern as she casted a few spells over herself.

Hidden: show

Spells: Energy Buffer Extended, Shadow Shield, Globe of Invulnerability, and Spell Mantle

"Oh I hope that will do...it is so hard to say some times. Ok so, you my friend are quite normal unless someone fleshy is nearby! Or thing." She confirms her statement by moving to the farthest part of the room. The book returned to normal, the fangs disappearing.

"Let's return you to normal!" She would move back near the book the bounded item's fangs reappearing as it begins to try and snap in her general direction. "Now now, stop it." She would attempt to touch a spot on the book as she spoke an incantation.

Hidden: show

Spell: Remove Curse

[DM Dagon]

Before being touched the book flaps and tries it's hardest to bite the arcanist. But as it is bound it is doomed to fail, despite of that, it sure tries. The fangs are sharp, and it sure wouldn't be nice to be caught by them.

As the spell is cast, the books shakes, then ceases to move. Fangs disappear, and the flapping stops.

The book is quiet and motionless, yet again.

[ValerieJean]

Mia yelps as she avoided it's fangs as best she could only to touch it allowing the spell to wash over it. As it ceases it's moving she peers at it adjusting her glasses in the process.

"Hello? Helllooooo? Are you a normal book now?"

She speaks to it and cants her head this way and that while examining it. Before doing anything more further she brings her hands before her performing the familiar movement from her first spell as she observes the book attempting to detect any further magic upon it.

"everything should be just fine now! Let's see!"

Hidden: show

Spell: Detect Magic

//Apologies for the late answer, I was at work at the time and then headed to my family for the holidays!

[DM Dagon]

Mia yelps as she avoided it's fangs as best she could only to touch it allowing the spell to wash over it. As it ceases it's moving she peers at it adjusting her glasses in the process.

"Hello? Helllooooo? Are you a normal book now?"

She speaks to it and cants her head this way and that while examining it. Before doing anything more further she brings her hands before her performing the familiar movement from her first spell as she observes the book attempting to detect any further magic upon it.

"everything should be just fine now! Let's see!"

Hidden: show

Spell: Detect Magic

//Apologies for the late answer, I was at work at the time and then headed to my family for the holidays!

//sorry for the even more late reply, holidays got hold of me


The book is silent, not answering the questions, in any way. They are still, motionless. Detect magic shows nothing.

The book is yet again normal, but still not opened.

What may be inside?

[ValerieJean]

Mia looks over the book after a time and then glances about she grabs the Quarterstaff at her back and uses an end to pop the book open as best she can from a distance, just in case.

"Oh oh oh what could you be about!"

She speaks quiet excitedly as she tries to open the book.

[DM Dagon]

The book looks quite old, pages suffered minor damage during the years, and stains can be easily spotted in many places. But that is far from the most interesting thing about it.


When the book is opened, one can see many latters, but it does not make any sense. Each letter looks very different then the other, but after close study, one can spot that there are similar, and sometimes matching ones. Nevertheless, it still does not seem to make any sense. To dechiper it, one must not only understand those languages, but has to piece the words together each time.

The fact that each page is full of small and quite illegible letters.

Reading this will be quite a challange, for sure.

[ValerieJean]

Mia puts the staff of side and closes the gap between herself and the book as she inspects it's pages closely. Her gaze shifting over the contents within as she flipped each page.

"Oh how interesting..."

She murmured to herself and the room around her as she inspected the book. A quick adjustment of her glasses upon her nose once more as she ran a single digit along the letters there in.

"Mm....could be familiar....I wonder.."

She mused to herself as she observed the text, the woman settling down upon chair as she leaned over the book examining it still.

Hidden: show

Languages Mia knows: Common, Arcane, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling, Undercommon, Orc, Sylvan, and Thayan

[DM Dagon]

You can understand few of the letters, but not the words. And how they are used is also very strange. With a few of the words, latters or language there must be a pattern, but you can't find it out yet. There are also languages you do not understand. You can not yet make any sense of the book.

Smaller damages on the book does not help either. It's auras protecting from the time and elements probably faded. It may be a good idea to restore it, somehow.

[ValerieJean]

"Oh drat!" She exclaimed while squinting at a few letters now and again as she looked over the pages within.

"Someone is very keen on hiding something..." She sighed softly rubbing at a spot in the middle of her forehead as she flipped through. "This poor book....such damage you are in. Though as I cannot read it by my own skill....that could assist.."

Mia would grab a separate pouch in her bag that had an assortment of blank pages, she would set the stack on the desk beside her and ready a quill with ink. After readying herself she then brought her arms before her moving them into a fluid pattern while she spoke the incantation of the spell she required.

Hidden: show

Spell: Comprehend Languages

Once the incantation was complete she would start at the beginning of the book and attempt to read the scrawl before her while writing the words in common on the blank pages so she could read them properly after it was all complete.

[DM Dagon]

"Oh drat!" She exclaimed while squinting at a few letters now and again as she looked over the pages within.

"Someone is very keen on hiding something..." She sighed softly rubbing at a spot in the middle of her forehead as she flipped through. "This poor book....such damage you are in. Though as I cannot read it by my own skill....that could assist.."

Mia would grab a separate pouch in her bag that had an assortment of blank pages, she would set the stack on the desk beside her and ready a quill with ink. After readying herself she then brought her arms before her moving them into a fluid pattern while she spoke the incantation of the spell she required.

Hidden: show

Spell: Comprehend Languages

Once the incantation was complete she would start at the beginning of the book and attempt to read the scrawl before her while writing the words in common on the blank pages so she could read them properly after it was all complete.

While she can read the book now, it just opened another batch of problems or at the least, very strange things.

The text is worded very strangely, and in some parts, hardly understandable. Letters are in the wrong place, the sentence-ending punctuations are not right, and all over the place. This is very irritating, becuse the whole book is written in a dialogue.

Nothing is known about the two parties speaking, and it looks like the topics change wildly, and completely randomly. Sometimes they talk like close friends, dropping small references to things which are never revealed or explained, then suddenly changing to a very formal tone, just to change something different after a few paragraphs.

From folk tales to detalied descriptions of plants. It is all too strange. If there is any pattern to this seeming madness, that is yet to be seen.

[ValerieJean]

She would remove her glasses and rub at her eyes a soft groan of irritation at the findings. She would return her glasses to their normal resting place and look back towards the page. A single digit tapped at the book as her gaze drifted across.

"Must be something that can give way to this chaotic drivel."

She would rest her forehead in her hand as she leaned over the book and begun to look over the words and pages trying to find a possible system.

[DM Dagon]

The stories do not seem to have a system to them on the surface, further research may be necessary regarding this, but then, it might end up being pointless. Not many things can be assumed about the book.

But, looking at it, you do seem to notice some system, not in the meaning, but in the languages used. Elemental langauges are used when a feeling associated with their element is mentioned, such as fury or passion is in Ignan, or freedom in Auran. Also, it is noteworth that in Jotun or Slyvan, there is no a or e (in the terms of their own alphabet). And words written in celestial or infernal...don't make any sense. They seem like hogwash, but from the placement of them, it is obvious that they serve a purpose, just like any other word. But the words just don't stand together. At first glance, they are seen as nothing, but random letters written near eachother.

[ValerieJean]

It had been a couple days since she looked at the book, it was all that consumed her attention of late as well as the Compendium she was working on. She sat down in front of the book once again flipping through it and would write off to the side in her notes.

Elemental Languages - Feelings with corresponding element,
Ignan - Fury, Passion.
Auran - Freedom

Jotun, Sylvan - no a's or e's

Celestial, Infernal - These mean nothing alone but in the puzzle they fit just how...

She set the quill to the side and rubbed at her forehead.

"There's something here...just have to figure it out..."

She would go about the room finding any of her books tossing a few to the floor as she looked for the languages she specifically found.

[DM Dagon]

Merciless research, while quite exhausting, bears little result. There is not much about the languages itself which could help to solve this question. It might be a better idea to focus on the book itself. Afterall, unless only madness was the sole arbiter in the creation, there must be some system to the tales themselves. That could be the key to understand what the book may hold.

But what is the key? Order, length or anything else?

That is yet to be seen.