It has been at least 70 cycles since I've left my tower, my home, my self-imposed prison, and my world. I think I have finally found what I have been looking for all my life, and then some. The tomes have led me through a labyrinth of worlds, places, and planes, to the depths of the lower worlds and the lofty heights of the upper planes. My search for the base source of all magic—not just mine, but all the magic that exists—there has to be something that ties it all together. When the spells are cast, that energy has to come from somewhere, not just within me but from without. I have felt that energy, that flow of something, from the smallest cantrip to the calling down of the gods' fire. The spell that keeps this place hidden from prying eyes both above and below, when I cast it over 60 cycles ago, put me to sleep for a few days, but obviously, I recovered. The power that surged through me was not just mine; I know it did not come from the so-called gods but from something else. What is it!?! Traveling through the planes, upper and lower, beseeching the lowliest demons to the most angelic of upper beings, all have either known nothing or have given such vagaries as, "It has always been thus" or "We mold and shape it to our desire by will alone." My quest and question still remain: "What is 'it'?"
A djinn with whom I struck a single bargain has returned this morning just before sunrise, much to my surprise as I made this bargain 12 cycles ago. I asked that they bring me a grand grimoire of the once infamous King Nias'zughoz, who has long since supposedly been dead but was believed to have the definitive book of spells, their incantations, requirements, supposed sources, and history, but it has never been found—well, at least until this morning. The djinn wanted my only copy of the descendants of a lost race of elusive spell-casting rangers and a blue sapphire that was once used to capture the soul and essence of beings by some other djinn. Since I have already exhausted the book of descendants and the gem, for me, did not provide me much in the way of 'how' it gets its ability, it will be of no real loss to me. When I handed over the gem to the djinn, he immediately gave me a smile, and its eyes lit up like a child getting their first horse, and it promptly vanished.
Surprisingly, the book is in very good condition; the bindings are solid, and the lock and bar on it are as if they were cast just this morning. In my haste, the moment I put my hands on the book, I was slammed back against my far-wall bookcase with a force that felt as if it would crush my chest. It would seem that old King Nias'zughoz wanted this to be opened and read only by him. Well, as far as the world is concerned, he's gone, so that just leaves me. I should have at least placed the book in a protection circle before pawing at it. So, let's start with the basics first. I will need to figure out what kind of protections, locks, traps, and other preventatives, and I am very certain that that first jolt was my one and only warning; the remaining "discouragements" will be more forceful.
It has taken me another three cycles to finally get to the last barrier, and it has taken up every waking moment of those three cycles. Now, all that stands against me and the contents of this tome is the iron bar and lock. I would be a fool if I made the presumption that all I needed now is to open this lock, but I know if I do, l the only thing that will be found in the room are the charred remains of a foolish mage and his collection of ash. A spoken word by the king himself would be my initial guess as to how to open this lock, but since he is not here, nor do I expect him to be here, what would that old man say. The name of a loved one; unlikely as I doubt he had many that did, calling to his patron deity, I doubt with his power he would have even had one. Maybe he would call upon someone or something to open it for him, possible, but I don't think he would have trusted anyone or anything with that knowledge. Is it possible that the book may already be unlocked, and the bar is nothing but an illusion? Again, a mistake here is guaranteed to be beyond fatal, not worth the chance, I've got to find another way. Communing with the dead is out of the questions for this, calling the dead here for this would be just as fatal, it would seem I have more researching to do, I need to find out more about King Nias'zughoz, and if I want this done correctly and without too much being given away I will need to do the researching myself, looks like it is time to step away from my prison for a while.
My deepest sympathies to those that helped me find and explore Nias'zughoz's keep and rid it of all the evil that inhabited it, and subsequently gave up their lives. I had grown rather attached to that powerful young woman who saved me from that monstrous beast. Albeit, the beast would have been no match for me directly, but who am I to get in the way of someone attempting to achieve greatness as a hero. Had it not swallowed her whole and her carving her way out of the belly of the beast, I very likely would have never found the key that was in the scattered stomach contents. By this time the poor dear was burned beyond saving, so I quickly put her out of her pain and hurried her on her way to the next life. It is truly a loss, but their sacrifices will help the greater good of all casters throughout Thaea. It would seem that the old king was a bit sentimental and still held on to a few pieces of nostalgia, namely a simple key. Furthermore, it apparently not only still held the name of his favorite wife or child or someone etched into it, Sorocan, along the shank it had the words, "The only key to my heart." So anti-climactic, all those cycle spent, and lives lost just for a simple key. Sometimes a lock is simply...a lock. Such is the way of things, now, I just hope that the contents of this tome are worth all the time and effort.
The key is placed in the look, and before I turn the bow, I utter, "Sorocan, The only key to my heart!". I hold my breath and my heart skips a beat as I turn the key and hear the lock release, The bar swings open with a loud clang and there is a blast of frigid air blowing back my rob and hair. I turn the key back to its original position and remove it, open the cover and on the first page it only has a strange looking person, at least I think it is a person, they have a head of some kind of strange bird and the body of a human being. The pages are thick, and the book seems to have opened up thicker than it was originally when it was closed. The next page has obvious writing on it, but another challenge is in front of me, these are not letters or any language I have read or seen, but they are small pictures; birds, eyes, feathers, hands, what appear to be wheat stalks, cups, bowls, sticks, and branches. "Oh! To the gods above and below, why do you taunt me!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Well, I have worked this long and now that it's open all I have to do is figure out how to read it.
It has taken me almost six full cycles, but progress is being made. The tome is broken up in to different sections or breaks; the first seems to be some kind of narrative as it is written with the characters written right to left and top to bottom. The next section seems to be lists of some kind, my presumption is either components or words, the third section is clearly spells as it is laid out, surprisingly like a modern spell book. Spell name on top, components listed below that, next comes the incantation and a description of what it does. The last part of the tome appears to be exceedingly older than the rest, the pages are written not on parchment, but on what I can only deduce is some kind of plant fiber, hammered together.
I have finally cracked the mystery of pictures, it has taken me another four cycles, but now I can read this wondrous piece of work quite easily now. I was right, the first section explains the use of magic and a bit of history of magic in Thaea, nothing I didn't already know for the most part, some new names, or some named gods of magic or some sort, the second part clearly spells, some I have never heard of and seem to be quite powerful, the last sections are where I have spent a majority of my time. This talks of something call Primal; at least that is what I've translated it to be, it is described as the source or well-spring of all magical energy, everywhere. This is amazing, I knew there was something more to it, I knew it was all tied together, with this I can create my own spells, my own levels of power will be beyond anything I could have dreamed of. Spell casters around this world will owe their increased abilities and power to me, they will seek me out as teacher, mentor, and maybe even their arch-mage supreme. Apparently 'Primal' permeates all things across all planes of existence, all one needs to do is know how to tap into that, focus it, and now you have the ability to cast a spell as soft or as hard, as small or as large as one can image. The other benefit of this is that one does not need to say a single word to cast a spell, you just visualize the delivery and result of the spell, and some spells don't even need components. That alone can make or break a mage's casting ability, we would not have to spend so much time or money seeking out rare plants, herbs or create expensive and expended components.
I think everything is ready for the first foray at tapping into primal energy. It has taken me three full cycles to prepare for this, and I have not been this excited since I cast my first spell unescorted. I have spent the past 4 days fasting, meditating and clearing everything from my room to remove all distractions, my visualization has be perfect and without any interference.
