Collection at Candlekeep

The following is a small selection of the holdings at Candlekeep:

Book of Cylinders

Explorers donated this title to Candlekeep after they found it while exploring a ruined keep in Tethyr. The case resembles a book, with a pale green leather cover reinforced with thicker strips of hide. Opening the case reveals three intricately carved, hollow wooden cylinders and a linen bag of dry clay artfully decorated with a drop of water. The outside of each cylinder is covered with ancient Dwarvish writing and simple pictographs. The story of the cylinders can be seen by taking some clay from the linen bag and combining it with water, and then rolling the cylinders onto the wet clay. The donation came with three cylinders but it is believed that there are more, as the case has extra room. The contents of the cylinders are a prophetical text, depicting the story of a village of grippli and benevolent yuan-ti who are attacked by a group of evil yuan-ti.

Book of the Raven

This thin book bears no title inside or out. The keepers of Candlekeep cataloged it as the Book of the Raven based on the fact that it was delivered by way of a raven in 1282 DR, the Year of the Many Mists. Its covers are cracked, unvarnished thin sheets of black oak covered with bird scratches and little indentations made by pecking beaks. Bound with black wire between these covers are thirty-three pages that have yellowed with age and wrinkled from moisture. Each page bears tiny, blotchy brown script written in an unsteady hand by an unidentified author. The contents of the book are a memoir of a traveler who was cared for by the Vistani, and is an important document of Vistani life. A map, not part of the original text, is included in the book (inclusion date unknown).

Castanamir’s Guide to Gingwatzims

A study of the gingwatzims. Purchased from the collection of The Amberdune Pack Pack, led by Korvala.

The Collected Love Letters of Ayanna

Correspondences written by Ayanna to a nameless paramour. The letters range from romantic prose to explicit descriptions of sexual acts. Donated by the necromancer Nymwen.

The Dark Hunger

Secondary record, previous copy was a gingwatzim in disguise

This treastie is a series of nearly incomprehensible notes about Hadar, a powerful yet inscrutable entity that lives among the stars.

Daughters of Graz’zt

A study on the origins of lamias. Purchased from the collection of the Amberdune Pack, led by Korvala.

A Deep and Creeping Darkness

Formerly thought of as a penny dreadful, this book is now recatalogued as a first hand account of a member of the mining town, Vermeillon. The book itself follows the trials of the town, from the mining accident that took the lives of 30 people, to the nightmares and disappearances that plagued the town afterwards.

Fallen Tethyamar

Secondary record, previous copy was a gingwatzim in disguise

A historical account about a dwarf king named Ghellin, who sought to reclaim his kingdom in the Desertmouth Mountains.

The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces

This book is a treatise on extradimensional spaces similar to those created by the Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion spell. This specific copy was owned and annotated by the mage Fistandia and donated to Candlekeep after she disappeared. The book's exterior is made of ornately tooled leather decorated with gold filigree. Of particular interest is the illustration on the cover: the bust of an imposing spellcaster, the legendary mage Mordenkainen. Fistandia's copy is also the key to opening up a portal to her extradimensional home.

Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions by Mazfroth Gethur

Secondary record, previous copy was a gingwatzim in disguise

Mazfroth’s Mighty Digressions contains a collection of eclectic essays, though not much is revealed or known about the author. Mazfroth’s essays often go on long tangents. Although the topics in the book are many and varied, it is clear that divinity, the denizens of the multiverse, and the nature of magic were subjects of particular interest to Mazfroth. The book itself is seven inches wide and nine inches tall. The brown leather cover is worn from time and use. The name of the book and its author, Mazfroth Gethur, are elegantly written in cursive with black ink on the first page. The care put into the front page, however, does not apply to the rest of the book’s contents. Gethur’s handwriting is messy and hasty, as if they couldn’t write down their thoughts fast enough. Furthermore, the book’s 151 pages don’t all match, indicating that the author kept adding more pages. The book’s stitching is haphazard, and looks like it could come undone at any moment.

The Price of Beauty

Previously titled The Potential of Beauty

The Price of Beauty is bound in soft green leather, eight inches wide and fourteen inches tall, and set with golden clasps. The book gives off the unmistakable scent of lilies. Set into its cover is a polished oval mirror with a delicate gold frame styled like locks of hair, which appear to spill down around the face of anyone who looks into the mirror. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations of woodland scenes, art, and jewelry. Delicate handwriting accompanies the illustrations, in the form of short prayers and meditations dedicated to seeking self-worth, techniques for massage and healing, and recipes for creating balms and cosmetics. On the last page is an inscription by the author, Sylvarie Silversong, which reads: “A mirror is a gateway to happiness, truth, and to accepting ourselves.” Despite its ordinary contents, The Price of Beauty radiated auras of illusion and conjuration magic courtesy of a magic mirror set into its cover. This mirror previously showed an image of Sune, and would direct interested parties to the Temple of the Restful Lily to see Sylvaire Silversong. However, the mirror's magic is now severed.

Shemshime's Bedtime Rhyme

Secondary record, previous copy was destroyed

This children’s book is a mechanical curiosity of gnomish design, with a cover made of wood and copper. The front cover bears a faded, hand-painted rendering of a round millstone. The book has no pages in the typical sense, but it opens to reveal a pop-up cutaway illustration of a quaint watermill made of painted panels of wood, tin, canvas, and leather. It’s a clockwork device designed to animate four separate scenes while a music box built into the book’s spine plays a metallic tune. The mechanized scenes feature cutout figurines of members of a family dying in a series of grisly ways as a shadowy figure looks on.
Because of the dangerous nature of this book, the copy is now stored in Candlekeep's vault with Miirym.

Wanderings of a Humble Aasimar

A treatise on the Outer Planes by an aasimar traveler. Purchased from the collection of the Amberdune Pack, led by Korvala.

Type

Text, Literary (Novel/Poetry)

Location

Candlekeep