Grimoire
Grimoires are a type of Meta-Tech invented circa 7800 CS by House N'Chear to preserve and store the Soul of a dying entity. This is done by Binding the Soul to a prepared vessel with a powerful Auric-Combination spell—classic choices for a prepared vessel include skulls and tomes, though they can take many forms.
Though the stored Soul retains its memories, it lacks the wetware of a brain to encode its memories into thought, and becomes a passive store of knowledge dissociated from any sense of a present moment. This knowledge is accessible through Auric Divination, though this takes time, energy, and skill.
While creating Grimoires is a practice few places allow, they often decorate the lairs of the wealthy and the powerful, and can be found tucked back in the nooks and crannies of any place where the number of casters is greater than the number of people keeping an eye on them.
You'll never find a Grimoire that wanted it.
Meta Technology could not have advanced without Grimoires, but they're not something discussed in polite company. Historical treatment of them ranges from morbid fascination—"what a backwards and vulgar practice"—to outright vilification—"We must burn anyone who practices this wicked magic!". Even where they are at their most revered—in tales of sacrifice and valor—there lurks the underlying sense that in becoming a Grimoire your identity is lost, soul polished smooth like a stone in the tide; until all that remains is the memory of the self rather than the action of it.
Attempts to resuscitate Grimoires back into functioning bodies have vanishing levels of success even under the best circumstances. Even resuscitated, they take years to rehabilitate, if ever, and they have a vastly altered personality. They are prone to Soul Sickness.
While the understanding behind creating a Grimoire is foundational enough for a master spellcaster to piece together on their own, the practices behind more pragmatic, merciful, commumal, or militaristic use have been reinvented and lost multiple times throughout history.
Tell us about your Grimoire!
Implementations
A heavy Tome with an ornate Grimoire spine. As the reader parses the memories, they write notes into the Tome, rebinding as needed to remove or add pages. The Tome remembers anything written in it.
Nobody aspires to become a Grimoire. Anyone who appeals to your sense of duty on the matter has already measured your skull and set aside a space on their shelf for it.
To be a Grimoire is to have your soul bound to your skull, anchored to the physical realm even in death. Without the wetware of a brain to process stimuli and the passage of time, memories tumble freely together until the edges are rounded off—a fermentation process which removes all personality in the process.
Trapped in a timeless prison of your own mind, even your identity succumbs to entropy. You stop being a present self and become the past self. An account of who you once were and what you once knew. Ego death. A tombstone and euology of your living self. If you're lucky. More likely this is to prepare you for service to another. Whatever they tell you, you remember. Whatever they ask, you regurgitate.
Speak only when spoken to. You are as I say.
If you read the forward, or if you are already familiar with my work, you'll know that I, last of my line, was raised within the Vadakendanic Procession as a scribe to a wealthy family. The Procession considers itself very much past the archaic, cruel dealings and magics of its past, and yet their holds have shelves of Grimoires in their libraries. "Voluntary", I was told. "When you're old enough for it to matter, I'm sure you'll volunteer, too."
I'll stick to the printed word, thanks.
Crafting and Care
While Binding can technically be done with a Meta Cask gem of any quality, you need gem of great size and construction. A diamond as large as a brain is best, but topaz is easier to source. This may prove quite a challenge to a domestic Psiolic with no access to a gem printer. If you cannot source it yourself, you'll have to risk your wallet and legal status on private markets. Find a Net Witch to do it for you.
Once you have your gem, prepare it. If the intended Soul is not a Monolith, your Grimoire will need a way to replenish any meta when used. Unlike a living being, a Grimoire will slowly lost meta over time. Remember, if a Grimoire runs out of Meta, the Binding will come undone and the Soul will be forever lost. You can either restore your Grimoire's meta by hand, if you're sloppy, or you can source an auxillary cask—something cheap and easy—the absorb ambient meta to keep the Grimoire at full charge.
The last step of this is either the hardest or the easiest, depending on your line of work. I'm not going to tell you how to source a Soul. Figure that one out on your own. Souls don't keep on their own, so the last step is to Bind it into the Cask in their dying moments or from another Cask.
Prompt
You discover a Grimoire...
Roll or design your own Grimoire, tell us about it down in the comments section!
Craftmanship
Instructions: Roll 1d4 to generate a broken, useless Grimoire. Roll 1d6 for a chance of a viable, low-quality Grimoire. Roll 2d6 for a chance of a good Grimoire. Roll 3d6 for a chance of a rare Grimoire.
| Roll | Description |
|---|---|
1 |
The badly-damaged remains of a tome. The Soul has long unbound, though judging by what little you can glean from the text, you're not missing out on anything very useful. |
2 |
The sloppy etchwork and rusted framing of this fractured, unbound Grimoire skull are reflective of a craftsman who clearly thought they knew what they were doing. Any open eye could tell them otherwise. |
3 |
You find someones shoddy attempt at a Tome. The body is warped beyond symmetry, text illegible, connections corroded, Soul gone. This craftsmanship is a vain waste of a Soul. |
4 |
Tattered bindings, chipped crystals, and the worse half of a skull. Nothing remains on it, least of all any sense of identity. |
5 |
Though rudimentary, the Tome is functional. There's integrity in the work of the craftsman who bound it, even if their skill leaves much to be desired. Sometimes, you can glean useful information from the pages. |
6 |
You could look at this Grimore and imagine that at one point, it was an object to behold. But now, it has been reduced to a barely functional fraction of what it once was. At least it works for the most part. |
7 |
Though age has almost consumed this tome; its binding still holds true. Heavily smoothed etchings and metal worn raw, the touch of a thousand hands before yours. The fragility shows true in the fragmented cracks of its surface. |
8 |
A Grimore that has gone through many hands. Some of the decorations are missing, scratches mar the surface, and while it is a functional Grimore, it certainly is no ones prized possesion. |
9 |
This Tome might have been an heirloom, it is worn and built on a budget and the hologram pages like to flicker at the most annoying moment. Whomever had it last tried to take good care of it, at least. |
10 |
Someone with good talent and no cash made this Grimoire. The patterning and framing is carved with beautiful patterns, but shoddy tools and metals have led to time leaving its erosions and rust. |
11 |
Clean, crisp leather adorns this Tome and frames the engraved spine within. The pages have obviously been thumbed through countless times, but the pages flash to life with little delay. |
12 |
A Grimore made by someone who was efficent but not artistic. Solid wrought framing, and a clean, pock-free skull. It won't catch many eyes, but it might be better that way. |
13 |
A modern-made Tome, the sleek two-tone profile holds within it a powerful binding. The pages are crisp and smooth, both to the fingertip and to the eye. |
14 |
The ruby-studded eye sockets of the Grimoire stare out past silver framing, The horns are etched with a tale of the soul within, it looks like it was a pretty wild life. |
15 |
The golden dipped surface of this tome is etched with striking pictography of a Sazakraht on the attack. The pages within are trimmed with golden floral textures of a Nege-trees leaves. |
16 |
Grimoires like this belong in the hands of the rich and famous. An immaculate skull with teeth of ivory and golden plate across every inch. There is not a surface that has not been carved with beautiful fractal patterns studded with gems like grapes on a vine. |
17 |
Glitter and glamour, this grimoire has a presence that shall not be denied the approval of any eye. The tome opens with a forward telling the story behind every rivet, framing, hatch, and latch of its intricate construction—from the silver-plated vertebrae of the spine of the book to the holographic fore-edge of the lifetime accomplishments of the Monolith within. |
18 |
It floats of its own accord, pages flipping open to answer questions you didn't even know you had. Be wary of a Grimoire like this one—those eyes are meant to mesmerize and its words to hypnotize. This edifice of raw craftsmanship is so well-made as to inspire envy of the skill, of the value, and of the vision. Look away, ye unworthy. |
Sophont
| 1d100 | Sophont |
|---|---|
1 - 50 |
Verin |
51 - 85 |
Sazashi |
86 - 99 |
Human |
100 |
Unseen |
Experience
| 1d4 | Experience |
|---|---|
1 |
Martial |
2 |
Academic |
3 |
Social |
4 |
Metaphysical |
Even in death, she has style.
Fragging awesome, and at the same time absolutely terrifying.
Too low they build who build beneath the stars - Edward Young
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