The Dread Page Item in Lukomorye | World Anvil
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The Dread Page

This is a page, apparently cut from a grimoire, and illustrated in gold leaf, and containing a miniature of a shadowy being bathed in flames. It was initially purchased by Khurshid ibn Ali at a book stall in the city of al-Azraq. Upon realizing that the page would bring him trouble, Khurshid fled town with it, only to be chased by bandits into a cave which contained a portal to the Otherworld.   After many travails, Khurshid succeeded in bringing it to Baba Yaga, who told him that the page contained a spell that summoned the Dread Lord, Koshchei the Deathless. She subsequently gained control of this page after Khurshid apparently met his demise by failing at a task she assigned to him. The crone took the page seriously, and set Vasilisa Primovna and Sasha, who were also staying in the hut, the task of translating the page into languages in order to get her servitors in various parts of the world to establish who had been distributing the page. Sasha, in particular, seems to have been whisked away from al-Azraq in order to complete this task.   When Sasha, Vasilisa and other traveling companions later encountered Grandfather Frost, he speculated that Baba Yaga was herself in league with Koshchei, and the true purpose of the translation was to disseminate news of his return and to recruit allies. Physically, the scroll is written in the Rakhman script, albeit in a strange dialect. It contains an image of a demonic being bathed in flames. There are now (non-magical) Norik, Galind, Irii, Kochmak, Garip, Kuz', Friazin, Nechist', and Chud' translations. The original and the translations are in the crone's possession.   The page contains the following features:  
  • It suggests that the Dread Lord is currently imprisoned somewhere, since it stipulates that the recitation of the spell will break his bonds
 
  • It stipulates that he can only be summoned during a time of disaster, such as a large conflagration, famine, plague, or invasion. These conditions may be created by the summoner
 
  • It contains specific verses to draw the Dread Lord to them for each of these conditions
 
  • It ends by proclaiming that the Dread Lord's appearance will cover the land in darkness
  Baba Yaga currently holds the Dread Page, as well as all the translations. To the best of anyone's knowledge, the spell has not yet been recited.
Current Location
Current Holder
Rarity
Unknown (possibly unique, but now available in [non-magical?] translation)
Base Price
Unknown

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