"What is that ink that appears upon the page as I scribe upon it with this quill...? What a wonderfully curious enchantment! Why can I not stop writing? Simple child's play! Wait... this ink... is that... is it blood? No...
it's my BLOOD!!!"
While when many hear the word grimoire uttered in mixed company assumes one speaks of an object of evil and tainted by darkness and malevolence; those that believe this are not inaccurate in their preconceptions but even basic literacy is hard enough across many places in Trorune, let alone the complexities and nuances of
arcane literacy.
The term 'grimoire' is simply the proper term for a mage's, primarily wizards, 'spell book'. Arcane practitioners, from common street mages to the
Consular of Arcana, will carry at least one grimoire on their person. However, a grimoire is more than just a written collection of spells—it is the very foundation of a wizard’s power, a conduit of knowledge that allows them to harness the
arcane winds of magic.
A wizard's grimoire is both a repository and a safeguard, containing the incantations, theories, and ritual components needed to shape spells. Without it, a wizard’s power is greatly diminished outside of novice spells, for even the most practiced arcanist must study and refine their craft. The process of transcribing spells to and from a grimoire is painstaking, requiring careful transcription and an understanding of magical formulas. Inks infused with rare reagents—from the material, such as crushed gemstones or powdered bone of rare or powerful creatures to the metaphysical like distilled moonlight—this ensures that the text does not simply fade from the pages by the mere passage of time.
Most grimoires are little more than simple books bound in leather, metal, or exotic materials, their pages sometimes alchemically treated to resist fire, water, and general wear. These are easy to hide in plain sight then more exotic or ancient grimoires which could be words carved on metal sheets or stone walls or even the bones or hides of dangerous beasts. Some wizards will employ arcane locks, invisible sigils, or warding glyphs to protect the knowledge within from thieves or rival spellcasters. It is whispered that some of the most powerful grimoires have had so much magic poured into them and their writer's will so powerful that they develop a will of their own, their pages shifting, their ink reordering itself in the presence of those unworthy to wield their knowledge.
While any wizard can , and must, craft, receive, or find their own grimoire, legendary grimoires exist—ancient tomes penned by long-forgotten masters, their pages filled with secrets that could unravel reality itself. Some bearing the marks of their previous owners, charred edges from a fireball miscast, bloodstains from desperate rituals, faded notes that are scrawled in margins warning of dangers best left untouched. And those that rigorously study the arcane will go to great lengths to acquire and decipher another wizard's grimoire in the hopes of making the knowledge within their own and save themselves days, weeks, months, years, and sometimes even decades or centuries of trial and error.
To the common folk of Trorune, grimoires are both feared and revered. A powerful grimoire in the wrong hands can bring ruin, and even in the right hands, magic remains, and still is, an unpredictable force. The world remembers the folly of mages who reached too far, whose grimoires contained knowledge far beyond their grasp. Because of this, many wisely view spellcasters with wary respect, knowing that behind every wizard’s power lies a book filled with words that could shape and reshape the world—or tear it asunder again.
