This tome is thin, bound in black leather, and bears the title Eiyromancia on the cover, stamped and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The edges of the tome have all about been protected with beaten copper strips, and these are fitted with two clasps. The clasps are unlatched by twisting a silver knob on eachi if the bottom knob is twisted without first twisting and removing the top one, a poisoned needle springs up the side of the knob. The assassin Nathode says it is coated with Type D (or equivalent intensity) insinuative poison, apparently renewed from a reservoir under the binding. Nathode did not handle the tome himself, but observed its effect upon another. His testimony verifies a folk legend which says that all who try to open Nchaser's Eiyromancia die.
Nathode's recollection dates back seven winters, when the book was brought to the court of Lord Nasher by a merchant, one Furjur the Flippant, who told the Lord that the tome was sold to him by a band of adventuring dwarves he encountered in a clearing deep in the northern forests. One of the members of Nasher's court attempted to open the book, with fatal results (this is what Nathode observed), and it was placed unopened in the Lord's library (Furjur had gifted it to the Lord in return for a charter). It was subsequently stolen during the riots of the Five Fires Rising, and its present whereabouts are unknown.
The mage Nchaser has not been seen for nearly twenty winters. Before his disappearance Nchaser wandered the Realms, working and seeking after magic, and upon two occasions served as an advisor to a local ruler. On the second of these occasions, while serving the High Captains of the city of Luskan, Nchaser wrote the Eiyromancia and gave it to the High Captain Taerl. Some time after Nchaser's departure, the tome was stolen, and like its author it has wandered the Realms ever since. Alustriel, the High Lady of Silverymoon, had it briefly, gifting it to a dwarf of the Citadel Adbar. The dwarf never returned home, and the book was lost againÑand so it has gone through the years.
The wizard Arbane, who saw the book briefly while it was at Luskan (he was friend to the High Captain Suljack), reports that it contains four magic-user spells: Nulathoe's Ninemen (pronounced Nin-em-en), a unique spell of the fifth level used to protect and preserve a dead body; Nchaser's glowing globe, a unique spell of the fourth level which is used in the creation of luminous globes, and the rare spells part water and statue.
A unique spell is a spell not commonly available, found only in the text in question or else believed to have been first set down therein. In some cases it means only that the text in question is the earliest surviving source of the spell. The first of the unique spells was devised by Nchaser's tutor Nulathoe, and the second is of Nchaser's invention. By the kindness of Arbane the Mighty, both are reproduced below.
This spell serves to protect dead creatures of all sorts against normal decay, magically strengthening the joints of corpses or corpse limbs to keep them supple and usable. Its most prevalent practical use is to preserve dead comrades for pl~ ing atop a bier in a sepulcher, or hopes that they may be raised. T~ magic-user requires fresh blood from a creature of the same race/species as the spell subject, and the dust or powder resulting from the crushing of a moon stone of not less than 7 gp value. As the words of the spell are spoken, the most vital areas of the body (chest cavity, head and neck, joints of extremities) are sprinkled with a small amount of blood~ and the whole body is then sprinkled with the moonstone dust. The closin gesture of the spell is the touching of the corpse, whereupon the spell wil take immediate effect. Note that thi spell does not heal wounds or stanc bleeding.
This spell requires a globe of blown glass of the finest quality, and a spark. By the use of this spell the caster creates an effect identical to a continual light spell centered within a transparent object, but with the brightness of the light under the caster's mental control. Continuous control need not be maintained; the caster can merely exert concentration to change the current luminosity of the globe, and it will continue to emit the desired amount of light until a new mental command is received (unless, of course, it should be destroyed). Mental control may be maintained over a globe from a distance of 9" per level of the caster (plus 4" per point of intelligence over 15). Control of a globe cannot wrested from another except by mea~ of a wish or limited wishÑor upon the death of the owner, whereupon the expectant owner must touch the globe to take mastery over it.