A stout, battered book of embossed and painted cowhide stretched over wooden boards, edged and clasped about with iron. It is battered, brown, and radiates a faint dweomer (see below). It contains twelve pages, each a thin plate of slate upon which vellum has been stretched and clamped with beaten electrum edgings. Seven pages are blank; the first five bear spells, one to a page.
An orizon is a book in which a far traveling mage inscribes spells found or gained while exploring or traveling far from home. This is done also when one believes a spell can be improved or isn't quite right; it is only later, at home and leisure, and with the spell perfected, that the mage sets down spells in the orizon into his or her proper, level-bylevel spell books. Thus, an orizon is usually a jumble of spells of varying levels, sometimes interspersed with spell research notes or other information, or even spells usable only by other classes. Most of the books described in these pages and other locations, including the DM's Sourcebook are orizons.
Jaluster was a mage who never ceased to travel; he filled many orizons, but always sold them after transcribing the spells into his proper books. The orizon that bears his name today is the one he carried, incomplete, at his death.
Jaluster was torn apart by demons in Ascalhorn (now known as Hellgate Keep) as he tried to save that city from their domination. He is said to have destroyed three liches and at least five demons that day ere he died. His orizon was borne out of the city by the bard Maerstar, one of the four survivors of the fall of Ascalhorn. Maerstar was later robbed of it in Everlund, and a trail of mysteriously-slain owners (see below) led westwards, but the tome's present whereabouts are unknown.
The volume is guarded by a strange creature, a tome guardian, detailed below. The five spells it contains are:
Rope trick (detailed in the PLAYERS HANDBOOK, or "PH")
Quimby's enchanting gourmet (a unique spell, described below)
Feign death (q.v., PH)
Waves of weariness (detailed below)
Adelimer's aural augmentor. This latter spell is merely a variation of extension I (q.v., PH) that has a somatic as well as a verbal component, but takes only one segment to cast (it remains fourth level).
The fat, foodloving mage Quimby devised this improved unseen servant magic as a means of providing himself with gourmet meals while studying in solitude or traveling alone. It is a magical force under the control of the magic-user, able to stir, carry pots, measure ingredients, cut, garnish, turn hot food while it is cooking, and so on. It is no stronger than an unseen servant, nor more dextrous than its caster, but it can cook without the direct concentration of supervision of the caster, if the menu is a meal the magic-user has seen prepared (or prepared him- or herself) at some time. The enchanting gourmet can be dispelled (at will by the caster, and by the use of dispel magic by others), or destroyed by dealing it 6 points of damage. The material components are the foodstuffs to be prepared, a drop of the caster's blood, a piece of string, and a block of wood of any size.
By means of this spell, the caster causes all movements (including speech) of one creature to be slowed down enough to delay spellcasting and physical attacks for one round. Missile attacks and attacks using magic wands, rings, and similar items can be performed in the same round they were begun by a determined victim of this spell who continues to struggle against its effects (i.e. to utter a word of activation), but this attack always takes effect last in the round. Any intended target of this spell must be seen by the caster at some point during spellcasting, must be pointed at, and must be within range for the spell to take effect. Intended targets save vs. spell (no modifiers apply) to avoid. Only targets with either intelligence or wisdom of greater than 12 can struggle against the weariness effect of this spell enough to deliver the aforementioned attacks; all others collapse for the round due to the intense sleepy, tired, worn-out feelings the spell causes. Climbing beings must make a Strength Check to avoid falling.
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVE: 12" (or as guarded object moves)
HIT DICE: 4 + 4
NO IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: See Below
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: S
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
The tome guardian (sometimes mistakenly heard and passed on as "tomb guardian" ) is a creature of the Elemental Plane of Fire. Its nature and activities there are unknown, but it can be summoned to the Prime Material Plane by magical means to serve as a guardian.
A magic-user summons the tome guardian by casting and ensnarement (sending or demand work if the guardian's name is known; they do have personal names), and compels it to service by the use of a truename or binding spell. The object to be guarded must be visible to the magic-user, who indicates it (by pointing and speaking) to the guardian. Tome guardians do not mind protecting an object, for unknown reasons of their own, and unless otherwise attacked are not hostile. Door and tor ment spells do not affect guardians, and are viewed as attacks. Charms of all sorts except a geas do not affect tome guardians; they cannot be psionically dominated, and anyone attempting ESP or similar mind-meeting magic, by spell, item, or natural ability, finds that attempts to attack, control, or change a guardian cause it to attackÑand that it can somehow employ its fireburst attack (see below) through such a mental link.
The guardian envelops, and appears to merge with, the object it has been bound to, becoming invisible. The object radiates a faint dweomer, and infravision detects the presence of the guardianÑbut the creature cannot be telepathically contacted or in any way coerced, tricked, or forced to leave its object except as described below, under "driven out". A guardian can only guard one physical objectÑand if the object is composed of readily separable parts, only one part (i.e. a sword or its scabbard, not both). The guarded object must be small (of less than 4 cubic feet volume), and non-living. Usually magical tomes of lore are so guarded, hence the guardian's name.
An individual can summon only one tome guardian per 24 hours. Only one guardian can be bound to any object. Guardians who are summoned to the Prime Material Plane but not successfully bound to an object, or who have been driven forth (see below) from the object they were guarding, assume what is known as their "free form,' and remain on the Prime Material Plane for 2-40 turns before "dwindling away," returning to their own plane by natural means. They are not under any being's control during this time, and attack any creature who attacks (or attempts to control) them. Otherwise, they are attracted to large fires, of natural (e.g. volcanoes and forest fire) or man-made (e.g. bonfires, forges, even isolated campfires) origin. Statistics given on p. 10 are for the guardian's free form.
A tome guardian can absorb fiery energy impinging upon it (when it guards an object, it envelops it, and thus absorbs all fire directed at the object), whether of natural or magical (e.g. fireball) origin. It gains a number of hit points equal to the number of points of damage the fire(s) would deal to an unprotected creature, which replenish any damage it has suffered and then increase its own hit points temporarily (i.e. for the following 24 hours). During this time, the tome guardian can add any or all of this additional fiery energy directly to the damage dealt by any fireburst attack(s) it makes. Heat energy (such as that caused by melt or heat metal spells) the guardian merely absorbs.
If it wishes, a tome guardian can deliver a fireburst attack thrice per 24 hours to any creature(s) touching it or the object it guards (it never so attacks any master it is guarding an object for). A fireburst is a pencil-thin, white-hot flame that operates directly into the target creature (thus, it cannot miss) and does not generate any incidental heat or flame that might damage surrounding creatures or objectsÑsuch as the item being guarded). If two or more creatures laid hands on a guarded object simultaneously, and the guardian generated a fireburst in one of them, the other(s) would not even feel it.
Only one such attack can be unleashed in a round. A fireburst can operate through clothing or armor; it deals 6-24 points of internal damage (no saving throw) to all creatures not immune to the effects of heat or fire. A tome guardian always uses this attack against a bookworm (q.v.) or any other creature attempting to consume or strike the object it is guarding. Human, demi-human, and humanoid beings who survive a fireburst attack are rendered unconscious for 2-5 turns unless they save vs. poison at - 3, due to the shock of their blood boiling momentarily in the area affected by the fireburst.
Tome guardians can be affected by all spells save (as noted earlier) enchantment/charm magics such as maze, sleep, and suggestion (although geas is an exception). Cold does them double damage (water, it should be noted, does not), and all physical attacks upon the object they are guarding do not harm the object until the guardian is destroyed, as it gathers its form into a rigid shell to ward off blows; but because of this, all such attacks do the maximum possible damage to the guardian. When in free form, physical attacks do it normal (not necessarily full) damage.
Note that fiery protective spells such as explosive runes and fire trap can be cast upon a tome guarded by a guardian, but the creature absorbs the spell energy as it is being cast, so that the spell's protection does not exist (and the guardian gains for a day hit points equal to the maximum damage these spells would have dealt).
Symbols and glyphs can be cast upon a guarded object without affecting it, and function normally (without harming the guardian). Save for the exceptions noted above, tome guardians have standard magic resistance.
A tome guardian can be "driven out" of the object it is guarding by the casting of a dispel magic (the guardian gains a save vs. spell; if successful it is unaffected). Even the individual who bound the guardian to the object can dismiss it only in this way. The guardian will be seen leaving the object, even in darkness. A tome guardian is immune to the attacks of, but cannot itself harm, a fire elemental, salamander, will-o-wisp, and xag-ya. If a guardian is brought into the presence of a xeg-yi, they attack each other at once. Tome guardians can coexist peacefully with guardian daemons, guardian familiars, homonculi, and the like. More than one tome guardian can guard the same object, although it is very rare. Tome guardians can conduct their fireburst attacks through metal weapons and armor if they wish, and gain hit points from electrical attacks just as from fiery attacks. They can apparently hear and understand Common and perhaps other languages, but not speak them.