Conradine
2019-07-15, 09:42 AM
Asking for an artifact using a Wish is asking for doom usually. But I read that there are several copies of the BoED and at least six of them are correct ( and one both correct and complete ). Since the flawed ones had the power to send readers into the Lower Planes I guess all these copies had some power, I just don't know if the same of the original.
I quote the description, for clarity:
THE BOOK OF VILE DARKNESS
The original book of vile darkness was a scroll penned by aVasharan spellcaster millennia ago. It contained his wickedthoughts and the terrible knowledge that he had gained through experimentation and study. In just a few thousand words, he recorded malevolent ideas and concepts so vile thatto this day they have never occurred to another, not even the foulest soul. Years later, the scroll was discovered by a cleric of
Nerull. She added to it, tripling its length by recording her knowledge of dark gods, sacrifice, and evil divine magic. Many other evil priests learned from her scrolls (for the manuscript soon became too long for just one scroll), adding bits of knowledge from their own polluted minds and abominable experiments. Some writers even asked questions of summoned fiends and recorded their words directly.
Eventually the collected works fell into the hands of a genocidal wizard and warlord named Vecna. He took the scrolls and added some of his own discoveries to them. After he died and rose as a lich, Vecna transcribed the scrolls into a bound book, creating its cover from the flesh of a human face and the bones of a demon, magically transformed into a dull metal binding. It is said that the strange symbols on the cover are understandable only by those who have read the book in its entirety, and that the sudden realization of the utter wickedness that they represent—a darkness so deep that it shames hell itself—is why the book is so highly prized. Cultists loyal to Erythnul held the book in a dim vault for many years, using it as a final initiation into their innermost circle. A few copies were made during this time, although most of them were incomplete or flawed in some way. The errors contained in these lesser copies usually caused the reader to be drawn onto one of the Lower Planes, never to be seen again.
Thieves stole the original during a great war, and the book passed through many hands after that. According to some records, the demon lord Baalzebul kept the book in his personal library for a time, adding a few pages of his own. Six complete copies are known to exist, at least one of which was made after Baalzebul’s alteration. At least three times that number of flawed copies or outright fakes also exist. These books are often found in evil temples, dark libraries, and the hands of wicked collectors. Vecna’s original still exists as well, and it is a prize coveted by almost every priest of a dark god.
The book is a fantastic reference work of evil deities, black magic, sacrifice, and forbidden secrets. Its lore is so potent and so dark that nonevil creatures that read its contents are often corrupted to evil through defilement rather than temptation. Once a mind has absorbed the knowledge in this book, the attached soul is so polluted that there is no recourse other than to turn to evil.
Unlike its good counterpart, the book of exalted deeds, the book of vile darkness does not mysteriously disappear after it is read. An evil character is likely to keep it around for reference, although not even the darkest-hearted villain peruses its pages haphazardly. Powerful fiends watch over the book, because where it goes, evil power grows.
So, here the questions:
1- In your opinion the correct copies of the BoED, if read, grants the same effects of the original?
2- Could a flawed or incomplete copy ( not an outright fake ) be corrected through divinations ( like Legend Lore )?
3- Wishing to read a single time, only the caster, the original BoED is too much for a Wish?
4- Wishing to have a new, complete and correct copy of the book is too much for a Wish?
5- Wishing to read a single time, only the caster, a complete and correct copy of BoED is too much for a Wish?
6- Asking for the location of the least protected, easier to recover / stole complete copy of the BoED in existence is a reasonable Wish?
I quote the description, for clarity:
THE BOOK OF VILE DARKNESS
The original book of vile darkness was a scroll penned by aVasharan spellcaster millennia ago. It contained his wickedthoughts and the terrible knowledge that he had gained through experimentation and study. In just a few thousand words, he recorded malevolent ideas and concepts so vile thatto this day they have never occurred to another, not even the foulest soul. Years later, the scroll was discovered by a cleric of
Nerull. She added to it, tripling its length by recording her knowledge of dark gods, sacrifice, and evil divine magic. Many other evil priests learned from her scrolls (for the manuscript soon became too long for just one scroll), adding bits of knowledge from their own polluted minds and abominable experiments. Some writers even asked questions of summoned fiends and recorded their words directly.
Eventually the collected works fell into the hands of a genocidal wizard and warlord named Vecna. He took the scrolls and added some of his own discoveries to them. After he died and rose as a lich, Vecna transcribed the scrolls into a bound book, creating its cover from the flesh of a human face and the bones of a demon, magically transformed into a dull metal binding. It is said that the strange symbols on the cover are understandable only by those who have read the book in its entirety, and that the sudden realization of the utter wickedness that they represent—a darkness so deep that it shames hell itself—is why the book is so highly prized. Cultists loyal to Erythnul held the book in a dim vault for many years, using it as a final initiation into their innermost circle. A few copies were made during this time, although most of them were incomplete or flawed in some way. The errors contained in these lesser copies usually caused the reader to be drawn onto one of the Lower Planes, never to be seen again.
Thieves stole the original during a great war, and the book passed through many hands after that. According to some records, the demon lord Baalzebul kept the book in his personal library for a time, adding a few pages of his own. Six complete copies are known to exist, at least one of which was made after Baalzebul’s alteration. At least three times that number of flawed copies or outright fakes also exist. These books are often found in evil temples, dark libraries, and the hands of wicked collectors. Vecna’s original still exists as well, and it is a prize coveted by almost every priest of a dark god.
The book is a fantastic reference work of evil deities, black magic, sacrifice, and forbidden secrets. Its lore is so potent and so dark that nonevil creatures that read its contents are often corrupted to evil through defilement rather than temptation. Once a mind has absorbed the knowledge in this book, the attached soul is so polluted that there is no recourse other than to turn to evil.
Unlike its good counterpart, the book of exalted deeds, the book of vile darkness does not mysteriously disappear after it is read. An evil character is likely to keep it around for reference, although not even the darkest-hearted villain peruses its pages haphazardly. Powerful fiends watch over the book, because where it goes, evil power grows.
So, here the questions:
1- In your opinion the correct copies of the BoED, if read, grants the same effects of the original?
2- Could a flawed or incomplete copy ( not an outright fake ) be corrected through divinations ( like Legend Lore )?
3- Wishing to read a single time, only the caster, the original BoED is too much for a Wish?
4- Wishing to have a new, complete and correct copy of the book is too much for a Wish?
5- Wishing to read a single time, only the caster, a complete and correct copy of BoED is too much for a Wish?
6- Asking for the location of the least protected, easier to recover / stole complete copy of the BoED in existence is a reasonable Wish?