Librum Veritas

(The Book of Truth)

By Rafael Nedal (rnedal@uninet.com.br)

Level

7

Arete

9

Quintessence

45

Powers

Instant Insanity (Mind 5, Avatar 4), Protection Against Magick (Entropy 5, Forces 5, Matter 5, Prime 5); Matter Shield (Matter 5)

Description

This obscure talisman is said to be older than history, having gone through many shapes and assumed the current one in the Dark Ages. Only the wisest Hermetic magi have heard of it, and its power has been whispered about throughout the centuries. Perhaps it was written by a Hermetic mage gone Marauder, or perhaps the book was the cause of him going Marauder in the first place. The truth may never be known.

The Librum Veritas (the Book of Truth) is a hardcover manuscript of about 2000 pages, written in classical Latin, 2' long and 1 1/2' wide. It keeps all of the truth in the world, in the form of written word. This information is highly disturbing, but can also be a powerful tool for enlightening, sometimes even propogating instant Awakenings and Epiphanies. One must have the Knowledges Occult 5 and Linguistics 3 to read it, but otherwise a non-mage can read it too.

Description of Powers

In game terms, the book takes (10-Occult) weeks to read. Every week, the reader must roll her Willpower against the book's Arete. Check the results with the chart below.

Chart I

Successes	Effects
Botch	The character automatically goes insane. A mage enters Quiet. (The insanity or Quiet must be specially complex and difficult to be treated.)
Failure	The character continues reading, but begins to feel very disturbed and presents signs of madness. Assume the effects of a Derangement, though not a serious one. For the next weeks, difficulty increases by 3.
1-2	The character has succeeded in resisting the ill-effects of the book's truth. For the next weeks, difficulty increases by 2.
3+	The character didn't only resist the book's madness, but can now learn something from it as well. The difficulty for the next weeks increases by 1. Roll your Arete against the Librum's own Arete on Chart II below for the good effects (non-magi roll Intelligence + Occult).

Chart II

Successes	Effect
Botch	Back to Chart I; difficulty increased by an additional 1 for next weeks
Failure	Back to Chart I
1-4	Successes x 2 xp for Arete, Spheres or Occult
5+	Successes x 3 xp for Arete, Spheres or Occult; roll Arete + Avatar or Intelligence + Occult on Chart III

Chart III

Successes	Effect
Botch	Back to Chart I; difficulty increased by another 1 for next weeks
Failure	Roll again on Chart II, but add 2 to difficulty.
1-4	Successes x 4 xp for Arete, Spheres or Occult.
5-9	Successes x 5 xp for Arete, Spheres or Occult; non-mages Awaken.
10+	The character Ascends.

The book has level 5 innate countermagick against Prime, Forces, Entropy and Matter. It can hardly be destroyed by magick, and its Quintessence is not absorbable or useable as Tass. This power is coincidental unless the Effect itself affected something else that turned it into a vulgar Effect, in which case the book's invulnerability makes it vulgar as well (e.g., a Forces 5 nuclear explosion in the whole city that left the Librum untouched).

The book is also nigh-indestructible through natural means - i.e., no material forms of destruction work on it. Use the same guidelines as for Protection Against Magick above.

Plot Uses

Below are some uses for the Book of Truth in your chronicle.
• The Usual: S powerful and corrupted mage of the Order wants the Book, but it's currently in the Chantry's library. I'm pretty sure all of you know where this leads...
• The Quest: Now the cabal wants the Librum (or maybe they've been assigned to rescue it). It's in the possession of an evil supernatural threat (or even the Arcanum).
• Anything else?: I'm out of ideas. If you send me some, I'll write them into an eventual update.