Wizard's Bookshelf 1
Heraldry of the Chartreuse Court by Hargo Lanceweary
An amethyst-encrusted wooden codex with loose porcelain pages, wrapped with three leather straps. A sturdy leather loop allows the book to be worn on the belt. The draconic text describes the crests of several dragon houses. The reader can make an Intelligence test once per draconic crest to identify the house, and their attitude towards other houses and non-dragons.
Dragon Houses
Plastiras
Their crest depicts a disemboweled giant, hanging over a gorge. They are enemies of House Numorem after Needlefang Numorem ate a Plastiras Wyrmling while drunk. They are allies with House Hua-Toba following a wedding between Enchan Plastiras and Firesmoke Hua-Toba, and their first clutch of wyrmlings all having lucky pearlescent scales. Disinterested with non-dragons, they have always lived far away from human settlements.
Verhoog
Their crest depicts a collapsed tower, being struck by lightning. They are rivals with House Hua-Toba after a lengthy turf war ended up killing most of the human subjects they were competing for. They are allies with house Colina after Healer Witch Bonewhite Colina cured Matriarch Afvra Verhoog's terminal scale rot. They see non-dragons as tools and expect them to perform their function reliably.
Hua-Toba
Their crest depicts a fat demon, eating a bowl of severed hands. They are rivals with House Verhoog since they laid claim to a Hua-Toba owned stock of meat humans. They are allies with House Plastiras since Sunwalda Plastiras helped them slay an army of giants invading their territory. They see non-dragons as food.
Colina
Their crest depicts a crashing wave knocking down the crescent moon. They fear attack from the more powerful House Jakalis. They are allies with House Verhoog since Ludoskverg Verrhoog slew a human lord who was keeping Princess Fearslaker Colina as a pet. House Colina keeps an army of orcs as protection during sleeping eras, and generally distrusts other non-dragons.
Jackalis
Their crest depicts a dead tree surrounded by a cloud of crows. They are enemies of House Colina after a prophesy that a star-marked Colina wyrmling would bring about the end of days. They are trading partners with House Numorem, who keep them supplied with exotic spices and silk. House Jakalis keep a coterie of elven magicians in their court for entertainment, and are generally curious about non-dragons.
Numorem
Their crest depicts thirteen gold rings set with fang-cut rubies. They are in an ongoing feud with house Plastiras, though no one in house Numorem remembers why. They are trading partners with House Jakalis, who supply them with enchanted items and elven wine. House Numorem keep their lairs in human lands and treat their neighbours more or less as equals.
Weight: 110cw Value: 9000sp
Instructions of [REDACTED] by Various Authors
Nineteen brightly painted wooden scroll cases each contain a heavily redacted velum scroll of obscene poetry. If the unredacted text is read aloud, the universe itself rends in a cringe of scandal creating a floating portal from which emerges the demon prince Zelemondo whose touch removes a person's inhibitions completely.
Weight: 50cw per volume Value: 12sp per volume (120sp to lawful clerics who wish to see them destroyed)
The Quasemfral List by Krodengang Gordis
A skin-bound codex branded with geometrical depictions of thorny vines. When the brittle, concertina-bound rice paper pages are backlit, the stacked text merges to form the image of a misty wood with a skeletal hand wrapped in rose vines protruding from the ground. The witchscrit text lays out recipes for a variety of pigments, including several with magical properties:
Pigments
Richesse
Mix unicorn blood with the powder of a frost salamander scale, mix over dying embers under a full moon until it forms a thick paste, then spread thin to dry for three days. Makes a pale plum which shimmers blue gold and purple in proximity to wealth or creatures of relative wealth.
Fouilleuse
Take a certain ore with pale red luminescence often found in abandoned branches of dwarven excavations. Soak in ether or mule's piss, allow no light to touch it for a fortnight. At the end of this time the ore will be brittle enough to grind. Makes a shifting brown that causes burrowing creatures to regard you favourably.
Amoureux
Pick the death flutes that grow from the dirt around a dead treant. Dry them in full sun, crumble them and scatter them on a patch of barren earth. That night tiny green gemstones will appear in a circle. Stand in the circle and pray until you fall asleep. You will wake coated in a silvery powder. This powder, mixed with rainwater, makes a rich teal which protects those who sleep under it and improves the chances of those who try to conceive a child.
Weight: 50cn Value: 700sp