Appearance: This tome bears no title?
and consists of sixteen sheets of parchment
bound with gilded cord to two polished
plates of ivory. The plates measure
four hands across by seven hands in
length, and are only a little less than a
finger thick. (A “hand,” or “handwidth,”
is about 3½ inches, a measurement based
on the size of the delicate hand of the
scholar Aleric.) The “back” ivory plate is
scarred and scratched, and marked with
burns and bloodstains, but both plates
are by all accounts solid and of surprising
strength. The book has reportedly
been dropped at least four times, and
hurled at a person once, and yet the ivory
shows no signs of chipping or shattering.
It has been reported that these ivory
bindings glowed with an eerie “deadwhite”
or “pearly” radiance while a spell
was being read aloud (i.e., being cast)
from the tome.

History and description of contents:
This tome is commonly called “The Magister”
after the title of the mage who is
believed to have written it. (The Magister’s
tale is too long to be recorded here;
suffice it to say that he was regarded as
an unmatchable magic-user and a neutral
force of what he saw as justice and
reason, and is remembered with awe and
respect for his deeds. He disappeared
some ninety years ago; some say he now
dwells on another plane. Since the bulk
of the volume under discussion lies
clearly in the province of the illusionist
and not the magic-user, The Magister
may well not be the author of it.)
Reports vary concerning its contents
(some clearly do so in a deliberate attempt
to deceive and conceal), but a significant
number of observers quite independent
of one another state that the
Magister opens with a brief and general
discussion of the uses of illusion and the
extent of knowledge concerning magical
illusions (in the Common Tongue,
and surprisingly current, suggesting that
the art of the illusionist has advanced but
little in the last hundred years), and then
lays down (in the Ruathlek or “secret
language”) the spells

none varying from the accepted
form (as presented in the AD&D™ Players
Handbook).

These are followed (here the text again
reverts to the Common Tongue) by a
brief description of the casting of three
spells, two of which are clearly

Details and formulae
are not given, but enough of the somatic
and material components are described
to allow a non-illusionist to recognize
these spells as an illusionist
begins to cast them.

The book closes with what is clearly a
Clone spell, followed by a last page
whose contents are given differently by
each source. Some mention a curse,
others an illusion which appears in the
air each time the page is exposed, and
others state that it presents this or that
spell in full — all giving a different spell.
Several of the sources are known to be
absolutely accurate in other accounts,
and yet all conflict on this point. Elminster
says emphatically that it is not possible
that several tomes exist that are
identical, save for the contents of this
last page — and so the only explanation
left is that the contents of this last page
may change from time to time, either at
random or in a set sequence or cycle.
This is by no means certain, and it is
hoped that the present owner of The
Magister, if it still exists, or anyone coming
into possession of it in the future, will
(in confidence as to the identity and
whereabouts of himself or herself) reveal
to this scribe the true nature of this Last
Page. It should also be noted here that
Suljack of the High Captains of Luskan
has made a standing offer of 55,000 pieces
of gold for delivery to him of the
complete Magister.
 

Illusionist Spellbooks

-

-

-

Books of the Forgotten Realms