Bowgentle's Book

Bowgentle's Book

Appearance: This slim, black volume
is most expertly bound in glossy,
tooled, black leather--the best yoxenhide,
from the yoke-oxen, or "yoxen,"
of the plains of Amn--which has been
stitched into a full-fitted cover encasing
two slabs of slate, and worked on the
outside into a repeating pattern of a
human and a dragon confronting each
other, each spouting flame at the other.
Within are fifty-three sheets of the finest
white vellum, all sewn to a spinecord
strip of black leather with spun
silk thread, the whole being of the most
delicate workmanship. (Several additional
pages seem to have been torn
out.) The pattern of the covers extends
without a break over front, back, and
spine, leaving only a lip or border all
about the edges of the tome, and an oval
plate or raised area in the center of the
front cover, which bears the character
known as "Bowgentle's Rune," thus:

History and Description: Bowgentle
of Silverymoon was a mage of gentle
speech and manners, loved and revered
in the North and the Sword Coast cities
in his day, for he believed that magic
belonged to all, and all should benefit
from it. Many good works were
ascribed to his name over the years he
wandered the Realms, and legend has
rounded out his deeds. Always Bowgentle
sought new spells--and he
embarked on reckless ventures to gain
them, such as the plundering of
Raurgoch the black dragon's hoard
(slaying that monster with the very
magic found in the treasure) and the
breaking open of the Wizard-King's
tomb, where that legendary mage, now
l i v i n g i n l i c h d o m , g u a r d e d h i s
spellbooks as fervently as the crumbling
bones of his mistresses and his
dogs.

And ever Bowgentle gave of his
knowledge to all who had the ability,
and wrote out spells tirelessly for those
who were too young, too sick, or yet
unborn. He paid for the hospitality
given him on his travels with spells, cast
for good ends, and his name is yet
remembered with affection and awe. It
is often said of a gentle, shy, and well-favored
babe that it "has Bowgentle's
eyes," and an act of selfless kindness is
oftentimes agreed to be properly "of
Bowgentle's way."

When he grew old, Bowgentle came
to the School of Wonder, founded some
years earlier by the mages Myrdon and
Salasker, and wrote down his spells for
the apprentices there. He passed on his
way, and when word came shortly
thereafter of his death in a snowstorm
in the high forests, the Masters commanded
that Bowgentle's written spells
be collected from the apprentices and
close-guarded in the library there, for
all to see and use. This was done, the
book being constructed by elven craftsmen,
and the cover depicting a famous
scene of Bowgentle's youth: his fiery
battle with a red dragon, whom he
teased (and enraged) by gouting flame
back at it, before he vanquished the
beast.

The book did not remain at the School
for long, however--demons slew its
Masters and most of the apprentices,
and set the towers ablaze one crisp winter
night (demons, some whispered,
summoned by careless or jealous and
vengeful novices who lost control of
their servitors). The School was no
more. Thieves were the first bold
enough to venture into the smoking
ruin, and one must have found and
safely borne away Bowgentle's Book,
for it surfaced some years later in
Scornubel, identified by the sage Laertilus
as amongst the treasures he
appraised for Vaerum, the Master
Thief. Vaerum, head of a local thieves'
guild, soon fell victim to a "grey war"
(one of the oft-occurring skirmishes
between rival guilds), and the book vanished.
Its present fate and whereabouts
are unknown, but it is thought by most
sages to still exist.

Contents: The book's contents are all
spells and cantrips in "standard" form
(as per the rules in the PH and in UA) set down one to a page, save
for the two unique spells described
herein. They appear in the following
order: