Appearance: A large volume fashioned
of parchment bound between
slabs of wood and sewn to the black
hide of an unknown creature, which
has been stretched over the boards to
form a cover. It bears no external legend
or markings of any kind. Its covers
are edged with beaten copper, now discolored
to a vivid green by the elements.
There are 26 yellowed and
curling pages within, and some owners
report a binding strip or tie of black
hide which the book now apparently
lacks.

The size and weight of the tome precludes
its easy transportation by hand,
under arm, or in satchel, and indeed it
does not show the wear (scratched cover
or corners, blotched or warped
parchment due to wetness) typical of
books that have seen much traveling
out-of-doors.

History and Description: The true
origin of The Scalamagdrion is not
known. It is first mentioned in the writings
of the mage Hethcanter, who
owned the book in his youth. He does
not mention how he acquired it, but
does record that he gave the book to
Hym Kraaven (one of the Seven Wizards
of Myth Drannor) in payment for
magical training. Shortly thereafter his
writings end; Hethcanter is remembered
today chiefly for his spectacular
suicide, hurling himself to his death
from the highest pinnacle of the crag
now known as Hethcanter's Leap. He
did this when chased by almost a score
of illithids; the sage Orfidel believes that
these hated creatures sought The Scalamagdrion
itself--an opinion shared
with the sage Elminster.

Hym Kraaven never revealed or used
the work in his teachings at the school
in Myth Drannor (see "The Workbook,")
possibly because of the contents of one
of its pages. Of Hym Kraaven's fate or
the means by which the book passed
into the hands of its next known owner,
nothing is recorded, but the sages Orfidel
and Maerlus of the North were both
present on Watcher's Tor when a hitherto
unknown magic-user named
Valathond used its spells to destroy the
mage Gaerlammon in a formal duel.

Valathond was later slain by the Company
of the Raven, but they did not find
The Scalamagdrion amidst the treasure
in his keep, nor does an examination of
their tales of encounters and skirmishes
with the mage over an entire season
ere his fall suggest that he still possessed
it. Auvidarus, sage of Hillsfar,
and Laeral, wizardess and leader of the
adventurers known as The Nine--two
observers almost a world apart--have
both recorded rumors ascribing ownership
of the book to this or that mage.

One of Laeral's collected rumors, interestingly,
again mentions a group of
illithids. But the veracity of these
rumors is untested; the present whereabouts
of the work are a matter of conjecture.

Contents: Elminster described the
tome's contents, drawing upon his
study of Hethcanter's careful notes, as
follows:

The Scalamagdrion's first and last
pages are blank. The remainder bear 23
spells, one to a page and with each page
having a blank (rear) face, and one page
contains only a curious illustration. The
contents of the pages are as follows, in
order of appearance from the front of the book:

All spells appear in the standard
(PH) form. The
irregular order of the spells suggests
that the book was created with its spells
arranged according to the creator's
wishes, and thus was not the workbook
of a magic-user progressing slowly in
magical ability under tutelage.

The unique feature of the work is the
illustration found on the page between
disintegration and feeblemind. It is of
"warm, velvety texture," according to
Hethcanter's notes, and is a strikingly
realistic painting of some unknown,
seemingly endless caverns (perhaps on
some other plane), in which crouches a
dimly visible, winged, reptilian monster
on a bed of whitened bones. A word or
name has been spelled out clearly in
Common across the bottom of the page,
b y t h e a r r a n g e m e n t o f b o n e s :
"Nungulfim." Hethcanter notes that if
this word is spoken over the open page,
or the illustration is stared at for too
long, the monster depicted therein will
move.

From other sources he has not
divulged, Elminster states with certainty
that the page is a gate or portal to
some unidentified plane or extradimensional
space of endless caverns,
and can be passed through both ways.
Once the gate is activated, the monster
will emerge from the page into the
Prime Material Plane and attack all
creatures nearby, seeking to slay and
carry its prey back into the caverns to
devour. Its true nature is a mystery, but
what is known of it can be summarized
as follows:

Scalamagdrion ("Guardian of the Tome," "Nungulfim")

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVE: 13"/8"
HIT DICE: 6 + 6
% IN LAIR: 100%
TREASURE TYPE: S,Q,Vx3 (in lair)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12/1-6/1-6/3-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT. Neutral
SIZE: L (20' long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VI/525 + 8/HP

The scalamagdrion resembles a grey-scaled,
green-eyed dragon with stubby
wings and a long, bone-spiked prehensile
tail. If it pounces upon a victim from
above, it can rake with all four of its
claws (each do 1-6 damage), or pin the
victim with its great bulk and use its
f o r e c l a w s t o a t t a c k . T h e s c a l a -
magdrion's tail does 3-12 points of damage.
It is fearless, enjoys human flesh,
and is cunning enough to take a victim?s
body, fallen items and all, back to its lair
to avoid being caught eating.

The scalamagdrion radiates silence, 15' radius about itself, and has a natural
spell turning ability (as in a ring of spell
turning, including gaining a saving
throw for spells for which there is normally
none). This makes it a deadly foe
for magic-users; and indeed, none have
yet prevailed against it.

Several wands and rings can be seen
amid the bones upon which the scalamagdrion
crouches. The monster and
the gate to and from its abode cannot be
destroyed or harmed by tearing out or
destroying the page on which it
appears, although any attempt at such
activities will certainly cause it to issue
forth.
 
 
 

Magic-User Spellbooks

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Books of the Forgotten Realms