Appearance: The Tome of the Unicorn
is a large book, two feet broad by
three feet in height, and over four inches
thick. Its covers and pages are poli
s h e d p l a t e s o f e l e c t r u m , e a c h
appearing blank to causal observation.
If any page is concentrated upon, however
(precludes other study, spellcasting,
reading, or similar reasoning
tasks), its contents, written in Thorass,
will begin to appear on the "blank" pages in 3-8 (2 + 1D6) rounds, and remain
for at least three rounds after study
ceases. The book bears no title or identifying
marks.

History and Description: Sages and
bards of the Realms know that The
Tome of the Unicorn is the long-lost grimoire
of the Mage-King of vanished
Iltkazar (a vanished realm that lay in
eastern Calimshan some nine hundred
years ago), the Lord-most-mighty
Shoon. Shoon is said by some to survive
today as a lich; the Tome is said to contain
many spells found nowhere else,
including means of creating a permanent
gate between the planes of existence,
and the means to create golem
armies.

The Tome was said to either be stolen
by adventurers who slayed Shoon, or to
have been taken by the lich-mage when
he retreated to the bowels of the earth
to flee the retribution of the elven
nations (see below). It has been
revealed to have found its way into
Ruathyn, where it was held in their
most hidden library until recently.
Within the ast year, person or persons
unknown have broken into the vault
and stolen the book, which precipitated
the most recent war between Ruathyn
and Luskan. The book is still missing at
this time.

Contents: The contents are 23 spells,
one to a page, in the following order:

The
remaining six pages function as a
magic-user's Manual of Golems (q.v.
DMG), for the making
of stone and iron golems only: normal
costs and study times apply.

The inside front cover contains no
spell; a protective spell turning magic
has been cast upon it. If the book saves
against any magical or physical attack,
its damage is reflected 100% onto the
attacker.

T h e i m p r i s o n m e n t a n d p o w e r
word? kill spells on pages 22 and 23
are part of the book?s curse. Every time
either of these pages is perused, there is
a 7% non-cumulative chance that the
reader will suffer imprisonment as per
the spell.

The back cover contains an extradimensional
space: the lair of the demilich himself. Each time the book is
opened, there is a 9% non-cumulative
chance that the demi-lich's skull will
emerge (e.g., rise up) and attack as
detailed in the Monster Manual II). If
the back cover, inside or out, is deliberately
concentrated upon, this chance is
100%. Shoon wil appear as a skull (not a
wraith or ghost); stolen spells have
served as energy factors sufficient to
keep him in this state. Shoon will not
howl; instead, he will hover, levitating
in midair, and drain a soul on the third
round of his appearance, using his
spells to attack and defend until then.
Shoon is interested in draining souls,
not slaying. He will try to drain a soul
every three rounds until successful.
Upon draining a soul, Shoon vanishes
back into the book. He will emerge
again to steal souls only if the back cover
is concentrated upon, or if the book
suffers over 13 points of damage in any
single round or is destroyed. It should
be noted that destruction of the Tome
will free Shoon, not destroy him.

Enchantments placed by the evil
undead mage allow him to Stealspell
(see below) one spell from the mind of
any one person who touches the Tome
in any round. If a target has no spells, or
successfully saves (at - 1) versus spell,
the attempt fails and the round is wasted
for Shoon. Such spell theft is not
blocked by unconsciousness, insanity,
anti-magic shell, mind bar, or similar
magical or psionic protections. Transfer
takes one segment. The stolen spell is
chosen randomly, not by Shoon.
Like a powerful incantatrix (which he
may have been in life, for all others know)
Shoon can use the energy of such spells
to replace lost hit points (2-8 hp per spell
level) or cast them, with the effects they
would have had if cast by the original
caster, by effort of will alone, one at a
time and once per round. Shoon presently
retains the following stolen spells
(he can "hold" only an equal number of
spells to those he could carry upon attaining
lichdom, although these may be of
any class and level; Shoon is at least a 26th
level magic user): hold person x2, dispel
magic (clerical) x3, lightning bolt (8D6),
cone of cold, Bigby's forceful hand, and
volley.

The Tome gains its name from its construction;
the enchantments Shoon
placed on it to preserve it and maintain
the extra-dimensional space that protects
himself involved the blood (and
necessary slaughter) of no less than
twelve unicorns. This act alone earned
Shoon the revolt of the elves in his own
realm, which he crushed only by slaying
them all. Druids of Faerun still
speak in derision with the phrase, "spill
the blood of the unicorn, would you?",
referring to this evil deed. For his part,
Shoon is unrepentant; long ago when
confronted about slaying the unicorns
the then-lich shrugged his shoulders
and said hollowly, "I still exist. They do
not."

Shoon will not speak, but if communi-
cated with by speak with the dead, psionics,
or magical ESP or telepathy, will
prove dryly cynical, cold-blooded,
uncaring, but quite knowledgeable of
long-ago doings and of magical lore--
and is lonely; he will converse calmly
and willingly even as he attacks those
he's speaking to. Note that Shoon cannot
study and memorize spells as he
once used to (although he could steal a
spell from the mind of one who had
memorized that spell from the Tome, if
fortune favored him), and cannot tutor
others in the arts of magic save by
imparting brief advice; he cannot raise
another's powers by a level through
teaching. (Note to DMs: this is an
extremely powerful item, linked to a
powerful monster; much consideration
should be given its potential effects
before any use of it in a campaign.)
 
 

Grimwald's Greymantle

Agannazar's Scorcher

Ilyykur's Mantle

Presper's Moonbow

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Magic-User Spellbooks

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Books of the Forgotten Realms