Chambeeleon (Magic Book)

This tome is truly resplendent. Its covers are sheets of polished, iridescent abalone—edged and cornered with beaten gold; its pages are of burnished electric, into which script has been etched and runes, glyphs, symbols and characters are embossed or raised from the surface. The work is demonstrably waterproof. The Chambeeleon (pronounced Kam-bee-lee-on) is probably worth 10,000 gp in materials alone. It is worth far more to a wizard, however, because of its contents.
The origin of this tome is unknown, but it is certainly of great antiquity. Many legends exist ascribing its authorship to various sea gods and powerful beings, but nothing of the books whereabouts is verifiable until Alacer, holder of the Dolphin Throne an age ago, mentions it in an inventory of the sea elves’ court at Thunderfoam. It was borne away from that city at some later time, and reappears in the memoirs of the hero Galadaunt, who found it on the deck of an abandoned, drifting “ghost ship” which he boarded off the Emerald Isles. He sold it to a wizard whose name was not recorded, who we know to have been the tutor of one called “The Mad Mage,” who in turn was master to the wizard Arbane. It is likely that the Chambeeleon came into the Mad Mages possession, but it did not pass into the hands of Arbane, so we have only Arbane’s recollections to rely on for its contents. The present location of the Chambeeleon, or even if it still exists, is unknown.
Arbane said that he often read from the Chambeeleon since he was trained, but was only allowed to scan certain pages. Many he glimpsed were beyond his understanding, but he remembers that the fiend who guarded the book told him it had 66 pages in all and none but Arbane’s master had ever mastered them all.
(Arbane’s rather brief description of the fiend suggests that it was a succubus. There is no mention of a guardian fiend in the legends concerned with the book, so it is likely that the Mad Mage bound the fiend to guard it, perhaps only for as long as Arbane was allowed access to its pages)
All of the pages Arbane studied contained spells. From his notes, he gives us this list: water breathing, fly, lightning bolt, fire shield (cold flame version only), ice storm, airy water, cone of cold, conjure elemental (see below), disintegrate, glassee, part water, spiritwrack, cacodemon, drawmij's instant summons, reverse gravity, and vanish. “From the Mad Mage's casual comments,” writes Arbane, “he believes the book also contains the spells imprisonment and prismatic sphere, but at the time lacked any means to verify this.” If the book is entirely full of spells, and each stands alone on one page (as did those Arbane studied), then there may be as many as 50 spells in the work not on Arbane’s list. One suspects, however, that there are far fewer, and most of the unknown pages contain records or other writing. Only the possessor of the work knows for sure.
Arbane mentions one important difference from the norm in the spells contained in the book; the conjure elemental spell as it is written therein will summon only water elementals, but these will be friendly to the caster and will never attack him or her. Such an elemental may (5% chance) return to its own plane before the spell has expired, rather than attacking, and although friendly, it will act only upon the commands of the spellcaster, not helping independently.
If one may trust the more doubtful source of religious teachings, it must be noted that the priesthoods of at least seven aquatic gods worshiped by various creatures claim the Chambeeleon as their own, and assert that the bulk of its pages contain “the” record of the Creation associated with their deity. If this is so, none have proved it.
Category:Magic Items
Category:Magic Books
Category:Encyclopedia Magica