Codices

The **Codices** are a series of early First Era texts written by some of the earliest, and most powerful, magicians. Written over a period of roughly 3,000 years, each codex was written as the life's work of particularly powerful magicians and are imbued with extremely powerful magic. As such, each codex holds extreme amounts of power and knowledge, granting access to spells that can alter the world and even reality itself. Codices typically hold such magical power that some actively *determine* and *maintain* the indisputable laws of reality on Rosenwelt, and their destruction or alteration can cause short lapses where reality has to readjust itself to continue existing, and those indisputable laws may weaken or fail entirely for weeks, months or even years.

Despite this, however, nearly all of the codices were lost by the early Second Era. Most now reside in ancient tombs, libraries and ruins, well-guarded by their inhabitants. Beholders, Second Brood dragons and mindflayers seem to have a tendency to seek out and claim these rare artifacts. A rare few remain in closely guarded sections of university libraries, such as the two codices held at Strixhaven University.

Each codex describes and sets in place a particular *law*. This law is an extremely powerful statement that describes an inherent function of how Rosenwelt and the wider universe function, and acts almost like a powerful spell, binding this law into reality. With the right knowledge and magic, one can unbind these spells and hence unbind the law, controlling it like a tool or weapon.

## Known Codices

It is unknown how many codices exist on Rosenwelt, however they are typically very well spread apart. Strixhaven University professors suggest that there are likely 128 codices that can be confirmed to exist or have existed at some time, while the Imperium Institute for Archaeology suggests that there may be well over 500.

### List of Codices

* *Codex Terragnosis* - Written by Hierophant Prithvirnia, this codex is a comprehensive treatise on nature on Rosenwelt. It illuminates the Law of Nature. The *Codex Terragnosis* resides in Strixhaven University.
* *Codex Umbra* - Written by Kalidasa Dharr, this codex contains an understanding of the interactions between light, shadow, and darkness. It illuminates the Law of Shadow. The *Codex Umbra* is one of the only examples of scholarly thought from the First Era civilization of Bely, and resides in Strixhaven University.
* *Codex Incabulum* - An ancient codex that has been lost and rediscovered hundreds of times throughout history, the *Codex Incabulum* describes the Law of Demons and contains many treatises on the nature and functions of the Abyss and its denizens, the demons and devils. It is capable of repelling demons and devils in a continent-wide radius.
* *Codex Automata* - A codex written by an unnamed ancient philospoher in the Far East. *Codex Automata* contains vast swathes on knowledge on the working of golems, mechanical creatures, and even theories that seem to allude to steelbound. Inside lies the Law of Constructs.
* *Codex Dryadalis* - Written by the ancient elven philosopher only known as Dem'laa, the *Codex Dryadalis* examines the nature of the Fae Courts and how their nature sometimes bleeds into Rosenwelt's, creating wodes - areas of interconnected unreality - in forests within both planes. The codex details the Law of Wodes.
* *Codex Ignis* - Penned by Hu Tai, ancient Magister of Fire, the *Codex Ignis* details the Law of Fire and examines how fire burns and works.
* *Codex Chronos* - An ancient codex of unknown origin, *Codex Chronos* examines the flow of time itself. Within its pages is recorded the Law of Time. Strangely, this codex has a habit of disappearing for thousands of years at a time, only reappearing for extremely short periods and then suddenly vanishing once more.
* *Codex Mortis* - One of the few codices written in a scroll, the *Codex Mortis* details the macabre function of death, undeath, and the Law of Death. It is craved by necromancers all over Rosenwelt for its immense power and knowledge of creating undead.
* *Codex Multiversalis* - A codex that examines not only the Material Planes but also details and theories on planes that may exist around stars beyond Solus, among methods to travel to them. It describes the Law of Stars.
* *Codex Chaos* - This codex details vital information about the Lords of Chaos and the circumstances of their existence. The original author is unknown, seemingly evicted from reality as no historical texts even make mention of them in passing.