The Restricted Archive of Eldain University's great library.
Only senior university staff may enter, and only in the company of an Archivist. None of the books are permitted to be removed from the room, those wishing to use them must take what notes they can within the permitted time
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On a high shelf, resting under blanket of dry dust you find a slim volume, barely thicker than your little finger and bound in yellow leather. On the cover is a faint imprint of an alien script that you do not recognise. Only a single word. It's meaning comes unbidden into you mind, *Psammos*, the Desert.
It's warm in your hands. As if it has been soaking in the light of the sun all day and is only now releasing the heat. like sand on the beach as the sun sets.
Each page is thin, so thin it's almost translucent, and the edges are gilt trimmed.
You try to open it to the first page, but a handful of pages at the front seem stuck to the cover. You flip the pages back, trying to get to the title page, but you seem able to turn only a single page at a time, and there always seems to be more pages. You flip towards the back instead and the same thing happens. No matter how far you turn you can never reach the end.
As you go you catch glimpses of the contents, of spell diagrams and ritual words, the names of gods and demons, eldritch invocations and ancient lore.
Half way down one page, a title catches your eye; The Eyes of the Rune-Keeper. You can't help but stop, and read what this odd book has to say on such an unusual topic.
It starts with a fairly dry description of the power. The ability to read abf understand any written word as if it were your own language. The prose is rather purple, and not at all academic. But it goes on, and it starts describing a summoning ritual. A spell thats meant to invokenthe power from your patron whether they will it or no. It earns of potentially dire consequences for performing the ritual, but gets no further than the third line. Eagerly you turn the page and read on…
…And rapidly descend into confusion. The words seem to be nonsense. A complete non-sequitor. You make yourself blink and scan this page again. It's a completely different spell, a ritual for 3 mages to combine their power for a single casting,nbut for what end you cannot tell as that description is cut off.
Clearly the pages are misprinted, or out of order. But- maybe it's deliberate? Perhaps there is a puzzle, a key to finding the right pageand unlocking the books secrets.
You turn back to look again at the invocation and- the page has changed. The text is completely different, still coherent but not at all related to either of the first two texts. And still incomplete!
A sheaf of papers, wrapped loosely in a protective oil cloth. Reading them through reveals it to be the script for s play. The first act is a perfectly ordinary court drama set in the imperial capital of the Draconic Imperium, and follows the antics of a young concubine.
The second act though, takes a sudden turn to the absurd when the eunuch deutagonist turns to the audience and begins delivering a monologue. The words are confusing, and increasingly detached from the rest of the play, but strangely compelling, almost charming…
Somebody has tried to burn the third act, but its still readable with a little effort.