Cyrinishad

The Cyrinishad was an unholy tome created by Rinda the Scribe under the forced divine guidance of Cyric.

Creation
The tome was made for the sole purpose of increasing Cyric's power in Faerûn. After the Time of Troubles, the power of a deity was directly related to the size and devotion of their worshipers.

The tome would turn anyone who read it into a devout worshiper of Cyric and thus would increase Cyric's power. The tome was of great power and once one started reading it, could not willingly stop; it even worked against other deities. The final version of the Cyrinishad was the 398th version, and all the previous authors had suffered greatly for their failure to satisfy Cyric.

Appearance
The book was made of raven-black leather, and was embossed with a pattern of small grinning skulls and sunbursts against a twisting, warped background of torture and chaos. The book had golden hinges and clasps, and it was closed with a lock of unbreakable metal.

A skull the size of a child's fist dominated the front cover. The skull was animated by Rinda's blood and acted as the guardian of the book, which prevented it from being destroyed or removed from the mortal realms.

History
After Mask managed to trick Cyric into leaving the book in his hands, it was given to Rinda the Scribe for safekeeping, where it was protected and concealed by Oghma. Later, Gwydion the Quick joined Rinda as guardian of the book. They kept it hidden from Cyric and his followers for a long time, until Malik el Sami yn Nasser (who would later become the Seraph of Lies) managed to track them down at Candlekeep.

At one point, Cyric himself made the grave mistake of reading from the book. Though it was his own creation, he proved no more immune to its power than any other. The book instilled an unshakable belief in his own omnipotence and supremacy over the cosmos, instilling megalomania and even a degree of outright solipsism to his already fractured mind.

"I knew at once that my foes meant to drop the Cyrinishad into one of the boiling cesspools below their latrines, where no mortal could venture and no immortal would."

- Malik el Sami yn Nasser

Malik was unsuccessful in his quest to obtain the holy Cyrinishad. The follower of Cyric heard the holy tome hissing aggressively in his mind, and he detected an extremely bad scent. He immediately recognised that his enemies meant to throw the Cyrinishad down to the vile, lower levels of Candlekeep, where it could not be retrieved.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Prince of Lies • Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Mad