The Codicil of White was a magical book containing basic rites, rituals, services, and major ceremonies of Auril's faith. The book also had several pages devoted to the goddess' favorite arcane magic.[1][2][3]
Description[]
The Codicil of White was described as a tall, thin book bound between two planks of seasoned white pine with a spine of leather. The cover of the front, back, and spine was a single piece of white ermine fur sewn onto the pine boards, which showed signs of wear around the edges.[1][2] The book had a tarnished silver clasp and lock that required a key, but the key was missing and the lock was broken.[2] The Codicil contained forty pages,[note 1] thirty-eight of which were vellum with silver-painted borders, sewn into the spine with laces of sinew. The text was written in dark blue ink. The last two pages were penned by a different hand, did not have the argent edges, and appeared to have been added after the book was created.[3]
The book radiated a faint abjuration aura.[3]
Powers[]
The book granted cold resistance[1][2] (as a ring of minor energy resistance) to anyone carrying it on their person and was completely waterproof.[3]
Contents[]
The holy symbol of Auril.
The first page declared the book's title and contained the holy symbol of Auril—a six-pointed snowflake outlined in white on a gray lozenge. The next thirteen pages described basic rites, rituals, and services of the church of Auril, most of which good-aligned individuals would find abhorrent. Here was also found the proper phrases to use when summoning an ice para-elemental.[3][2]
The following thirteen pages dealt with major ceremonies of Auril's faith, including dedication of holy sites, ordination of priests, burial rites, a coming of age ceremony, investiture and transfer of authority, and ceremonial vows for services and contracts.[1][3][2]
The remainder of the pages were all devoted to arcane spellcasters and could be used as a spellbook for learning the following spells:[1][3][2]
The last two pages of this tome described how to widen the effect of the frost fingers spell.[3]
History[]
The author of The Codicil of White remains unknown, but he or she was likely a priest of Auril as well as an accomplished wizard. Knowledge of the book comes from the sage Erpalio of Neverwinter, who purchased the tome from the Company of Seven Stars late in the Year of the Spur, 1348 DR. They had recovered it as spoils from foiling a bandit attack on a caravan to Neverwinter they were guarding. Erpalio published the only known description of the book (outside the church of Auril) and this apparently brought his doom upon him—he was found frozen to death later that winter in his heated home and the tome was missing.[1][3][2]
The Codicil was eventually sent to the House of Auril's Breath in Glister where it remained for a number of years. In the Year of the Unstrung Harp, 1371 DR, the high priestess of an isolated town requested the book be loaned to her for the ordination ceremony of her son, Tamall Horndusk, and the request was granted when an air elemental arrived and delivered the book to her. The ceremony was to take place on the next new moon, but on the last night of the preceding full moon a horde of werewolves, followers of Malar the Beastlord, sacked the town. In the mayhem and confusion, a disgruntled priestess of Auril, Cefra Windrivver, removed the book from the high priestess's home and absconded into the night.[3]
After weeks of wandering, Cefra made careful contact with a tribe of bugbears and, through bribes and helpful applications of her magic, wheedled her way into the tribe, made a pact with the chief, and became their priestess. She converted the tribe to the worship of Auril, setting up an organization following her ideas of how things should be conducted.[3]
A possible sighting of the book was on Hammer 13, 1372 DR, by a survivor of a bugbear attack in the hills north of the Cold Wood in Luruar, north Faerûn. He reported seeing a woman in the distance holding a rectangular piece of white fur above her head as she shouted at the bugbears.[3]
The Codicil was later located at the fortress of Grimskalle on the island of Solstice in the Sea of Moving Ice during the Everlasting Rime.[4]
Appendix[]
Notes[]
- ↑ "The Glass House" in Dungeon #15 and Pages from the Mages both incorrectly state this book has 27 pages. This number is the title page, plus 13 pages of minor rituals and 13 pages of major ceremonies, leaving no room for the spells at the end. The "Magic Books of Faerûn" article revises this to 40 pages.
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Dungeon #15: "The Glass House" • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
- Video Games
- Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Wolfgang Baur (January/February 1989). “The Glass House”. In Barbara G. Young ed. Dungeon #15 (TSR, Inc.) (15)., p. 38.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Ed Greenwood, Tim Beach (November 1995). Pages from the Mages. Edited by Jon Pickens. (TSR, Inc.), p. 31. ISBN 0-7869-0183-7.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Sean K. Reynolds (2004-06-16). The Codicil of White. Magic Books of Faerûn. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-08-16. Retrieved on 2016-05-19.
- ↑ Christopher Perkins (September 2020). Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden. Edited by Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 212. ISBN 978-0786966981.