Chapter 286 Extra Chapter: Nether's Scroll

A largely destroyed artifact from the Forgotten Realms Canon, one of the official Dungeons & Dragons canons.

NetherScrolls: 100 golden scrolls issued by the Netherese in the ruins of Arivandar. There are two sets of Nether scrolls, each containing fifty scrolls. There is a whole group of golden beech trees located deep in the Tower of Windsong in the ruins of Myth Drannor, called Ques y'Tlansivar (the Golden Grove of Hidden Knowledge).

PS: This group is also confirmed to be destroyed in the official 3R module. The other group had been broken up and most were lost. At least until the Year of Moonfall, there are three scrolls located in the Halls of Mists beneath the Grandfather Tree of the High Forest. The other two are located in Hessak's Crypt, which lies beneath the sands of the western Bison Desert. A few of the remaining scrolls have been destroyed, and the location and current status of those that remain are unknown.

Each scroll is an 8-inch by 10-inch sheet of thin gold foil, as flexible as paper. The silver magic writing slowly moves on its surface, as if it is alive. The small size of the scroll belies the vast amount of information contained within it. As long as one "page" of content is read, the writing will rotate and move on the page, reorganizing the content of the next page. Overall, it takes about a month of dedicated study to read a single Nether scroll.

The Nether Scrolls became the basis of magical theory in Faerûn today. Although not directly, in fact since the rise of Netheril, all mages who specialize in any area of ​​the arcana have gained their knowledge from the Netherese Scrolls. Of course, much of the information contained in these scrolls is considered common sense by Faerûn's magical community. Nonetheless, the Nether Scrolls contain a wealth of information that will be helpful to any student of the arcana.

A deep understanding of the arcana can be gained by reading just one Nether scroll. After any character reads one, his or her chosen arcane spellcasting profession will immediately gain a level. (That is, its overall experience points will be at the midpoint of its new level).

The Nether Scrolls are divided into five chapters, each covering a different aspect of the arcana. After a character manages to read the ten scrolls in that chapter, he or she will gain additional benefits, the nature of which depends on the topic being read. Chapters of the Nether Scrolls

and the benefits provided are described below.

Introduction to the Arcane (Basic Principles of Magic): +30 talent bonus on Observation spell checks; +1 saving throw DC for all arcane spells.

Magical Creation (Creation Spell): Three additional item creation feats; the experience cost to create any magic item is 75% of the original cost.

Greater Creation (Advanced Creation): Gain the ability to create constructs (see Monster Map, page 303) as a bonus feat; any golems or other constructs you create gain maximum hit points.

Plane Mechanics (Plane Study): Can use plane transport as the spell of the same name, once per day; ignores any harmful or debilitating planar environmental effects.

Arcane Discourse (Artifact Making): Unknown. This chapter of the Nether Scroll is generally believed to teach how to create artifacts. However, some kind of additional key was needed to unlock the scrolls, and the casters of the Windsong Tower never discovered it.

The benefits gained from studying a specific chapter are only valid for the character's arcane spellcasting class. For example, if a 15th-level cleric/5th-level wizard studies a greater scroll of creation and attempts to create a golem using holy spells, the golem will not have maximum hit points.

Blinding aura, school of transmutation; caster level 40th; weight 1 pound (per scroll). (End of chapter)