Hidden in the rotten corners of the world are grimoires potent enough to drive a reader mad. Great power seeps from the pages, and even the most stalwart monk, sagacious wizard or noble knight risks his very sanity with the turn of every page. 

Here are eight of the foulest tomes every transcribed, ready to be found in the necromancer’s library:

1. Libermorbus: This seemingly innocuous book acts as a virus, piercing other tomes with tendrils of ink and replacing their stories with its own disturbed utterings. A creature who reads the text gains a knowledge of infectious madness, but also becomes a vector for its linguistic plague. 

2. The Putrid Tome: The Putrid Tome reeks of human waste and rotting flesh. Its curdled green pages rot flesh and putrefy the eyes, so it must be handled with the greatest care. A creature able to withstand its fetid words gains power over decay and disease.

3. The Rat’s Nest: The Rat’s Nest was written into the very fabric of the world, and cannot be unwritten. No matter how many copies are burned, the text continues to appears through arcane symbols in the filth of the world. A passing mage may notice patterns in grey mould spores or rat nests, and, fascinated by the strange runes, translate the scripture into legible text before succumbing to insanity. A creature who reads The Rat’s Nestlearns the secret of eternal life through the sacrifice of humanity.

4. The Sable Flame: The Sable Flame is at all times consumed by a black fire that burns all but its own pages. Souls devoured by the flame scream for release. A reader gains mastery over the creation of burning skeletons and other fiery undead.

5. Sacralexicon: The secrets within this book are enough to shatter the piety of even the most devout holy man. Each god listed in its infinite index is implicated on a single page of undeniable truths. A creature able to withstand its secrets and see past the rotten falsehoods at the core of every deity gains divine power beyond that of mere mortals.

6. The Sanguine Resurrection: The text in this apparently blank book only appears with a healthy dose of blood. Each of the thirteen chapters requires an entire human’s worth of blood and gore. It lists the process and ingredients needed for the resurrection of vampires and their ilk.

7. The Skin Tome: The words of this tome can only be tattooed on a living human’s flesh—they disappear if written on any other surface. As a result, the “book” is often chained down and gagged for study. While reading the text itself does not necessarily induce insanity, the steps necessary to acquire and study the human subject might. A reader gains insight into arcane suffering.

8. Vivomoira: Once read, Vivomoira is never silent. It whispers of betrayal, filling the reader with such paranoia that he eventually suspects his own skin and flesh. Suicide in self-defence is the most common cause of death. A reader gains knowledge into the raising of ghosts and incorporeal undead. 

6 Blasphemous Bookmarks

Terrible tome of forbidden lore often contain blasphemous, terrible bookmarks. Use the table below, to determine what bookmarks the PCs find in the book.

1.  This dried and cured tongue smells slightly of rot and decay. A rune of death is inscribed into the tongue. 

2. A slender wafer-thin sliver of bone—perhaps harvested from some unfortunate’s leg—has intricate images of torture and death carved into both sides. 

3. A mouldering finger complete with chipped, blackened nail. 

4. A thick strip of woven hair comprising contributions from a mixture of redheads and blondes. 

5. A single softly glowing white feather of almost unearthly beauty splattered with dried blood. Perceptive PCs may suspect this feather was plucked from some kind of celestial being—perhaps even an angel!

6. A thin silver chain affixed to a tarnished iron locket. The locket holds a minute portion of fine grey dust. 

Want More?

This article is an extract from GM's Miscellany: The Thingonomicon. Add the book to your GM’s toolkit today! Alternatively, check out the 20 Things Archive for more handy, flavoursome and time-saving 20 Things articles ready for immediate use in your campaign.