Luchalendril

Read to Players

“The store opens into something closer to a private library than a shop. The floor is dark wood, most of it covered by an olive green area rug that runs nearly wall to wall. Rows of shelves fill the room in every direction — books stacked and ordered, artifacts tucked between them, small framed illustrations hung wherever space allowed. Candles and hanging lanterns push the dark back without quite winning.

Near the front, a large wooden table holds perhaps ten books of different shapes and thicknesses. Most of them are bound with leather straps. Several have small locks with keys resting beside them. One has a lock with no key — a little folded card propped in front of it reading simply: No key. Two deep, padded armchairs sit close to the table like an open invitation. The kind of chairs that suggest sitting down and not hurrying.

On the wall to the left, a large sign reads:

Knowledge is Power.

Magic is Power.

Therefore,

Knowledge is Magic.

The old man standing behind the table turns at your entry. He is dressed entirely as you might imagine a wizard — tall blue hat, long blue robes, a staff of carved wood held loosely in one hand. A white beard falls to his chest. Glasses sit on his slightly hooked nose. He looks at you in the way of someone who has decided that most visitors are more interesting than they appear at first glance, and is willing to be proven right.”

Signs

"Things You Didn't Know — Rare Copies Only"

"Knowledge is Power. Magic is Power. Therefore, Knowledge is Magic."

"No key." — (small folded card, propped against the locked book on the front table)

Owner

Richard Baylor

Human (Male)

Old, with long white hair and a white beard that falls to his chest. Glasses rest on his slightly hooked nose. He dresses entirely as a wizard — tall pointy blue hat, long blue robes — because he believes knowledge and magic are one and the same, and he intends to look the part. He carries a decorative staff he purchased from Whittled Things. It does nothing. He doesn't care.

Richard does not perform eccentricity. He genuinely believes what the sign says. Knowledge is magic. He collects books of real importance and sells them only to people he judges to be serious about gaining it. Casual browsers he tolerates. Serious readers he lights up for. He will sometimes visit the theater and give speeches about history and heroics, then mention — somewhat too casually — that his shop carries the books behind the stories.

Books for Sale

Players can read approximately one chapter per night. These are not books for pleasure. They are dense, factual histories. The information in each chapter should be given to the players on the nights they read — not summarized in advance. Let the world reveal itself one sitting at a time.

Select a title to read its chapters.