Session 36

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The Book That Should Not Be (2025-04-26)

Trust and Warnings

• Siz presses Archivist Sal to formally swear that no debt or bond is attached to the books the party has selected.
• Sal complies with a solemn vow "by ink, dust, and duty," reaffirming that the texts are given freely and safely.
• This relieves Siz, though she continues to caution: "Offer no names. Accept no food or drink."
• Det jokes nervously about books eating people, to which Sal replies with a grin, "Only one ever borrowed people for tea."

The Nature of the Card

• Det asks about the mysterious card—whether it travels through time or steals souls.
• Sal explains it is an anchor, not a traveler or trap. It "sings when the right hand stirs its strings" and cannot be silenced once heard.
• Chimes blarps philosophically: "So my true name isn't Chimes! Got it!"

Searching the Library

• The group discusses whether to split up, but Chimes warns, "Never split the group!"
• They agree to stay together and begin searching, but the library’s vastness and its uncanny way of presenting personalised books to each person makes it difficult.
• Mia is overwhelmed by books about flight, tieflings, and starship design. Det finds strange books like *Warlock of Firetop Mountain* and *Starship Traveller*.
• Siz notices a peculiar title: The Card, the Book, and the Spell. The cover depicts a Tiefling, Ysoki, and Human—all giving a thumbs up.

The Substrate Codex

• Mia eventually finds it—the book described in Det’s vision:

 - Dark red binding, glowing glyphs, unnaturally heavy.
 - Clinical descriptions of reality unraveling.
 - Diagrams show how space itself might decay or reshape under certain conditions.
 - Some passages are censored with warnings like: *“Unstable. Do not attempt replication.”*
 - The book includes mathematical formulas describing thresholds for nanite blooming and dimensional collapse.

• Substrate Codex confirmed as the name of the book.

Departure and Questions Unanswered

• Siz suggests packing up and reading the book later, as the environment remains unnerving.
• Mia remarks the book may not be truly understood without finding Magrete Steel.
• Det wonders aloud whether the elusive elf who gave them the card—Aib—will appear again.
• Sal confirms such a person is formally banned from the library. When Det names him, Sal visibly tenses: "HIM."
• Siz adds: "Smells of fudge."
• Mia adds: "Finger-gunning, annoying, never explaining anything."
• Sal appears disturbed that he doesn’t remember why Aib is forbidden—"and things never elude me."