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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 8285860" data-attributes="member: 7635">This is still draft, apologies for typos or errors<h3>The Mesonoxian Archive</h3>Domain of Forbidden SecretsDarklord: Noctis, Codex infinita Tenebrae Responsories (Book of Unfathomable Darkness)Genre: Gothic Horror, Occult Mysteries, PsychologicalHallmarks: Forbidden Lore, Mysteries, OutcastsMist Talismans: Library Books, Symbol of Noctis, Library CardAlong a long, forsaken road stands an old manor house, looming on a hill over a quiet sleepy village. Inside the mansion lives an eccentric old collector and his vast collection of obscure books, tomes, and artifacts collected throughout the realms of the Mists. However, locked below in the vaults under the mansion is the true gems of the collection; a series of powerful and evil items kept preventing their use by those who would spread pain and misery.<h3>Noteworthy Features</h3>Those Familiar with the Mesonoxian Archive know these facts.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Blackwell Manor is an ancestral estate of the Blackwell family, a long line of successful academics. The site was once home to an elite Darkonese boarding school but has not accepted new students for many years.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dr Allister Blackwell was once a famous academic and monster hunter akin to Dr Van Richten, but suddenly retired to devote his time to the Archive. He has been known to hire travelers to retrieve rare tomes or relics for his collection.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Mesonoxian Archive is perhaps one of the greatest collections of lore known to mankind, with books ranging from the mundane to the exotic. The collection focuses on academic topics such as history, geography, medicine, sciences, as well as esoteric topics like religion, arcanology, alchemy, occult lore, and spiritualism.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dr Blackwell has only a few staff on hand; a butler, a maid, an archivist assistant, and a groundskeeper.</li> </ul><h3>Settlements and Sites</h3>Blackwell Estate. The largest building in the domain is a stately two-storied mansion located atop a gentle hill surrounded by wooded reaches. The Mansion’s dark stone and intricately carved grotesques give the building an ominous appearance. The mansion once could house multiple families, servants and guests, but in recent years is home only to Dr Allister Blackwell and a small collection of staff. As such, much of the house is darkened and dusty from disuse.Below the manor is the actual Archives where Dr Blackwell keeps the tomes and artifacts he has collected for safe keeping. It is here that Noctis is kept bound, slowly collecting its arsenal of items it hopes will one day allow it to break fee. Dr Blackwell forbids anyone from entering the underground archives without his consent.<h3>The Darklord</h3>Noctis began its existence, it is believed, as one of the many volumes of spells penned by the archlich Vecna. When he ascended to Godhood, some of the divine power of the God of Secret’s infused in his tome Codex infinita Tenebrae Responsories, or the Book of Unfathomable Darkness, giving it sentience. Its first desire was to seek additional knowledge, gathering all manner of dark knowledge to it and absorbing it into its pages. It also found it could influence others to aid it, manipulating them with promises of power, secrets, or desires as well as read their minds and unconsciously influencing their dreams. This sentience, which named itself Noctis, spent the next century collecting enough power and knowledge to itself ascend to godhood like its creator had. This raw desire drew the tome into the Mists.Intrigued by the dark nature it found itself in, it moved through the domains on the backs of hapless scholars, learning about the nature of the Mists, darklords, and the domains. It did not forget its original intentions either, and found the domain was full of dark secrets no mortal was meant to know. Eventually though, the book found itself in the possession of Dr Alister Blackwell. Dr Blackwell discovered the book’s inherent evil nature and vowed to find a way to destroy it. Noctis, amused by the good Doctor’s foolishness, watched as he failed in every attempt. The book even made Dr Blackwell an offer, it would allow him to learn the secrets of its own destruction if he only chose to open and read what was written in its pages. Dr Blackwell, knowing this was a trick, declined and instead used his ancestral mansion as home to lock away the evil book while he found a way to destroy it. The Mists rewarded the Doctor with the seclusion he sought when the lands around the Blackwell Estate became their own domain.Noctis remains in the heart of the Mesonoxian Archive, bound with powerful spells and wards that limit his ability to influence the domain it rules. This frustrates the book beyond all comprehension and it itself seeks to find the knowledge it needs to take control of its domain. To that end, it began influencing Dr Blackwell through dreams to collect other powerful evil artifacts and tomes of forbidden knowledge in the hopes of keeping them out of the hands of those who would use them for evil. Dr Blackwell has stored each item he has found in the Archive along with Noctis, who itself has studied these malevolent items. Eventually, Noctis believes it will learn the secret to taking control of its realm and then it can return to seeking divinity, while Dr Blackwell, an old man now, desperately seeks both the secret to destroy Noctis while also finding other powerful evil and stashing them safely where others cannot reach them.<h3>Noctis’ Powers and Dominion</h3>Trapped in the Archive, Noctis has limited influence while the good doctor still lives. That said, it’s not as powerless as Dr Blackwell had hoped.Forbidden Lore. Noctis’s pages are filled with all manner of dark secrets, moreso than its apparent size should reasonably contain. The exact extent of knowledge it offers is up to the DM but is rumored to contain the contents of the book of vile darkness, the manual of golems (any), as well as all spells in the Player’s Handbook.Sentience. The book is considered a sentient magical item with an 18 Intelligence, 14 Wisdom, and 14 Charisma. It can speak, read, and understand all known languages and communicate telepathically to any creature within 60 feet. It can also see and hear up to 60 feet.Mind Manipulation. The book can detect thoughts on any living creature who enters the Archive. Once per week, it can cast dream on any creature within the domain.Animation. The book can animate objects at will, most commonly itself to act like a tiny animated object. It can also animate other objects near it and use them to attack. The wards Dr Blackwell has placed has suppressed this ability.Indestructible. So far, all attempts to destroy the book have met with failure. It is immune to mundane effect like mold, water, or bookworms, and even if ripped, destroyed, or burned it reforms within 24 hours.<h3>Noctis’s Torment</h3>The biggest problem for Noctis is that thanks to the wards placed on it by Dr Blackwell, it lacks much of full power. It cannot animate itself or other objects, its ability to influence the minds of others is limited to mind-reading, telepathy and dreams, and it cannot even close its domain’s borders like other darklords.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Noctis is bound within the library archives, far the knowledge it craves. Only when new people or new things enter the archive can it learn something new, and that is an exceedingly rare occurrence.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Noctis feels Vecna has abandoned it to this cruel fate and believes when it is freed it will be able to challenge Vecna as the God of Secrets. As such, it cannot abide any mention of the archlich or its cult.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Noctis is not fully in control of its domain. It cannot close the borders of its domain and has limited influence on the going-ons of the domain. This further aggravates it, knowing it possesses these great powers and cannot exert them.</li> </ul><h3>Roleplaying Noctis</h3>Noctis acts dispassionate and aloof, but it has an extreme desire for knowledge and often voices displeasure at its current imprisonment. Above all, it seeks added information and enjoys debating others to understand what makes them tick, as well as to discern its dark secrets to use to manipulate them.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Personality: I seek to learn all I can about a topic or person.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ideal: Knowledge is the purest form of power.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bond: This library contains all the knowledge I have learned. It is a temple to my genius.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Flaw: My frustration sometimes leads my anger to override my intellectual dispassion.</li> </ul><h3>Other Denizens of the Mesonoxian Archive</h3>Dr. Allister Blackwell – Owner of the Blackwell estate, doctor, metaphysician, monster hunter, and keeper of the Mesonoxian Archives. He has gathered a group of potential recruits to assist in gathering some of the most dangerous artifacts, tomes, and relics in the domains and securing them for safe keeping. His most dangerous recovered item is a sentient, malevolent book called Noctis who has made his life’s work to destroy. He was prophesied by a Vistani he would die soon and hopes these recruits will be able to replace him as keeper of the Archives.Mr. Edgar Danforth– Butler and head servant of Dr. Blackwell. While his demeanor and speech befit a classically trained Mordentish butler, he harbors a dark secret; he was attacked decades ago and infected with lycanthropy. He keeps his urges in check, but on certain nights must excuse himself to safely hunt in the woods near the mansion.Ms. Margret Agnes – The head cook and maid of the estate. Ms Agnes became Allister’s servant after he saved her life from being burned as a witch by a fearful mob in Barovnia. She uses some of minor magics to aid in her domestic work and has a trove of lore on all manner of folk magic and witchcraft.Mrs. Katherine Lane – Allister’s personal secretary and archivist assistant, Katherine is haunted by the ghost of her husband Harold who died shortly after their wedding. Only Katherine can see or speak with Harold, but his occasional ghostly presence can be detected by eerie phenomenon like moving books or snuffed candles. Katherine is a cheery and pleasant sort but is utterly devoted to her dead husband and rarely does anything without consulting with him first.Anton Delarue - Anton is the groundskeeper of the Estate. He’s a man of few words, prefers solitude, works tirelelessly, and isn’t completely alive; he escaped Larmorida after being experimented on. He had no memories of his prior existence, except fleeting memories of a large prison built on the edge of a swamp.</blockquote>

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