Compendium of Avak-Horsh the Unwise


Although the original Compendium of Avak-Horsh the Unwise was reduced to its component elements in the stomach acids of of Urex-Shamog, King of the Manion Devils, at least three copies of this dreaded tome have surfaced in recent times.  The most complete copy can be found in Blackhawk City, in the private library of Draculoid X.  It is reported that only the third appendix is omitted from his particular copy.  A slim volume containing only chapters one through six was in the possession of Miranda Starbeam when both went missing in the vicinity of the Shunned Towns.  The third copy, apparently including only the even numbered chapters, has recently been seen for sale among the Limb Traders.  It seems this copy is somehow incorporated into the arm of a mutate, as if the wretch was born with an eldritch tome where its left hand should rightly be.

 

An examination of all known references to the Compendium suggest that a full copy should contain twelve chapters, each chapter detailing a single invocation of great power.  So potent are these enchantments that scholars suggest that Avak-Horsh began compiling this text under the working title Top Ten World-Conquering Spells, a project he is said to have begun even while attending Madame Zara's Finishing School for the Thaumaturgically Gifted.  The four known appendices include a pronunciation guide for various demonic names, a list of possible locations for the lost jewel of Argon, a collection of magic circles and glyphs, and three different recipes for gooseberry pie.  The last owner of the original Compendium noted that at least three pages had been torn from the back of the book, so at least one more appendix may remain unknown to the world.

 

-Jenrad the Least