JAN 21: Abandoned Library

The north-east corridor from JAN 16 leads to this area. This room is 15 yards wide and 15 yards long. The area is lit by torches on the walls, but only sporadically (-4 Darkness penalty).

This big square room has smooth grey stone walls, floor and ceiling. This area is where the oldest residents of the floor used to store books, maps, papers and scholarly instruments. Most of the central space is rows of bookshelves, breaking sight lines. Writing desks are lined along the walls of the room, littered with sheets of papers that are defaced with meaningless artwork and useless rambling diatribes. Someone left a bunch of mummified heads on the desks, too.

The three big bookshelves are full of the expected items, see the list below. Anything worth more than $200 is chained (DR 2, HP 10) to the shelves to deter thieves.

• 12 primers on common knowledge (each primer is worth $25 and weighs 3 lbs, a primer teaches a skill well enough for an adventurer to spend 1 Character Point learning it without training expenses). The common knowledge skills taught are Camouflage, Cartography, Diagnosis, First Aid, Fishing, Gambling, Heraldry, Merchant, Naturalist, Occultism, Performance, and Writing.
• One book (3 lbs.) looks like a treatise on a common topic, but is really a magical item. It will answer one question asked of it once per week. Answers will be cryptic but always truthful.
• 5 tomes written in Common (+1 bonus to skill, $500, 12 lbs) that teach the following skills; Pickpocketing, Traps, Hidden Lore (Spirits), Counterfeiting, and Lockpicking.
• One annotated map of the region (not the dungeon itself but the wilderness surrounding it, +1 Navigation, worth $200 and weighing 0.1 lb).
• One tome that is written in code (deciphering the code requires the help of a sage or a Hidden Lore (Lost Civilisation)-10 roll, +1 bonus to skill, $250, 12 lbs) that teaches the Thaumatology skill.
• One huge wizardly spellbook written in the Ancient Language ($360, 12 lbs.) that teaches the following spells; Banish, Death Vision, Sense Spirit, Summon Spirit, Turn Spirit, and Repel Spirits.
• One Dwarven textbook engraved on metal sheets in Dwarven (never burns or suffers water damage, $500, 12 lbs), teaching the Prospecting skill.
• One book (6 lbs.) looks like a well-made tome on obscure lore. In fact, it is cursed. The soul of the previous owner is trapped in the book. This spirit will attempt to possess (skill-15 versus Will, Sanctity for Evil affects the spell) or coerce (Intimidation and Fast-Talk both at level 16) the next owner to achieve its own personal goals.
• 13 textbooks on obscure topics (each worth $100 and weighing 6 lbs). These textbooks teach the Ancient Language, Alchemy, Forgery, the Faerie/Druidic Language, Hidden Lore (Magic Items), Hidden Lore (Magical Writings), Sleight of Hand, Holdout, Shadowing, Speed-Reading, the Elvish Language, the Draconic Language and Surgery.

There is a north-western corridor (1 yards wide and 7 yards long, locked standard door) that goes to another room. To the north, there’s another corridor (1 yards wide and 8 yards long, unlocked standard door) going to another area. On the north-east corner of the room, there is yet another corridor (1 yards wide and 8 yards long, unlocked standard door) to a third area.