better forgotten.
- Baltasar Gracian,
The Art of Worldly Wisdom
This realm symbolizes Chardath's intellect. It takes the form of a large library where every volume is a memory of some event in the life of Aggarath's demilord.
When the characters first arrive in the Ninth Facet, the Dungeon Master should read the following text aloud:
You stand on the floor of what appears to be unusual library. The room itself is no more than a wide, curving hallway thatstreches out of sight in both directions. Shelves of leather-bound books line both walls.From where you stand, there seems to be no end to this collection of unusual volumes.
The ceiling of this library is some ten feet above the floor. It appears to be nothing more than a brilliant white light which throws its harsh glare across everything below. Looking at thi light, even indirectly, proves painful.
Mood and Atmosphere
As a realm of logic, reason, and memory, the Ninth Facet is a cold, sterile place. The Dungeon Master should play this up by making every description in this land harsh and exacting.
Each and every volume in this library holds within it a single memory from the tragic life of Chardath Spulzeer. Though individual books are not arranged in any order (at least, none that the heroes can decipher), they are roughly grouped chronologically.
When one of the characters examines a tome, either by looking at it or picking it up, the Dungeon Master should read the following text aloud:
This volume is a masterpiece of the bookbinding craft. The soft, fine leather cover is rich and elegant. The pages are neat, even, and gilded, giving the book something of a glow. Subtle traces of Celtic knotwork run along the edges and down the spine, forming an intricate, almost hypnotic patterm.
And yet, there is something amiss.
Nowhere on the cover or spine of this weighty tome can you find a title or author's name. Indeed, none of the books in this library have writing on their covers. There are all outwardly identical to this one.
Finding a specific book among all these duplicates would be nothing short of impossible.
Should someone open one of the books, he discovers that the pages inside are utterly devoid of writing. The entire book contains only blank, creamy-white pages.
Attempts to write in one of these books fail. The pages cannot be marked in any way. Further, they are immune to harm, whether of a magical or physical nature.
Reading Magic: Only one way exists to access the memories stored in these books. If a character casts read magic upon one of the tomes, he instantly experiences the memory stored in the book. (The five portal books described under "Exiting this Facet" are an exception.)
When a hero experiences one of Chardath's memories, it becomes a permanent part of his own history. He remembers the events exactly as if they had happened to him. This memory is disjointed, however, for many aspects of it are not complete... For example, the hero may see faces he cannot identify, but that feel familiar (because they are known to Chardath). The whole effect is rather like walking into a play after it has started. With no knowledge of what has come before it, the experience is confusing at best.
The sudden insertion of a memory into the character's mind results in extreme disorientation. For ten minutes (one turn), the character is utterly helpless and almost catatonic. At the end of that time, he must roll a madness check. The effects of failing such a check should be tailored to reflect the implanted memory.
Exactly which memory is stored in a given volume should be determined by the Dungeon Master using the background information presented in Chardath's character description at the end of this book. Depending upon where in the hallway the volume came from (see "Exploring the Hallway," below), the memory comes from a given point in Chardath's life.
In theory, a determined character could piece together a fairly clear understanding of Chardath's history by moving through the library and absorbing memories. Of course, the effect on that character's sanity is not likely to be a good one.
As in all of Aggarath, a compass or other conventional navigational device proves useless in the Ninth Facet. The hall extends in only two directions, however, so the heroes cannot get lost in it no matter how hard they try.
Although it has no physical boundaries, the library can be broken into a number of sections. Each takes about half an hour to walk through. The following chart indicates the breakdown of the library. The player characters are assumed to have arrived at the midpoint of the library, more or less where sections five and six meet.
| Section Number |
Period of Chardath's Life |
|
| 1 | Infant | |
| 2 | Toddler | |
| 3 | Child | |
| 4 | Adolescent | |
| 5 | Teenager | |
| 6 | Young Adult | |
| 7 | Adult* | |
| 8 | Adult** | |
| 9 | Adult*** | |
| 10 | Demilord |
* The period before the murder of his sister, Marble.
** The period of madness after the murder of Marble but
before the events described in Castle Spulzeer.
*** The time during the events of Castle Spulzeer (in
Chardarth's character description, the period involving
the adventurng party).
The Past: The heroes arrive in the hallway at the point in Chardath's memory halfway between his birth and the present. If they walk along the hallway in a counter-clockwise direction (recall that it curves), they move further into Chardath's past.
After an hour or so of walking, they reach a point where the books look a little tattered and faded. At this point, they have moved into regions where Chardath's memory has begun to fail him - recollections long past and only half remembered.
Another half hour of walking brings the heroes to a place where the books have deteriorated into crumbling ruins. These are the nearly forgotten recollections of his early childhood and infancy.
Further travel eventually brings the characters to the end of the library. Without warning, the shelves in this area, which now hold little more than clumps of moldering pages, suddenly come to an end. In fact, so does the hall itself. A curtain of darkness marks the start of Chardath's life. Before that, there is only nonexistence. Should any character attempt to move into this darkness, he finds that some sort of forcefield prevents him.
The Future: Moving in a clockwise direction from their starting point, the characters travel forward in time through Chardath's memories. Eventually, they reach that part of the library which stores Chardath's most recent memories.
As the characters traveled into the past, the books became older and more worn. As they move forward, the books become warped and twisted. This is a reflection of the changes in Chardath's mind and the madness that gnaws at his spirit.
By the time the characters reach his most recent memories, the volumes are almost amorphous blobs. To be sure, they can still be opened and examined as books, but their shapes are irregular, the pages are not aligned, and so on. All of the order found earlier in the library has been lost.
At the leading edge of Chardath's memory, beyond the most recent set of recollections, the hallway ends in a curtain of wildly scintillating light. This swirl of patterns and colors may remind wizards of the hypnotic pattern spell.
Beyond this barrier is the future. Like the darkness at the other end of the library, it is a door to oblivion. Characters cannot steps through this barrier.
As the characters explore the library, the voice of their mentor speaks to them again:
"Be careful where you tread, my friends. Your journey has brought you to a place of subtle perils. There are answers all around you, if only you have the keys to unloock them. But take care: the perils of the past are everywhere in this place. Do not ask questions unless you are willing to learn the answers."
The only way to recover this facet's magical gem, an unusually cut nine-sided ruby, is through reliving one of Chardath's memories. The first character who experiences a memory, after recovering his senses, recalls having picked up an unusual stone. He cannot remember where or when or how, only that he did. Checking his pockets or backpack, he finds the ruby.
If no character experiences one of Chardath's memories, then no ruby is found.
Five of the books in this library are exits from this place. Unfortunately, they look exactly like all the others. Only a detect magic spell can reveal the magical portals. As soon as such an enchantment is woven, the five books glow brightly.
Dungeon Masters should note that it is not necessary to cast the spell directly on the books. Whenever a spell of this sort is cast anywhere in the facet, the books light up- They continue to glow, each in its own color, for about ten minutes. When that time has passed, the glow fades away and they are again impossible to find.
At the Dungeon Master's discretion, the characters may locate these special volumes with an augury, find the path, or other informational spell, if the heroes are stuck, the DM should give them a break.
When one of the portal books is opened, the entire party is pulled through it. No matter where they are or what they are doing, every member of the adventuring group instantly finds himself in a conduit leading away from the Ninth Facet.
The following table indicates the facets to which each conduit leads:
| Book Color |
Destination Facet |
|
| White | 12 | |
| Purple | 7 | |
| Amber | 10 | |
| Yellow | 5 | |
| Gray | 11 |
