希瑞经的英文版

he artifact known as cyrinishad is a large (1-foot-square)tome of raven-black leather embossed with a pattern of small grinning skulls and dark sunbursts against a twisting, warped background of torture and chaos. the book has golden hinges and clasps, and it is closed with a lock of unbreakable metal. the lock may be picked at a -15% penalty but cannot be shattered. the pages of this book are made of the flayed skins of the scribes of earlier, less-successful drafts of the tome. these interior pages are illuminated with strange, bestial designs imprinted on gold foil, and the text of the work is inscribed in bright red ink. once begun, it is a hard book to put down. at random times and for random durations, the book may emit an eerie green radiance, which flickers and seems strongest along the edges of opening pages.

history

the Cyrinishad reflects an attempt by the god Cyric to dominate the Realms and conquer the other great deific powers. as a result of the Time of Troubles, the power of a deity is directly related to the size and fervor of belief of his, her, or its followers. the Cyrinishad is a powerfully enchanted tome that causes the reader or listener to become a fanatical followers of other powers of the Realms to his faith, thereby destroying them and allowing him to attain the position of the only power in the Realms.

the Cyrinishad was finished after a great many drafts(397). its power was to be tested on Fzoul Chembryl, but the god Mask was impersonating him at the time and read the book in his stead. the tome was successful in weaving its web of lies into its reader's consciousness, and Mask only escaped its complete domination by excising portions of Masks own godly power. Any lesser creature would undoubtedly be totally ensnared by the power of this book.

the Cyrinishad was to be read to the people of Zhentil Keep, but(the real) Fzoul instead read a blasphemous text, the True Life of Cyric, that rebutted Cyric's dogma. the reading was the beginning of the destruction of Zhentil Keep. the real Cyrinishad was later entrusted to Rinda the Scribe, who had created it unwillingly under extreme coercion by Cyric. Rinda was rendered undetectable by the god Oghma(in a manner presumably similar to that of Alias of the Azure Bonds) and entrusted with keeping the book from the hands of Cyric and his followers.

Campaign Use

the Cyrinishad is one of the most dangerous books in the Realms. if it is read, it turns its reader into a fanatical follower of Cyric, who then seeks to spread the word of Cyric throughout the Realms. as a result, it is continually hunted by agents of the church of Cyric as well as other powers who wish to either utilize its power as a bargaining chip or destroy it utterly.

to make matters worse, there are a number of early drafts of the Cyrinishad that lack the magical powers of the final book. most of the early draft were destroyed(along with their scribes), but apparently one or two survived—at least in part—to make it into general circulation. this means the Cyrinishad sightings may occur throughout the Realms. these nonmagical drafts lack the artifact power of the true Cyrinishad, and they may be destroyed like any normal book.

Powers

constant. the reader of the Cyrinishad becomes a fanatical followers of Cyric. A successful saving throw vs. spell at a -4 penalty allows an individual to stop reading before the conclusion of the book. even a successful saving throw results in the reader being under the effect of a feeblemind spell until a heal or a wish spell is used to cure that condition.

those listening to the book read aloud are forced to make a saving throw vs. spell. those who make a successful saving throw immediately suffer the effects of a fear spell and seek to escape the speaker. those fail their saving throw(or those who cannot escape the reader's voice) become fanatical followers of Cyric.

those affected by the Cyrinishad believe all written within the book to be true: Cyric is the one true deific power of the Realms, supreme above all other deities, and the only individual worth venerating. priests of other deities immediately become clerics of Cyric.(Those with the necessary prerequisites may become specialty priests.) alignment of any convert changes immediately to chaotic evil, and such an individual continues to spread the good word of Cyric.

once a person is converted, only a full wish spell negates the effects of the Cyrinishad, and this only gains the individual a new saving throw vs. spell(with the feeblemind effects as noted above). creatures of godly nature may shed the effects of the book, but at the effective cost of one level of their power.(a lesser power becomes a demipower, and a demipower loses all godly power.) being affected once by the Cyrinishad does not provide immunization from the book—one may still be affected upon another reading.

Suggested Means of Destruction

the book must be immolated in a fire of absolute purity.

the book must be turned over to Ao himself, who will place the book(and its godly author) into a separate plane of existence.