Mind-Control Bookshelf

Stub-class article · First seen: s06 · Last seen: s06
Mind-Control Bookshelf
the bookshelf · the talking bookshelf · the Warrens bookshelf
Portrait of Mind-Control Bookshelf.
Item
StatusActive
First seens06
Last seens06

The Mind-Control Bookshelf is a talking bookshelf full of scrolls in a room south of the storeroom in the Warrens, met in session 6. It called Terry by name and promised “many secrets stories untold”, then made Caelumn kneel in worship when he walked in [12][14][9]. Hugo dragged Caelumn out by the leg, and the party left the shelf standing and its scrolls unread [10][11]. What it is, who made it and what the scrolls say are still unknown.

Overview

The Mind-Control Bookshelf is a talking bookshelf of scrolls in a room south of the storeroom where the party long-rested in the Warrens [8][1]. It offers secrets to whoever comes near, and it bent Caelumn’s will until he knelt to it. The party met it once, in session 6, pulled him out of its grip and left it unread and unbroken [9][10][11].

Description

A shelf “full of scrolls”, with a sarcophagus “kind of barring the doorway” [1]. It speaks, and it began by addressing Terry by name: “come closer Terry”, “we got secrets”, “many secrets stories untold” [12][13][14]. Whether the others could hear it was not settled [15][16]. A second shelf of “very, very dusty scrolls” turned up later in a room of the Maze of the Minotaur [17]; nothing says that it speaks.

Mechanics (as played)

  • The compulsion. Entering the room called for a Wisdom save. Caelumn failed on 10, spent Heroic Inspiration to reroll, and failed again on 12; the DM gave no difficulty class [18]. The result: “you start to grovel in front of the bookshelf it’s so beautiful all that knowledge, you just want to be closer to it. Nothing else matters. Only the bookshelf matters. You are a follower of the bookshelf.” [9].
  • Reach. Hugo took hold of Caelumn from the doorway, without entering, on a Strength check of 20, and the DM did not ask Caelumn for a save [19]. Freed, Caelumn asked to go back: “I feel so lost without the bookshelf Put me back” [20].
  • Table reasoning. Hugo and Terry reasoned that anyone who went in to burn it would end up on their knees [21][22]. That is a prediction by players, not a ruling.

Open questions

  • Who or what made it, and what the scrolls say. Nobody read them [23].
  • Whether it hides something. Caelumn thought so and said at the start of session 7 that he still wanted to go back [6]; that is a player’s hunch.

History in the campaign

Session 6: Maze of the Minotaur and the Titan

Main article: Session 6

Caelumn asked whether the party would carry on south, and Hugo had already looked into the next room [8][24]. As Terry stepped in, a voice told him to come closer, and an Arcana check of 16 told him that “bookshelves normally don’t talk to people”, so he backed out [25][12][26]. Caelumn went in and was captured on two failed saves [27][28]. Hugo hauled him out by the leg [19]. Vasquez proposed burning the shelf, but the party chose to walk away [29][11].

Session 7: Maelis Falls, Vasquez Captured

Main article: Session 7

The bookshelf did not appear in play, only in the table’s talk. Opening the session with his recap of session 6, Caelumn told it as the mind-controlling shelf that everyone else was too scared to approach, so he went in as “the designated sacrifice” and was dragged out [6]. Later, teasing about who had nearly got whom killed, he said “I nearly killed myself with the bookshelf, not anyone else.” [7].

Status

As of session 23. Abandoned and not destroyed, presumably still in its room in the Warrens. The scrolls remain unread, and no session after the seventh goes back to it [11][6].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 6, line 1025: First seen (a bookshelf full of scrolls in a room south of the storeroom).
  2. ^ Session 6, line 1041-1054: The voice that calls Terry closer, and his Arcana check.
  3. ^ Session 6, line 1071-1078: Caelumn fails his Wisdom save on 10, then on a rerolled 12, and is made a follower of the bookshelf.
  4. ^ Session 6, line 1086-1087: Hugo pulls Caelumn out by the leg from the doorway.
  5. ^ Session 6, line 1101-1118: The party debates burning it and walks away; never destroyed.
  6. ^ Session 7, line 22: Caelumn's recap of session 6 at the start of session 7; he wants to go back.
  7. ^ Session 7, line 946: Caelumn's aside, "I nearly killed myself with the bookshelf".
  8. ^ Session 6, line 1021: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 6, line 1078: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 6, line 1087: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 6, line 1118: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 6, line 1041: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 6, line 1044: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 6, line 1045: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 6, line 1046: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 6, line 1047: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 6, line 1345: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 6, line 1067-1078: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 6, line 1084-1087: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 6, line 1100: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 6, line 1103: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 6, line 1106: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 6, line 1089-1097: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 6, line 1022: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 6, line 1035: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 6, line 1054: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 6, line 1059: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 6, line 1069-1078: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 6, line 1101-1110: Inline citation.
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