Imascarcana [Archive] - Wizards Community

Imascarcana [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Dielzen
04-30-07, 09:49 PM The 1st and 5th are detailed in LEoF -- are there any more tidbits about the other 5 items? 2e locations are OK, I just don't feel like digging thru over 100 books to find it (and especially to not find it)
Dielzen
04-30-07, 09:53 PM Should state that I'm only interested in published sources, or comments from game designers, not homebrew stuff, tho a homebrew of an actual statted 1e/2e item would be ok as long as I know the original source.
Old Sage
04-30-07, 10:13 PM The First and Fifth Imaskarcana have been referenced in Lost Empires of Faerūn, and the Third is in Underdark. The others haven't been properly detailed as yet.

However, here's a little of what Steven Schend has said about the Seven Imaskarcana -

"[Mention of the Imaskarcana on the old WotC FR frontpage is] throwaway stuff to add flavor and depth to the setting, as we can't possibly detail everything of importance across all times in the Realms. After all, we can't easily name every piece of regalia for the crown of England across 933 years thanks to Cromwell's melting down of much of it; now why should we be able to identify and catalogue every important item across hundreds of realms, all long since fallen? Anyway, that's the rationale for dropping in legendary items - they are sometimes among the few tidbits we've got on various people and places.
As for who/what the Seven Imaskarcana were/are, here are my theories and obfuscations:
While their contents and forms are much disputed, the Seven Imaskarcana are inarguably seven great stores of knowledge about magic, thus the name.
Some contend that the arcana collectively contain the knowledge of the Imaskari/Raurinese sorcerer-kings (or whatever their title may be, for each sage coins titles anew with each writing).
Many have theorized that the Seven Imaskarcana provide total understanding and much lost lore on each school of magic save Necromancy. While this supposes the existence of an eighth or further Imaskarcana, the few who entered the Plains of Purple Dust to prove this theory have never returned to add to the lore.
Many others have supposed that they each held the history of an age of Raurin, and the end of the Seventh Imaskari Age led to its destruction and the birth of the Old Empires.
Still others suppose that each of the Seven holds innumerable secrets of magic, though they correspond to the humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, dragons, and a seemingly lost race of aquatic creatures.
All of these theories above suggest that the Imaskarcana were massive great-tomes bound in slate covers lined with blue dragon's skin, though the makeup of the pages was said to be vellum, the skin of humans or elves or even tanar'ri, or even crystal that was given the flexibility of paper without the weaknesses. Only a few sages think of these artifacts otherwise, though there are an isolated few from Thay who so dare.
The strangest suggestion, made by one Thamaultadh of Tyraturos, implies that the Seven Imaskarcana are not items or storehouses of lore so much as they are great menhirs of stone embedded with great magics and now lost in the Great Desert of Raurin. His theories, contained only in his notebooks (now safely ensconsed in Candlekeep after 480 years), suggest that the Imaskarcana projected a magical barrier around the Imaskari lands, protecting it from invasion by magical forces. He further supposed this was why the genies of Calim and Memnon settled Calimshan rather than the Inner Sea. The Seven lay in the western sands of the desert and were all that remained of a series of 28 menhirs that bordered the Imaskari's claimed lands.
Thamaultadh's own apprentice and seventh son refuted his father's strange theory with one equally bizarre: The Seven Imaskarcana are neither books nor menhirs, though they could conceivably be both stores of knowledge and magical defenses of the Imaskar lands. Synnaros of the Twelve Tomes proposed that the Seven Imaskarcana were, in fact, seven massive but identical statues placed in various places now buried within the borders of the Raurin Desert. These golem-like statues appeared as sages sitting with an open tome upon their laps. Should folk uncover or find one of the Imaskarcana, they could ask questions of it, and it would provide any knowledge that it held.
Elminster's surprisingly close-mouthed about the truth of the matter, so he either doesn't know the answer or simply enjoys dribbling enough lore to whet the appetite without fully sating it. He did smirk about Synnaros' theory, and said
"I have seen one of these giant stone sages of Imaskar, aye. Whether it be one of Seven or an Imaskarcana at all is for someone of more rarified interest than mine own. Of course, ye can only get answers out of it if ye know the tongue of the Imaskari, for it only recognizes that tongue. There be only one Faerunian living or dead who might teach it to ye, and he's hardly one to welcome ye for a lesson while he wanders about the Underhalls......"
Is that sufficient for peoples' curiosities on these stray references? We'll probably never know more officially until we turn our attentions to that corner of Faerun again.....sometime in the distant future......
Steven Schend
Senior Designer, Role-Playing R&D
Who knows better than to give away too much about the Great Staff of the Blackcloak or the Sable Gauntlet of the Black Lord.......... "
Old Sage
04-30-07, 10:14 PM The Seventh Imaskarcana is partially alluded to in the LEoF web enhancement -

"... the Seventh Imaskarcana—a fabled artifact of ancient Imaskar that resembles a large, golden key—is an appropriate choice. The Seventh Imaskarcana holds the entire body of Imaskari knowledge about creating permanent extradimensional spaces, and it also has additional powers that are left to your discretion."
Dielzen
04-30-07, 10:49 PM Thanks much....I'm assuming no 2e "stats" ?
Old Sage
04-30-07, 11:10 PM Not as such, no.
Iakhovas
05-01-07, 09:19 AM Dragon Magazine 281 has an article entitled Imaskarcana: Faces of Magic which describes seven arcane masks known as the Faces of Madness, which were once thought to be the seven imaskarcana. We know now these are not the true imaskarcana but it's a fun read nonetheless.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Dielzen 04-30-07, 09:49 PM	The 1st and 5th are detailed in LEoF -- are there any more tidbits about the other 5 items? 2e locations are OK, I just don't feel like digging thru over 100 books to find it (and especially to not find it)
Dielzen 04-30-07, 09:53 PM	Should state that I'm only interested in published sources, or comments from game designers, not homebrew stuff, tho a homebrew of an actual statted 1e/2e item would be ok as long as I know the original source.
Old Sage 04-30-07, 10:13 PM	The First and Fifth Imaskarcana have been referenced in Lost Empires of Faerūn, and the Third is in Underdark. The others haven't been properly detailed as yet. However, here's a little of what Steven Schend has said about the Seven Imaskarcana - "[Mention of the Imaskarcana on the old WotC FR frontpage is] throwaway stuff to add flavor and depth to the setting, as we can't possibly detail everything of importance across all times in the Realms. After all, we can't easily name every piece of regalia for the crown of England across 933 years thanks to Cromwell's melting down of much of it; now why should we be able to identify and catalogue every important item across hundreds of realms, all long since fallen? Anyway, that's the rationale for dropping in legendary items - they are sometimes among the few tidbits we've got on various people and places. As for who/what the Seven Imaskarcana were/are, here are my theories and obfuscations: While their contents and forms are much disputed, the Seven Imaskarcana are inarguably seven great stores of knowledge about magic, thus the name. Some contend that the arcana collectively contain the knowledge of the Imaskari/Raurinese sorcerer-kings (or whatever their title may be, for each sage coins titles anew with each writing). Many have theorized that the Seven Imaskarcana provide total understanding and much lost lore on each school of magic save Necromancy. While this supposes the existence of an eighth or further Imaskarcana, the few who entered the Plains of Purple Dust to prove this theory have never returned to add to the lore. Many others have supposed that they each held the history of an age of Raurin, and the end of the Seventh Imaskari Age led to its destruction and the birth of the Old Empires. Still others suppose that each of the Seven holds innumerable secrets of magic, though they correspond to the humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, dragons, and a seemingly lost race of aquatic creatures. All of these theories above suggest that the Imaskarcana were massive great-tomes bound in slate covers lined with blue dragon's skin, though the makeup of the pages was said to be vellum, the skin of humans or elves or even tanar'ri, or even crystal that was given the flexibility of paper without the weaknesses. Only a few sages think of these artifacts otherwise, though there are an isolated few from Thay who so dare. The strangest suggestion, made by one Thamaultadh of Tyraturos, implies that the Seven Imaskarcana are not items or storehouses of lore so much as they are great menhirs of stone embedded with great magics and now lost in the Great Desert of Raurin. His theories, contained only in his notebooks (now safely ensconsed in Candlekeep after 480 years), suggest that the Imaskarcana projected a magical barrier around the Imaskari lands, protecting it from invasion by magical forces. He further supposed this was why the genies of Calim and Memnon settled Calimshan rather than the Inner Sea. The Seven lay in the western sands of the desert and were all that remained of a series of 28 menhirs that bordered the Imaskari's claimed lands. Thamaultadh's own apprentice and seventh son refuted his father's strange theory with one equally bizarre: The Seven Imaskarcana are neither books nor menhirs, though they could conceivably be both stores of knowledge and magical defenses of the Imaskar lands. Synnaros of the Twelve Tomes proposed that the Seven Imaskarcana were, in fact, seven massive but identical statues placed in various places now buried within the borders of the Raurin Desert. These golem-like statues appeared as sages sitting with an open tome upon their laps. Should folk uncover or find one of the Imaskarcana, they could ask questions of it, and it would provide any knowledge that it held. Elminster's surprisingly close-mouthed about the truth of the matter, so he either doesn't know the answer or simply enjoys dribbling enough lore to whet the appetite without fully sating it. He did smirk about Synnaros' theory, and said "I have seen one of these giant stone sages of Imaskar, aye. Whether it be one of Seven or an Imaskarcana at all is for someone of more rarified interest than mine own. Of course, ye can only get answers out of it if ye know the tongue of the Imaskari, for it only recognizes that tongue. There be only one Faerunian living or dead who might teach it to ye, and he's hardly one to welcome ye for a lesson while he wanders about the Underhalls......" Is that sufficient for peoples' curiosities on these stray references? We'll probably never know more officially until we turn our attentions to that corner of Faerun again.....sometime in the distant future...... Steven Schend Senior Designer, Role-Playing R&D Who knows better than to give away too much about the Great Staff of the Blackcloak or the Sable Gauntlet of the Black Lord.......... "
Old Sage 04-30-07, 10:14 PM	The Seventh Imaskarcana is partially alluded to in the LEoF web enhancement - "... the Seventh Imaskarcana—a fabled artifact of ancient Imaskar that resembles a large, golden key—is an appropriate choice. The Seventh Imaskarcana holds the entire body of Imaskari knowledge about creating permanent extradimensional spaces, and it also has additional powers that are left to your discretion."
Dielzen 04-30-07, 10:49 PM	Thanks much....I'm assuming no 2e "stats" ?
Old Sage 04-30-07, 11:10 PM	Not as such, no.
Iakhovas 05-01-07, 09:19 AM	Dragon Magazine 281 has an article entitled Imaskarcana: Faces of Magic which describes seven arcane masks known as the Faces of Madness, which were once thought to be the seven imaskarcana. We know now these are not the true imaskarcana but it's a fun read nonetheless.