Item: The Library Between Names

Wondrous Item (unique), legendary, soulbound

This unassuming leather-bound tome appears to most as a blank journal, worn but well-maintained, with no title upon its cover. The spine bears only a single embossed symbol: a quill crossed over a half-mask.

To any reader save its true author or chosen heir, the pages remain utterly empty—resisting ink, magic, or scrying. The enchantment binding the book is woven from layered illusions, subtle soul-threading, and a deep resonance with the identity of the one known as Tallis Thorne—and, more crucially, the one he was before.

Properties:

• Soulbound Sincerity
  Only Tallis Thorne can view, write, or alter its true contents. Others see only blank parchment.

• Conditional Revelation
  Upon the confirmed death of Tallis Thorne, the book may reveal its contents once—but only to the individual he has designated as his Narrative Heir. This person must present one of the following:

  • A signed page containing Tallis’s true name
  • A keepsake of shared importance bound in his essence (such as a harp string from Gloriana or a journal fragment)
  • Or the answer to a riddle only Tallis and the heir would know (e.g., “What name did I give the owl who wasn’t mine?”)

• Memory Seal
  Until the correct heir opens it, the book cannot be copied, quoted, or remembered in detail by any who glance at it—even momentarily.

• Scribe of the Self
  While attuned, Tallis can summon the book to his side with a whispered phrase:

  “I forget myself, therefore I write.”
  The book will resist any other command.

• Final Page
  The last page is always blank, except for a glowing line that reads:

  “The story only ends if you stop telling it.”

Failsafe Trigger – The False Memoirs of Tallis Thorne

If opened prematurely or by an unauthorised reader, The Library Between Names activates Thorne’s Veil, a deeply woven illusion designed to obscure its real contents.

“The Illustrated Life of the Honourable (and Occasionally Humble) Tallis Thorne, Master of Absolutely Everything”

This false memoir is a dazzling, absurdly exaggerated account of Tallis's fabricated life, including:

• Being born from a falling star into the arms of a dragon-midwife.
• A romantic relationship with the personification of Time.
• Rule over a moon made entirely of enchanted cheese.
• Founding the University of Exaggerated Truths, where students duel with metaphors.

The book is filled with footnotes from “Future Tallis” correcting “Past Tallis”, and spellbound illustrations that animate dramatically when the reader yawns.

Magical Effects:

• All divinations show the text as true.
• All insight checks fail unless made by someone with a deep, personal connection to Tallis.
• Attempts to remove or alter the book trigger bardic illusions, sarcasm, and increasingly rude musical notes.