Books, Scrolls, and Notes

Books, Scrolls, and Notes are readable items found in Betrayal in Antara. Some carry plot-relevant information, while others can raise the stats of characters reading them.

For the Pernath Academy Library and the Academy Pass, see Burlen and Ticoro. For the Insurance Policy, see Imazi. For the Play Tickets, see Isten. For full descriptions of these items, see Quest items.

A Social Analysis of Organisms

 * Obtained: floor of the inn at Darvi. +5 Assessment if read; +12 Enchanted Arrows, +8 Beeswax, and +4 Bowstring if returned to owner without reading.
 * Description: The smooth cover, pressed pages, and distinctive smell suggested this book had barely been opened, let alone read.
 * When read: [Character]'s eyes almost glazed over as s/he scanned through the highbrow theories and technical minutia, but s/he was impressed by the observational methods describd therein.

Acute Senses and Perception

 * Obtained: from Benje in Sortiga. +5 Scouting.
 * Description: [Character] examined the book's broken spine, tattered cover and yellowed pages, but couldn't conclude whehter it had seen a lot of use or merely a lot of abuse.
 * When read: [Character] studied the book, a guide to meditative and observational techniques for enhancing the acuity of the senses. Although many of the approaches seemed bizarre or even silly to [Character], s/he found some s/he looked forward to putting into practice.

An Optics Primer

 * Obtained: in Ligano and Ticoro shops.
 * Description: The quality of the volume's leather binding and its neatly trimmed pages suggested the book had been prepared and maintained with great care.
 * When read:
 * Read by a non-mage:

Brian Castere's Journal

 * Obtained: in Gerard Fayle's house in Everton. Increases Aren's Movement stat.
 * Description: Notes and diagrams covered the journal's pages, permanent records of someone's thoughts and observations. Additional sheets, perhaps ideas captured when the journal was out of reach, stuck out at all angles.
 * When read: Aren studied Castere's notes on the nature of motion, struggling to comprehend the author's arcane notations and obscure nomenclature. When he had finished, Aren felt he had sufficient grasp of the concepts to experiment on his own.
 * Read by a non-mage: [Character] flipped through the journal but couldn't make any sense of it. Most of the pages were filled with mystical-looking notes and symbols.

Muscles and Glands

 * Sold: in Grandeur and Dumali. Mages only; +5 to Aren's Strength stat.
 * Description: The quality of the volume's leather binding and its neatly trimmed pages suggested the book had been prepared and maintained with great care.
 * When read: The book turned out to be less about muscles and glands themselves than about how to magically control them or duplicate their effects. Aren studied it eagerly.
 * Read by a non-mage: [Character] leafed through the pages, but the mystical portions went over his/her head and the clinical sections put him/her to sleep.

Ponaka's Last Stand

 * Sold: in Ticoro and Melay. +5 Defense; can also increase Repair.
 * Description: [Character] examined the book's broken spine, tattered cover, and yellowed pages, but couldn't conclude whether it had seen a lot of use or merely a lot of abuse.
 * When read: The story of the defense of Ponaka, the last village to fall to the ancient Grrrlf onslaught, was noble and inspiring. [Character] found it also contained sound practical advice which was still applicable centuries later.

Swamp Survival Skills

 * Obtained: Buried Cache near exit from Shepherd Cave. +5 Stealth.
 * Description: Someone had done the best they could, using bare boards and leather thongs to create a makeshift book. Among the few peasants and 'prentices who could read, such books were far more common than expensive leather volumes.
 * When read: The grammar was poor, but the wealth of information about swamp hazards and survival techniques made it worth deciphering.

The Adventures of Caarl Maston

 * Obtained: in Durst after rescuing Toddy in Chapter 5. +3 to Melee, Scouting, and Stealth.
 * Description: [Character] examined the book's broken spine, tattered cover and yellowed pages, but couldn't conclude whehter it had seen a lot of use or merely a lot of abuse.
 * When read: As [character] browsed the pages a flood of fond memories washed over him/her. The adventures of Caarl Maston were a joyman staple, whisking children and adults away to a mysterious region rife with unknown dangers and discoveries. This written version included details the joymen left out, though, and [character] found him/herself fascinated anew.

Carlith Mating Rituals

 * Sold in: Panizo, Melay, Darvi. +5 Gambling.
 * Description: [Character] scanned the scroll, curious about why someone would bother to study the mating habits of carliths. That question was never answered, but he/she did find a fascinating section about the random nature of carlith pairings and the probability of producing clutches of certain sizes. [Character] thought he/she might be able to put the underlying theories to practical use.

Halder's Tale

 * Sold in: Ticoro. Does not affect stats.
 * Description: [Character] handled the scroll gingerly. From the look of it, it dated back to a time before paper printing was possible.
 * Contents: Tells the story of Halder, a blacksmith whose clever use of a strength-augmenting potion saved his town from thieves.

Ledger

 * Sold in: Ticoro, . Also found in a Chest in Ticoro. +5 Haggling.
 * Description: The double-rolled format was ideal for recording information. Previous entries could easily be edited and reviewed, and if more parchment was required it could be added to the end of the roll.
 * When read: At first the many columns of numbers meant little to [character], but as she studied them s/he began to see patterns in the values. His/her mind swam after a short while, but when s/he set the scroll aside it wwas with an increased understanding of the ways of commerce.

Weather Patterns of Ramar

 * Obtained: Buried Cache near exit from Shepherd Cave; sold in Dumali shop. Mages only; +5 Electricity.
 * Description: Aren partially unrolled the parchment scroll, wondering why some mages, politicians and scholars still insisted on such an archaic form instead of the more easily-read bound book.
 * When read: It turned out the report wasn't merely about observing or predicting weather patterns, but about manipulating and controlling them. Aren understood only a fragment of the concepts explored in the scroll, but what he gleaned electrified him.
 * Read by a non-mage: [Character] scanned the scroll but found little of interest in the technical and occasionally arcane analysis.

Faded Note

 * Found in: barn in Friole.
 * Description: The faded note carried the musty smell of many years spent languishing in a forgotten courier satchel.
 * Contents: letter from Jarston to Master Burns at Pernath Academy, detailing the exciting discovery of a Vell chamber found in the Aliero Mines and requesting support for a full expedition.
 * Use: give to the barn's owner to learn more about the spread of Feeblepox.

Insurance Policy

 * Acquired from: a merchant in Imazi in Chapters 2 or 6.
 * Description: standard; ends in but the document glowed almost imperceptibly after being activated.
 * Contents: several pages of legalese providing death-or-dismemberment insurance for the bearer except in numerous categories of carefully detailed exceptions, such as working on siege engines, being a Shira member, or "acts of the Triune".
 * Use: +5 Defense if it is in inventory when the party requests a blessing from the Prophet in Camille.

Note (Brian Castere's house)

 * Description: standard.
 * Contents: G.F. accuses Castere of cheating him.

Note (Garvin Usher's house)

 * Description: Kaelyn recognized the handwriting immediately -- the note was from her father.
 * Contents: Warns against approaching the Wraiths in the Ridgewood and directs the reader to Garvin Usher's workshop.

Note (Gerard Fayle's house)

 * Description: standard.
 * Contents: Castere denies cheating Fayle.

Note (Simon Liana's house)

 * Description: standard.
 * Contents: Georges, who wants to marry Rachel, beseeches Simon to hurry to Levosche and officiate at their wedding.

Note (Levosche barn)

 * Description: The note looked like it had been hastily scrawled on a blank page which had been ripped from the back of a book.
 * Contents: A mage's desperate search for a way of stopping "her" from stealing his magic and life-force.

Note (mercenary ambush east of Torlith)

 * Description: Description: Judging from the wrinkles, the note had passed through many hands -- or the same hands many times -- before finding its way into [character]'s.
 * Contents: Sir Richard Densmore contracts to pay Gerry Barcudi 750 burlas upon receiving news that B. Stafford of Isten has died of "natural causes."

Letters

 * Found: on a corpse in the road southwest of Isten.
 * Description: The letters were packed together in a tight sheaf and carefully preserved. [Character] guessed they were of great personal import to someone.
 * Use: deliver to Sister Senena at the Isten Temple.
 * Chronicles of the lives and misfortunes of Alethea and Ciaran.

Sealed Note (from Lokath)

 * Description: [Character] stifled his curiosity about what was written on the paper. If he broke the seal, the note's authenticity might be questioned.
 * Use: deliver to Birge.
 * Introduces the party to Lieutenant Birge. Cannot be read.

Sealed Note (from Birge)

 * Description: [Character] stifled his curiosity about what was written on the paper. If he broke the seal, the note's authenticity might be questioned.
 * Use: deliver to Lokath.
 * A report of the party's success for Lokath. Cannot be read.

Treasure Map

 * Obtained: by choosing the Captive in the Liar's Festival in Choth. Later described to have been copied out of a book on pirates in which lots of other stuff seems to be true.
 * Description: The weathered parchment sported blotches of spilled ink and smears of wax, legacies of a careless cartographer.
 * When read: [Character] studied the map, but without a key or recognizable landmarks it was impossible to determine what location the map depicted. "It's probably fake anyway," s/he decided.