Black Libram of Nartarus

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REHowardfanatic
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Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

I owned this gem at one point and financial troubles forced me to sell it. Now it appears out of print and even Amazon doesn't have a copy. Any ideas on where I could get a copy or if the Troll Lords plan on putting it back into print soon. I really loved this book.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by Treebore »

Other than haunting eBay or shopping places like Noble Knight, only the PDF is an option for now. I do seem to recall mention of much of the material being in the new Haunted Highlands stuff, but I could very well be wrong.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by serleran »

I'll have to check how many I have. If I have an extra, you can have it.

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Wow. Thanks. I'll pay you for it.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by tylermo »

Wish I could help you out. I have my copy. Some lucky con-goers got that one as a freebie with purchase at some of the cons we attended. Probably some of the last copies. That said, I think much or all of that material (as Tree stated) was packed into the latest Haunted Highland CK Guide. I can't tell you note for note how much of it. Casey? Anybody?

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

I'm wanting those books. I'll want them even more id my beautiful black book of ravenloft-esque escapades are therein contained.
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moriarty777
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by moriarty777 »

Honestly, I'm not sure if a reprint would be happening on this but I'm happy to see a PDF of it still available. The reason for this is that the material of the Black Libram was integrated in the new Haunted Highland Books (Player's Guide and CK's Guide -- not sure which but I think it split into both).

I had one to sell a few weeks back but it was snatched up.

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

moriarty777 wrote:I had one to sell a few weeks back but it was snatched up.
Tease.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by alcyone »

I wish you'd all stop talking about the Black Libr... er, the Book.

I saw it, once. You might think I am mad after the telling, and perhaps you are right. If it is madness, let it come, for to be freed of rational thought, confounded by the realities this book brought into my life, it would be a blessing. Ha. A blessing. Now that my mind's eye has been opened by that damnable book I don't believe in blessings. There is just the uncaring Abyss pushing in from Outside, the faces of the ancient and the dead pressing upon the thin Aetheric walls, searching for a hole rent in it, where they may devour our material world, like a grandmother sucks upon a pinhole made in a hen's egg.

It began with the quiet, queer man who moved in next door. A most singular fellow, whose gaze never met mine, and my greetings went unreciprocated. When I did hear him speak, it was in some polyglot tongue that I did not comprehend. My dear cat, Zanzibar, took an instant dislike to him (just as he did the portrait artist and violinist that dwelt there before).

It had become my habit to attend to some of the quotidian chores of my estate in the twilight hours, so as to avoid malefic effluvia from the damnable juniper which grew in the mountains. It was there I was often afforded a distressing view into the state of my neighbor's garden, where ivy tangled about mazes of misshapen shrubbery, and abstract statues of... things stood at strange angles in black puddles or patches of bare earth. These I would describe to you, but they had the strange effect of pushing one's gaze away, and I never could hold their shapes in my mind's eye, thank the good gods (but where are you now, in my hour of need?)

It was one such night of horticultural effort in which I caught a glimpse of him, under the starlight, especially bright because of a coincidence of constellations and sidereal glow, dragging something between these shrubs. A foul miasma touched my nostrils and if not for the fear of M. de Monskin hearing me, I would have retched there in my petunias. After a time, this was repeated, until he had dragged perhaps 5 of these malodorous and heavy things, and he began to chant and intone in his shrill, nasal tenor. I could barely understand a word, but there was one I remember, and this same was NAR TAR US, or suchlike, and such a baleful sound it was.

A twig snapped beneath my sleeping foot and he looked up from whatever it was he was doing, and fixed his saucerlike eyes upon me, and fairly hissed at me as his eyes reflected the scintillating celestial light above, but the effect was most peculiar, as instead of a life-giving glint, I was nauseated to find his glassy eyes were nacreous and iridescent, dead eyes with a patina of mother-of-pearl. Naturally I retreated to my abode wherein I lighted every candle and lamp, and drank of my strongest stimulating infusions and tisanes that I might not dream that night, for though the shrieks and calls of the odd man were unnerving, in sleep I feared they would overwhelm my very sanity.

More than a fortnight passed before I saw the man again, this time, looking very frail indeed, wan, pale, waxy in aspect. It was clear he was leaving his home behind, as a carriage before his home was laden with trunks and oddly-shaped apparatus sticking out of straw-filled boxes. The teamster was garbed in black wool from head to toe, his face covered by some kind of cowl. My neighbor, whose mail-box read "F. de Monskin" was carrying the last of his possessions to the cart.

You will not believe me, and I wish I still had an innocent and untouched mind like your own; my youthful imagination replaced with the gaping knowledge of the infinite, and the perspective of the least prey, nay, not even a vegetable, in the face of the vast abyssal planes and their armies of lost souls, both once of the husks of our terrestrial brethren, and those of alien dimensions which cause cracks in the mind of any who even consider them.

You will not believe me, but this final possession was a great, thick, cumbersome book, upon the spine (yes, I say spine, for it was the backbone of some unfortunate!) was graven the title of that book which we only euphemize as "The Black Libram", in runes that could never mean anything to a good being who lives under the light of the gods, but whose terrible affect was to imprint in my screaming brain its grim purpose. Looking at that flesh-covered tome, its pages wet, flayed skin which bunched out at the sides, I glimpsed Oblivion. With a laugh like a creaking sarcophagus, my neighbor took the tome into the carriage, the whip of the driver cracked, and the -- were they only horses? -- sped the velvety black omnibus away.

From that moment forward, my sight began to dim, and I took leave of my worldly life, where I wandered blindly among the dunes and tombs, my pathetic form having been touched by the evil of evils and the very ghouls finding me unsavory and untouchable, until my twisted peregrination brought me to you, O Sultan, to entreat you... when the book comes to you, you must shun it, you must shield your wives and daughters and servants, you must become pious and look to the gods, look as hard as you can, for they have never seemed more far away from mortal concerns, they may even be dead and devoured. You must close the gates to the horseman and his passenger, whose dallying at the ancient, sunken, and forgotten places of the baked desert are the only reason they have not reached you first. Close the gates forever, and pray it is long enough to avoid this book, for within it, between the foul rituals, necromancy and spells, there is but one word within the understanding of the gods-fearing, and that word is called "OBLITERATION".
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by alcyone »

If you do really want a copy, you might find it in the rare books section of better libraries, but usually someone must be present while you handle it, with gloves. You can't check it out, but if you bring your own scribe (it is recommended you bring someone familiar with Aramaic or Classical Syriac as the letter-shapes are similar. It is actually recommended you bring two, because the work is fatiguing. It is further recommended you bring something to bind them to the chair but allowing free movement of the pen-hand.) you may copy it.

The book you need to copy it into doesn't need to be bound in skin, but does need to be obtained on a Wednesday from a widow without haggling. While some sources suggest you need several cartloads of river sand, I am of the opinion that this is a deliberate blind to thwart dilettantes, and in any case inevitably leads to revocation of your lending privileges and a stiff fine.

Do not kill a cockerel or pullet while standing near the book. This is a practical matter; the ink is best prepared at home ahead of time as it is a messy process and again will result in you surrendering your library card if attempted in public. Note that for iron filings you should use coffin nails from the casket of a house-robber, and make sure any galls you use do contain an insect, for creeping vermin delight the parchment and you do want to remain on its good side.
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moriarty777
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by moriarty777 »

Aergraith... Simply awesome.

:)

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by DMSamuel »

The critics are raving...

Two Thumbs Up.

"Marvelous"


"Chilling!"

:!:
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

So... you're saying that I have to join a Cthulhu Cult to get a copy of the sourcebook...

Man, not again.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by DMSamuel »

REHowardfanatic wrote:Man, not again.
Again? :shock:

How did you leave the first one?
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by alcyone »

Curiosity killed the cat, but it was loathsome ritual that brought it back.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Actually, I killed the cat. Did you know you can reduce a cat to its essential salts and then resurrect it ages later to question it about the horrid, grey wastes of the hereafter???

Does anyone here speak cat...?
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by Zudrak »

Not me(ow).

*ducks*

*cats*

*squirrels*

/puns
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by Dead Horse »

my flgs has a copy at cover price sitting in its rpg game bin.
Please don't beat me.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by Zudrak »

Dead Horse wrote:my flgs has a copy at cover price sitting in its rpg game bin.
It looks like one of the stores (kind of) near me has a copy one can buy online:
http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/bl ... ement.aspx
Psalm 73:26

"Knowledge, logic, reason, and common sense serve better than a dozen rule books."

"Rules not understood should have appropriate questions directed to the publisher; disputes with the Dungeon Master are another matter entirely. THE REFEREE IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL AFFAIRS OF HIS OR HER CAMPAIGN."
-- E. Gary Gygax

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Crom!
I'm broke!
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moriarty777
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by moriarty777 »

REHowardfanatic wrote:Crom!
I'm broke!
Crom won't help you. ;)

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Zudrak wrote:
Dead Horse wrote:my flgs has a copy at cover price sitting in its rpg game bin.
It looks like one of the stores (kind of) near me has a copy one can buy online:
http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/bl ... ement.aspx

Crom take them! I tried to order this and they want $9 shipping!!! Blast it! What, is a lovely wench going to hand deliver it whilst rubbed with glistening oil and wearing only a glittering chain about her pale loins?!?

Well, my thanks, anyway, friend.
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by serleran »

OK, it seems I posted to the wrong other thread, but I did locate the extra copy.

PM me for how to get it.

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by Zudrak »

REHowardfanatic wrote:
Zudrak wrote:
Dead Horse wrote:my flgs has a copy at cover price sitting in its rpg game bin.
It looks like one of the stores (kind of) near me has a copy one can buy online:
http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/bl ... ement.aspx

Crom take them! I tried to order this and they want $9 shipping!!! Blast it! What, is a lovely wench going to hand deliver it whilst rubbed with glistening oil and wearing only a glittering chain about her pale loins?!?

Well, my thanks, anyway, friend.
You're welcome, REHf. Rehf. I like that as a (N)PC name. Anyhoo, it looks like serleran can fulfill your book-and-oiled-servant needs.
Psalm 73:26

"Knowledge, logic, reason, and common sense serve better than a dozen rule books."

"Rules not understood should have appropriate questions directed to the publisher; disputes with the Dungeon Master are another matter entirely. THE REFEREE IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL AFFAIRS OF HIS OR HER CAMPAIGN."
-- E. Gary Gygax

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

I'm not sure if I want serleran as an oiled servant...
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by serleran »

REHowardfanatic wrote:I'm not sure if I want serleran as an oiled servant...
No. You certainly do not. I'll have the book shipped on the weekend. Have to get back home. At least I know exactly where it is...

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Many thanks for that!
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by serleran »

As role of servitor, may I request you update the quote in your signature to what some claim are the actual words, mispronounced, from Excalibur?

"Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha."

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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

Anal what? :lol:

In any case, I had no idea that the words possessed any meaning. I've always assumed that they were nonsense chosen for the cool way they sounded. Boorman is is a pretty lousy film maker (I think he got Excalibur right largely by accident).
I've been meaning to update my sig for a while, so... Done.

Looked up the words. Very cool. I'm an Arthurian scholar and surprised that I've never really ran across it. Thanks for the info!
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Re: Black Libram of Nartarus

Post by REHowardfanatic »

And thanks for the book. I got a flawless copy in the mail yesterday. I appreciate it.
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