Zelmazter was a mage from Glantarn who devoted his life to the study of magical flight and travel. During his adventures throughout The North he collected and created many unique spells and magical items. Mages trained in Glantarn have an exceptional affinity for aeromancy and hydromancy and Zelmazter was the most gifted of his generation. His crowning achievement was the home he constructed for himself many years later, a levitating tower adorned with landing platforms and nesting boxes for his pet griffons and birds of prey. Legend has it that the tower was hidden deep in a mountain gully upon  Zalmazter’s un-timely death. Occasionally stories surface that the tower has been spotted, but so far expeditions have found nothing.

The workbook mostly chronicles Zalmazter’s early travels and the spells he collected along the way. It does not contain any of the mages personal spells which were recorded later when he had settled into a life of teaching in Glantarn. It does contain a variety of odd and esoteric arcane incantations and instructions for creating potions of flying.

The Workbook is a plain, beaten volume in regal blue leather with parchment pages. It is rather small and non-descript for such a renowned and sought-after volume, a mere 10 inches by 8 inches and only 2 inches thick.

Of its recent history the following is known. The Workbook was found in the lair of the red wyrm Scarlak the Crimson, by the Company of Dead Men, and notably the mages Talton and Demetri Galmore. How the book had found its way into the dragon’s horde in the first place is unknown. Some have speculated that the dragon knew the location of Zalmazter’s hidden floating tower.

Unfortunately, the Company of Dead Men lived up to their fateful name and were slain by an unknown number of assailants while staying in the town of Silverspar. The battle was fierce enough to level a whole city block, and left all members of the company dead, and Talton and Dalmetri missing. In the twelve years that have passed there have been no recorded sightings of Zelmazter’s Workbook. However, many of the uncommon and rare spells it is reputed to contain have been finding their way into the spell books of notable mages. With increasing regularity, the use of these spells poses the interesting question, where and to whom does the book now belong? Veskian wizards, aeromancers from Glantarn,  scholars and thieves seek the book.

Zelmazter’s Workbook contains fourteen spells of various levels in the following order; Read Aura, Detect Magic, Shield, Levitate, Fly, Learnal’s Flying Vessel (a rare ritual), Dimension Door, Spider Climb, Merner’s Bridge (an uncommon spell), Sending, Wall of Wind, Elemental Form, Viewers Nemesis (a rare spell) and Spectral Hand.

Numerous descriptions of the infamous Black Book of Hoarlag have been committed to parchment by many reputable scholars. The one presented below is attributed to the sage Braythorne, who despite the old sage’s propensity for dramatic embellishment, not to mention when it suits his own scheming, the  omission of key details, this account is believed the most accurate.

The tome measures two hands tall and two wide while being only two inches thick. It is covered in hard, aged black leather which is cracked and polished to a bright lustre. Its thirty-two pages are wholly filled with the notes and mystical sigils necessary to cast the twelve spells laid down upon them.

The Black Book of Hoarlag was penned by the Veskian archmage Radiscan the Dark. In the tradition of the Veskian wizard slayers, Radiscan amassed a great deal of arcane treasure and wealth during his brief but, by Veskian standards, glorious career. He is credited with slaying more than twenty wizards across the North Kingdoms before running afoul of the Company of The Sage, an adventuring party headed by the bard Rendal Brightstar, and the half‑elven mage Arron Silverbrow.

Shortly after Radiscan’s death his fortified town house in the city of Ravarn was raided by the master thief Lamed Carrilion, himself a former member of the Company of the Sage. The book was removed from the townhouse and sold for the paltry sum of two hundred gold coins to a merchant travelling to the city of Lathen. It was in Lathen’s Magic Market that the true value of the book was discovered. The merchant was surprised to be offered eighty platinum coins by a young mage within minutes of setting up his stall. Looking to turn a quick profit the merchant sold the book, but not before raising the price a further twenty platinum. The eager purchaser was the wizard Balsharan the Red and it is from him that Braythorne obtained a catalogue of the book’s contents.

Eleven months to the day after acquiring the book, Balsharan and his companions found themselves at the third siege of Tarengore. During the hellfire and confusion of a failed attempt to retake the citadel, Balsharan was caught under a falling wall and knocked unconscious. His life was saved when a Ranger Knight of Derthillion dragged his unconscious body to safety, but the Black Book was lost in the castle ruins.

Balsharan led numerous expeditions to find the book to no avail. It may still lie in the rubble; be in the possession of a foul creature of the castle; or have been carried away by someone or something, good or evil, human, or otherwise.

The book contains the following spells in order; Read Aura, Sigil, Burning Hands, Enlarge, Invisibility, Verbal Haste (a rare spell), Slow, Dispel Magic, Phantom Rope (an uncommon spell), Firelance (a rare spell), Rune of Pain (a rare spell) and Alarm.