Canon grimoires and spellbooks. New ones will be added here as they are generated.

Penned by a mad Incan hermit in the high Andes sometime during the 15th century, Kusisqua Orqo is usually translated from its native Quechua into either Spanish, Portugeuse, or English. A rare few Nahuatl manuscripts survive, as well. Across most versions, its title is usually transliterated as "Oh, Joyous Mountain." The author, who identifies himself as "Wise Huasca," apparently lived in a remote and unnamed "High Holy Temple" in the northernmost reaches of the Incan Empire. This brought him into contact with Aztec explorers of the region, and the text is largely focused on meditations regarding nature and his experiences among the Aztecs. The speaker paints a rosy view of relations between the two empires, singing praises for the visiting Aztec's martial skill and religious wisdom.

The original Kusisqua Orqo was written in both Nahuatl and Qhechua, and offered praises and descriptions of the beautiful mountaintop temples Wise Huasca was charged with maintaining. He also reflects on the culture and customs of the Aztecs, and describes several peaceful interactions with them.

Modern academics (those who don't immediately dismiss it as a hoax, that is) have misinterpreted this text as a work of prose fiction, a bucolic view of the rare intersection between these two contemporaneous but largely uninvolved empires. However, linguists note several strange discrepancies between the Nahuatl and Qhechua passages. Linguists note there is a particular ambiguity to the language of many sections, with many individual lines of "praise" able to be interpreted as backhanded compliments or even outright insults. The current hot theory in the few academic circles that study the Kusisqua Orqo is that it is actually an early work of political satire.

What occultists know, however, is that these ambiguous lines actually follow a simple substitution code. Each one of Wise Huasca's subtle jabs at his neighbors is a signal that the reader should insert portions of the nonsensical final chapter in order to hear the "true" story of the text. In these hidden passages, known only to a few of the most vigilant scholars studying 15th century Mesoamerican empires and certain coteries of occultists, Wise Huasca reveals that he was engaged in a secret war of espionage with the Aztecs, many of whom he claimed were "water-snakes wearing the flesh of men."

Wise Huasca was aware of the existence of The Howl, magic, and especially nagas, who he claims were prominent in the Aztec expeditionary forces that encountered his temple. He used the creature's foul ley lines against them, harnessing The Howl's magical power to expose and slay any naga he encountered with a genocidal passion. Important rituals he describes include The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow, which he used to seal up thanes of The Howl's power that weren't under his direct control, along with the Dust of Scouring False Seeming, which he used to confirm cases of naga infestation. Most copies and translations of the text include these two rituals; others may include even more magic rituals which he used to further his mad war against the nagas.

Oh, Joyous Mountain in its various translations are important texts in the Ivory Brotherhood, especially among those with a more antagonistic view of The Howl, for whom Wise Huasca is something of a folk hero.

Lore and Acquisition: The original text, written by Wise Huasca's own hand, is in the archives of a museum somewhere in Columbia, and is likely far out of reach of the players. Digital copies of its pages, however, are in circulation among certain academics and even via obscure academic subscription services. The original text includes all five spells for those that decode it, as well as 2d6 addtiional black magic spells, lost to history and later versions. It is written in Nahuatl and Qhechua.

Translation changes the title and meaning of this text quite often.

Kusisqua Orqo, the original text, is written in Nahuatl and Quechua. It contains the spells Dust of Scouring False Seeming, The Sign of the King, Messengers of Air, and The Little House Without Windows, along with the black magic spells The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow and 2d6 others.

One of the more powerful versions of Oh, Joyous Mountain that investigators are likely to encounter was created by a 1980s black market organ ring native to Brazil. They called themselves "The Burning Hearts Lounge" and were known for debaucherous parties. They were eventually brought down by mundane authorities, but not before they translated Oh, Joyous Mountain to Brazilian and Continental Portuguese and printed about five hundred hardcover copies. This translation destroyed The Little House Without Windows incantations and most of the black magic spells, but the publication actually draws attention to The Messengers of Air and Dust of Scouring False Seeming. The Argent Evocation of Lunar Shadow is, as always, prominent in all publications and described as an important initiatory rite in the text. This version includes The Sign of the King, though it has suffered from its translation from its native Quechuan and Nahuatl and is barely comprehensible, requiring an Wisdom + Language (Portuguese) check of 8 or higher to understand. If translated from Portuguese, Oh, Joyous Mountain cannot be used to learn The Sign of the King.

Next is "Scaling the Argent Mountian of Success", which was produced by a Russian-American conman during the early 90s. It's in English, though the more arcane portions are a straight plagiarization of the Portuguese version of Oh, Joyous Mountain. Knowledge of Portuguese is necessary to learn Messengers of Air and The Dust of Scouring False Seeming, but The Argent Evocation is laid out in plain English.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:13, Fri 15 Nov 2019.

In 1914, Amando Napoleoni was a second-generation Italian American living in New York City. Bright and devoutly Catholic, he was intent on studying to become a priest. He decided to write his thesis in theology on the subject of demonology, and was fortunate enough to make contact with Giovanni Bonzano, a cardinal and apostolic delegate in the United States. Cardinal Bonzano took a shine to young Amando, and invited him to Rome to view a copy of "The Grimoire of Pope Honorius" from his personal collection.

Letters home to Amando's family in the United States were initially buoyant, as Amando described hitting it off with the cardinal, who saught to mentor him in the ways of the faith and in the esoterica of holy office. During this visit, Amando was invited to observe some rituals for his research, as well as peruse Cardinal Bonzano's personal library. From these studies, and what he claims were numerous demonic summonings and bindings he observed being conducted by none other than Cardinal Bonzano himself, young Amando produced his thesis, which he titled "Glorious and Bitter Knowledge: A Manual of Hidden Arcana."

According to those few who have read the thesis, Amando alleges that the cardinal would descend into the various catacombs and ossuaries in Rome in order to select skulls he could commune with during necromantic rituals. Speaking to ancient Christian and even ancient pagan remains, the cardinal was able to learn more and more odious magical secrets. While the cardinal assured Amando that their faith would protect them, the young scholar lost his nerve and devised a counter-ritual to disrupt the cardinal's "hideous work." The outcome of their final research session is ambiguous, but what is known is that Cardinal Bonzano later sued Amando for slander over the contents of "Glorious and Bitter Knowledge". The affair was settled out of court, and as a condition of the settlement Amando renounced his work. With no thesis, his dreams of taking the vows never materialized.

Amando died a pauper in 1952, but his thesis has survived. Rediscovered posthumously among his personal effects, Amando's work has been passed around discreetly by occult investigators for decades, and was eventually even uploaded to the Internet, where scans of the original typewritten manuscript can be found in deep web caches. It is of great interest to occultists, because Amando faithfully recorded in Latin the necessary incantantions for both the cardinal's alleged necromantic abilities, as well as Amando's own counter-ritual.

Lore and Acquisition: Amando's thesis is well-known, being recorded in the modern era and even immortalized on the Internet. It's an Int+Occult difficulty 8 check to know of it. Only censored versions exist on the Internet, with the Latin sequences blacked out. Intact copies are much harder to come by, as printing it or accessing it from the Internet is likely to bring the attention of The Hounds, along with perhaps others. Before he died, Amando donated his personal copy of the thesis to the UCLA. There it was archived and evaded notice for decades, with only the occasional enterprising necromancer learning of its location and studying it. Other individuals, such as the lawyers involved with the fallout between the cardinal and Amando, had their own copies, which may have been handed down in a decaying form. It is still one of the easier grimoires for PCs to acquire.

It contains knowledge of the gray magic spells "Staff of Turning Back the Way" and "Converse with Ancestors." The manuscript also hints at some darker spells of the Pale King Ascending, but it appears Amando frantically edited out large portions of it shortly before his death. Individual pages were blacked out, removed or burnt, never to be recovered.