The Tharchiate Codex

The Tharchiate Codex is a Legendary Book which allows the reader to fully unlock the secrets of the  Necromancy of Thay.

WARNING: Extremely powerful knowledge. May include curses.

Properties

•  Books
•  Author: unknown
•  Rarity: Legendary
•  Weight: 0.5 kg (1 lb)
•  Price: 2000 gp
•  
  UID

  UN_BOOK_LOW_TharchiateCypher
  
  UUID

  486a1a14-2d67-4b9c-a2dc-7858c2a6a473
  

Where to find

• In the Sorcerous Vault beneath Sorcerous Sundries at X: 418 Y: 998

Usage

The first character who reads the book receives the following effects:

•  Tharchiate Withering, which lowers the Constitution score. This can be cured with  Remove Curse or  Greater Restoration.
•  The Tharchiate Codex: Blessing, which applies  Tharchiate Vigour (20 Temporary Hit Points) automatically after every Long Rest, once the curse is removed.
• The reader may reopen the  Necromancy of Thay to learn the  Danse Macabre ability, allowing them to summon 4 ghouls once per Long Rest.
  • The reader must make a  DC 20 Wisdom Check saving throw when learning Danse Macabre. A failed save does not prevent them from learning Danse Macabre, but they become cured with  Baleful Knowledge, which can only be cured by Remove Curse or Greater Restoration.
•  Astarion can learn meaning of his scars without the help of Raphael by reading both the Tharchiate Codex and the Necromancy of Thay.

Text

[The pages are covered in esoteric symbols and strange runes, some indecipherable, but some strangely familiar. Your eyes are drawn to one page, describing a long-lost book.]

The Necromancy of Thay

There are secrets of life and death known only to the ⁠Red Wizards. Committing such secrets to parchment is a risk they are loath to take, lest the unworthy gaze upon them. Who better, then, to guard their secrets, than the spirits of the jealous dead themselves?

To look upon the Necromancy of ⁠Thay is to risk madness at the hands of its spirits. But the wise traveller, who can tread the line between life and death, will find knowledge witnessed by precious few mortals...

[The rest of the entry details the precautions and risks associated with reading the text, but lays out a clear path to unravelling the secrets contained in this tome.]

Notes

• Tharchiate Vigour is temporarily lost upon respeccing with  Withers until the next Long Rest.
• The party may learn that this book is needed to unlock the full potential of the Necromancy of Thay through one of two means:
  • With the help of  Gale and  Tolna Tome-Monger at Sorcerous Sundries in the Lower City
  • Paying  Mystic Carrion in Philgrave's Mansion a 1500 gp fee

External links

• ⁠Tharchiate Codex on the Forgotten Realms Wiki