Tome of Becoming

Little is known about the artifact known as the Tome of Becoming, except that it is an unspeakably evil item of astounding power. Worshipers of Good and even Neutral gods who even attempt to read the perverted inscriptions on the cover are often immediately overcome with a powerful urge to perform the most vile acts – and those that resist feel the life draining out of them as they gaze upon the book.

So shrouded in mystery are the contents of the book that among the very few living scholars who even know of its existence, none know for certain what lies within. As a result, scholars devoted to Evil deities seek it hungrily, hoping that it contains knowledge they can use for the glory of their god (or at least themselves).

No one knows when or by whom the Tome was created, but what little information exists implies that it was first constructed during the Age of Mysteries, when dragons ruled the lands in their thousands, and the Old Gods walked the earth. If this origin is factual, the Tome represents a trove of lost knowledge, from a time when the Material Plane was much more protean than it is now and magic was a formless, wild, uncontrollable force.

Undoubtedly, the Tome is associated with some evil deity or other powerful evil force. Recent evidence suggests that it may be in some way associated with an ancient creature known only as the Worm That Walks, which may or may not be one of the Old Gods.