Laginate Grimoire
In the Ravenloft Dominion novel Black Crusade, the Laginate Grimoire is a grimoire of forbidden black magic and pagan rituals sought by the heretic Roman Catholic priest Father Lambrecht Raes. Sir Diederic de Wyndt sought to foil Father Lambrecht from acquiring it and bring him to justice for heresy and murder. It is their conflict that brought them and the Grimoire to the domain of Malosia.
Characteristics
The Grimoire - or a least the fragment Lambrecht found - was a collection of parchments that holds knowledge of secrets both wondrous and horrific. Lambrecht said the following of the work[1]:
It speaks of the future, read in the stars; and of secrets of the past, revealed in bones. It speaks of the dead, and the truths they whisper to those with ears to hear them... It speaks of spirits bound by words of power, screaming silently in places of prayer. It speaks of the spirits that drive men mad, that possess them to partake in abominable acts.
Of the claims mentioned above, the Grimoire seemed to demonstrate the ability (independent of any user) to drive those nearby to violent madness and warp perceptions, as it did in both Jerusalem on Earth and Caercaelum in Malosia. The magic held within the Grimoire seemed to want to be unleashed upon the world, hence the leaking of magic power unconstrained by the firm will of a skilled practictioner of magic.[2]
Among the spells contained in the Laginate Grimoire, there is a spell for the mass animation of the undead, which Lambrecht Raes uses to enact revenge upon the people of Firalene Down by animating the ancient corpses held in their graveyard.[3] In addition, he learned a spell that allowed him to manipulate a magical webbing to immobilize Sir Diederic and Violca Hanza. From these webs, unholy vermin-like beasts emerged and attacked Diederic and Violca en masse. Some of these beasts bit and burrowed through the skin of their victims[4], allowing Lambrecht to take control over their bodies through sympathetic magic. However, these beasts could be vanquished instantly by drinking holy water due their unholy nature. Another spell allowed Lambrecht to transfer his own wounds to the maddened thralls he controlled.[5]
Not all of the magical knowledge held within the tome may have been of similarly dark and malicious natures. Lambrecht used a spell against the biting cold of Firalene Down. This chant purportedly strengthened the fortitude of mind and body.[6]
Despite the Grimoire's seeming creation on Earth, a partial fragment existed in Malosia for a long time in its false history. An ancient witch tradition known as the Laginate Cabal drew its strength from it, though this power was lessened considerably when Lambrecht arrived in Malosia and began using his half.[7]
History
The Grimoire was ancient even by the time of the ancient Greeks that venerated the Olympian Pantheon. The last known copy to exist (at least on Earth) was destroyed when Michael Cerularius] ordered the burning of all such books in Constantinople in 1059 AD. However, the Romans had stored a partial copy away with other esoteric materials beneath Jerusalem for safe keeping, though knowledge of their existence was lost when the Muslims took over Jerusalem. In 1099 when the Crusaders breached Jerusalem's walls, Crusaders began massacring Jerusalem's inhabitants. It is under this backdrop that the starting events of Black Crusade take place, for the chaos and disruption caused the Laginate Grimoire to reawaken. This awakening caused the Laginate Grimoire to begin leaking its power in the form of the above-mentioned madness.[8]
Father Lambrecht Raes murdered and manipulated to get to the Grimoire, enlisting the aid of Sir Diederic but then leaving him to die among the other afflicted. Diederic regained enough sense to defeat the priest, collect the pieces of grimoire, and present them to the religious authorities. Lambrecht was convicted of heresy and murder. He was to be hanged while the Grimoire burned. However, the Mists seeped from the bonfire and claimed both Lambrecht and the Grimoire. Diederic jumped in the Mists after them[9], but he was delivered to a far away spot in Malosia.
After arriving on the cold peaks near Firalene Down, Father Lambrecht was soon reunited with the Grimoire after murdering the shepherd that found it. Using its knowledge with his chicanery, he earned a place as a top witch hunter and advisor to the Pontiff Cornelis against witchcraft.[10]
Lambrecht learned of another fragment that existed in Malosia from ancient times and manipulated Diederic into finding it and bringing it to Caercaelum for a final shown down. During their final confrontation, Lambrecht briefly held the complete tome, but he met ultimate destruction when he and the book were knocked into the flames consuming his church. With the destruction of the Grimoire, any magical effects originating from it were seemingly snuffed out.[11]
