Codex of the Infinite Planes

One of the most powerful magical artifacts in existence, it is a massive book weighing hundreds of pounds. It has a vast multitude of mystic abilities, including opening portals to any plane of existence or non-existence. The Codex is also known as Yagrax's Tome.

History
The origin of this tome is thought to predate the invention of written language among humans. It was discovered by the High Wizard-Priest of the Isles of Woe and used to create an empire on both Oerth and other planes of existence before its powers sank the isles beneath the sea.

It was hoped, then, that the Codex had been destroyed as well, but this was not to be. The archmage Tzunk surfaced with the Codex and, after lengthy study, attempted to conquer the City of Brass. Despite his power he was no match for an army of four million efreet, and he was duly punished.

After the dismemberment of Tzunk, the book eventually passed to the infernal godling Schaethreth, who held it in his possession for over a hundred years. During this period it haunted the sleep of the mage Fallendor remotely, forcing him to write further pages in his dreams, until he escaped by writing his memories on the skin of a paladin from another world. It was stolen from Schaethreth by the agent retriever Regalid Maethos, who hid it within the ruined tower of Kerleth Helvetius, an ally of the efreeti sultan (as recounted in the Epic Level Handbook).

Description
The Codex is a large tome 3 feet by 2 feet in size and 8 inches thick. It weighs an incredible 395 lbs and is very difficult to move around. The covers of the Codex are wrapped with a black reptilian-like hide (an outer-planar beast of great power that has been extinct for uncounted millenia, thus unidentifiable) with banding, corner protectors and 2 latches made of an unusual, extremely hard, brownish metal (Tantulhor). The latches do not lock, but are merely to keep the cover closed when the book is being moved around. If the tome is left open for an extended period of time, the book will close and latch itself. Annoyingly, this only happens when no one is watching.

The material of the cover itself, visible on the inside of the cover when the book is open, appears to be a black, obsidian-like material which cannot be affected by any physical or magical force, and closely resembles the shell material which composes the Crystal Spheres.

The pages of the Codex are composed of a very thin, flexible, dull grey metal somewhat reminiscent of oxidized lead sheeting but cannot be scratched, dented, torn, or affected by any physical or magical force. Neither can it be written on in any known way. The number of pages cannot be counted, and there is always at least one left, no matter how many are turned.

The Codex is incredibly old, predating any of the known gods, even predating the Blood War, and may possibly have been created by the beings that created the planes - or it may be one of them! Unbeknownst to any being that may temporarily possess it, the Codex is sentient, but has an intelligence so alien that not even the Powers That Be understand its nature though they all greatly fear it. Only Boccob may know that it is more than just another powerful artifact, and he isn't about to talk about it. The latches and leather wrapping may be uncounted millenia old (and indestructible), but are still a relatively recent addition to the book, and not technically part of it.

Remote Interaction
The Codex can reach out and contact the minds of any number of beings anywhere in the Magicvkerse. How it chooses its targets is unknown. The poor soul who is contacted sees the Codex in his dreams (though he may not always realize the identity of the book he sees), and can utilize some of its minor powers (such as those of planar travel) through those dreams. What the victim sees within his dream varies from person to person, depending on their backgrounds, personalities and desires. The victim is commonly compelled to inscribe into the book what it knows while in the dream state (if he doesn't realize it is the Codex, he may think it is a dream-state journal), although that transfer of information may be surreal, symbolized by some other activity or action. Over time, the book drains the character's knowledge and life force until there is no trace of the character. This parasitic process may be how the Codex fuels and maintains its incredible power. It may also explain why there is always one more page when leafing through the Codex... it is continually adding onto itself by draining the knowledge of countless victims spread across the Magickverse at all times.

If the character realizes the danger that he or she is in, they may be able to break free of the Codex before it is too late. In this case success does not result in attunement, but freedom, and failure only results in continued enslavement by the Codex. This can be attempted but once per day. Each night a person remains under the command of the Codex they fall deeper and deeper into insanity, as all their knowledge is slowly drained away. An attempt to use one of the powers of the Codex means that the character forgoes any attempt to break free that night, and may suffer any of the book's malevolent effects. Needless to say, interacting with the Codex under its own terms is the least desirable method.

A being who has been touched by the Codex (and survived) often displays permanent personality changes afterward, and may even show mild physical effects. They tend to be more aloof and quiet, less violent, more observant. They often abandon former ties and become wanderers. They usually abandon organized religion as well. This has a particularly powerful effect on any priest that is "touched" by the Codex.

Physical Interaction
When a person encounters the physical aspect of the Codex he/she can attempt to take control of it by trying to attune to it (though one can debate who is controlling whom). Indeed, the nature of what lies in front of them may not be immediately apparent to the character when they open the large book.

If a person opens the book, he will see the first page with numerous alien-looking symbols on it. (The book will always open to the first page despite all other attempts to the contrary.) After a few moments of grasping the Codex, the symbols begin to move and swim about the page, reconstituting into different forms.

A faint bluish glow surrounds the reader, and after a moment, appears to drain into the book. If the reader does not have sufficient willpower, he physically drains into the book leaving no trace behind and is irrevocably lost. If the reader does not get pulled into the book, they may be thrown back by an incredible mystic force, and be placed into a coma for an undefined period of time. For the rest of their life, the character will have a vague haunted feeling of being touched by "ultimate power" and allowing it to slip from their grasp.

However, if the reader is powerful enough they will link to the Codex. The symbols finish reconstituting into the character's native language, spelling out the title of the book - "The Codex of the Infinite Planes". Any other character looking over their shoulder will only ever see meaningless symbols.

If the reader successfully attunes to the Codex, and has retained his sanity, he can now peruse the book. The first section of the book consists of "The Great List" of the Codex - hundreds upon hundreds of names going on for scores of pages. This is the list of all those who have successfully attuned to the book. Each entry is written in the native language of that particular being, however magic (such as Comprehend Languages or Tongues Spell) cannot effect the book. Thus, only those entries written in a language normally known to the reader are understandable (and this can only be possible for the final few entries). The character may come to realize that the last dozen entries alone represent 3000 years, so the entire list represents an unfathomable amount of time.

The Great List is composed of three columns. The first is the being's true name. The second column is how the being was commonly known at the time of attunement. The third column is how history came to record that being's existence. Time is an aspect of the Magickverse that matters not to the Codex. The third column appears at the same time as the others. The character who has just attuned will find, to their amazement, that their name appears at the bottom of the list. Including the third column!

Powers
As the reader reads through the Codex, they will become aware of the powers that they can gain because of it. First minor abilities and then more powerful abilities. However, becoming aware of the abilities does not mean that they are accessible. For a person to utilize the abilities that the Codex can imbue, they must first read the page that the ability is on. Side effects and curses only become apparent when they take effect, and perhaps not even then. The Codex must be physically present, grasped with bare hands, and read from to use the Prime Powers. It does not have to be present to use Major and Minor Benign Powers if the possessor is still linked and has read the appropriate page. Distance is not a factor, not even the greatest interplanar distances. No magic can sever or block the connection between the Codex and its "owner". A new person successfully attuning to the Codex supplants the previous possessor.