> *“This tome is not to be opened unless you are prepared to face a force far greater than any mage. Some works are more than merely ink on a page, seeker." -inscription on the glass case containing Zaeylael's copy of the Nameless Codex.* ### Overview The only surviving record of an apocalypse that lasted a thousand years, this text purports to be the story of [[The Revealing]] told from the point of view of a long-forgotten god, referred to as [[The Nameless One]]. Viewed as heretical by clerics of the Five and nonsense by most mages and scholars, almost every copy of the so-called Nameless Codex has been burned over the course of the centuries. Only a few texts still remain, jealously guarded by those who believe it to be the truth...or because they believe the secrets contained within can usurp the gods themselves. ### Authorship and Creation Most scholars believe the Nameless Codex is a hoax document, attributed to some unnamed author supposed to have written it around the discovery of [[The Phylactery of Misek]] in 137 RY. None of the surviving copies have an attribution to an author or the same handwriting preserving the text. The oldest known existent copy is kept in the library of [[The Pharos]] in [[Zaeylael]], scorched by flames and bound on vellum that is practically crumbling from age. No one can say definitively who the author of the text is, but some have noted [[Magic]] flows through the very crimson ink inscribed on the pages, which has led many practitioners of [[Blood Magic]] who see it to wonder if it is inked in such a sanguine spill. ### Composition and Contents The Nameless Codex is written in iambic pentameter, composed of dozens of songs constructed in rhyming ten line verses that relate the story of the end of [[The First World]], from the way it was once to its bitter ending in [[Godfall]] and the outcome of such events. The core contention of the work is that a sixth god was present alongside [[Aimti]], [[Mode]], [[Nessa]], [[Sol]], and [[Tek]] for the duration of that great cataclysm, one who has been written out of the histories. The text is written in first person, whether penned by the god or dictated (or wholly imagined by some charlatan), with the narrator referring to herself by various epithets but never a name, such as "The Nameless" or "She Who Watches from Beyond the Veil". The other gods, however, are explicitly named and described. The text, counter to religious lore in [[The Eastern Lands]], asserts that this goddess was responsible for creating [[The Seals of Magic]]. This feat is normally attributed to Nessa as the immortal lawgiver, but the text disputes this claim quite explicitly. While the songs are not uniform in total length, they are uniform in structure and the verse format. There are some speculations among those who have studied the text on whether it was meant to be recited or sung, but the general conclusion is that it would be unwise to read it aloud. The text seems to have an effect on those who read it, as those who have dared often report strange dreams of a faceless woman who speaks without moving her lips. ### Reception The Nameless Codex is a rare thing, reviled by religious folk and followers of [[Sorcery]] alike. It is seen as a heretical text and often destroyed wherever it can be found, but the diligent keepers of knowledge at various repositories have endeavored to keep copies preserved or copied down through the centuries by laborious work. It has some popularity among mages who have a bone to pick with the gods of the East, but even they often find its strange sway somewhat off-putting. Most copies are burned as soon as they are located by followers of various gods, and the Church of Sol takes a particularly dim view of it, often calling it "a usurpation of the natural order of things" or "outright lies and slander".