# Dead Sea Almanac - May 14, 2019

### Tuesday Tome

This week's tome is a book of great power, given to us by the renowned cleric known as Divia, a most holy saint of the Church of the Holy Unity. Claimed to be the resting place of many once restless spirits, the Tome of Annulment is famous for the defeat of the demon lord K'garas by breaking the contracts that bound his four generals and causing them to turn on him viciously. Capable of breaking any contract or agreement between parties, the Tome is an item of divine magic from before the founding of the world - the insurance policy of the god K'lethas against the Prison of Deities when he handed control of the plane to the sisters. Its magic is deep and creationistic in power, and we guard it in the vault against those who would misuse it.

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> ## The Tome of Annulment
> *Wonderous item, legendary*
> 
> This tome is bound in solid gold and features a pair of scales on the cover, symbolizing balance. When opened and read by a character involved in a binding magical contract, the tome provides a clear way to escape that contract - one which is so obvious and straightforward the heroes are amazed no one has thought of it before. At any point, the owner of the tome may deliver a speech on the reason that a contract has become invalid; at the conclusion of the speech, which takes 1d4 minutes, all parties previously agreeing to that contract are released, and the contract ceases to exist and be enforced by any means, magical or otherwise. The tome does nothing to change the relations of those parties, other than to force them to admit that the argued logic is sound and binding. For instance, if a character owes their soul to a patron, they become free, although doing so may cause the patron to withdraw powers that they grant the character or otherwise become hostile towards them. When used in this fashion, the tome disappears for 1d100 years and reappears in the Halls of Order at the conclusion of that time, where it resides under guard by the agents of Therea. If the universe becomes entirely chaotic, the tome ceases to exist in a blinding flash of light that deals 10d10 radiant damage to all creatures and objects in a 60-foot radius.

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>## Soulsword Renegades Recap: Alternate Game
> If you missed this week's Soulsword Renegades, don't worry: we have a recap right here for you. In the beginning of an alternate campaign (to be used when we're taking a break from the main one), we were introduced to a crack team of incident response professionals - paramilitary mercenaries who were armed to the teeth with the tools and prizes of past jobs. Disturbed by the power going out - and an underground cave community set ablaze by its artificial star - the heroes gathered what they could and heeded a message to come to Krota, where an organization known as Saeber was gathering those who knew how to fight and how to survive. On the way, they met a character known as Corin - a half-elf sorceror with the ability to manipulate a special deck of nanotech cards. Quite taken with Gadget, the party's nanotech-infused druid, the young man told them he wouldn't be against falling in, should their paths cross again.
>
> <br>
> **You have acquired:**
> 
> 1x NPC Party Member
>
> Lots of endgame magic items
>
> A pressing need for electricity

### A Story from the Frontier

The fae known as Lathan has done it again - this time, every ship in the harbor has been afflicted by the numerous lobster-like creatures made of rock candy which he sends to plague us. Tasting both salty and sweet, these creatures have been climbing the hulls of ships and pinching the feet of sailors far too often since last night, and we known Lathan to be at fault for this because he signs his work. Each creature bears an "L" on its back, and we have reason to suspect it doesn't stand for "Lobster."

### In Other News

* The annual Cocktail Festival will be held at the estate of the late Duke Huntington by his affiliates, as it has been in many years past, despite the duke's unfortunate passing.
* The sport of golf has really taken off with the warmer weather; the mayor has now declared the entire course to be a public venue and says that everyone should try it.
* There has been a remarkable shortage of leather satchels; it seems a party of adventurers has been buying all they can carry for some reason yet unknown to the rest of us. Maybe there's a sale on something to put in those bags?