Worldbuilding Prompt #769 - The Pages of Mr Dabra's Spellbook

This post was inspired by a writing prompt in the Worldbuilding Community - Worldbuilding Prompt #769 - Pages

If you've ever played Dungeons & Dragons, you'll get what's going on here 😁

Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio

The old book sat on the dusty shelf, its leather cover weathered with age and its pages crackling with the weight of forgotten knowledge. It's owner, even older than the book, slumbered nearby in an ancient armchair, a thread of drool hanging from the right side of his lips.

His name was Mr Dabra and he dreamed of his youth, reminiscing of battles against giants, magical duels, and being courted for advice by the greatest monarchs of the known world. Now, he was retired from all that. But he still had his book of magic, that had been with him his whole career.

The djinni who staffed the Retirement Tower For Ancient Mages and Sages treated Mr Dabra with the greatest respect. He was, after all, the most powerful wizard in the world.

So terrifyingly powerful that he had managed the impossible; to obscure the magical writings and spells within the book. Every page appeared blank. Yet he was able to conduct the daily ritual of meditating over the empty pages to memorise the spells he needed for that day.

The book had been with him for so long that it seemed to have acquired semi-sentience. It was able to defend itself against inquisitive "Detect Magic" spells and other enchantments which attempted to unravel it's secrets.

So the djinni left Mr Dabra and his book alone. They knew that advancing years had made his magic unpredictable, and some even whispered that he was growing senile and would soon die, leaving the book and it's secrets for them to pore over.

But none knew the greatest secret of all, the one thing Mr Dabra had concealed for his whole life. It was that the pages in the book were blank because he didn't need them. Because, you see, he wasn't really a wizard at all. He was a sorcerer, and all his magic came from his own mind, not from dusty old books that were merely a prop to maintain the deception.