The Axiom of the Ninth Orbit
A meticulous wizard's living codex contains the formulae needed to stabilize a collapsing magical leyline, but each reading quietly teaches the book something about its reader.
Spellbook · Wizard · Level 12
The Axiom of the Ninth Orbit
A meticulous wizard's living codex contains the formulae needed to stabilize a collapsing magical leyline, but each reading quietly teaches the book something about its reader.
Ex librisSeraphine VeyAcademic arcana
At a glance
Level
12
Wizard
Spells
10
4 signature
Spell slots
1st level
2nd level
3rd level
4th level
5th level
6th level
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
10 spells1st level
3- For the duration, you sense the presence of magic within 30 feet. You can use an action to see a faint aura around visible magical creatures or objects and learn the school of magic, if any.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- Self and magical effects within 30 feet
- Components
- V, S, M (a tiny bell and a piece of fine silver wire)
- Higher levels
- No additional effect from higher-level slots.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- A creature of your choice that can see and hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or fall prone, becoming incapacitated and unable to stand for the duration. The target can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns and whenever it takes damage.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 minute
- Target
- One creature with Intelligence 4 or higher
- Components
- V, S, M (a small shaving of licorice root)
- Save or attack
- Wisdom saving throw
- Higher levels
- When cast using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, concentration can be maintained for up to 10 minutes.
- Conditions
- Charmed
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- An invisible barrier grants you a bonus to AC, including against the triggering attack, and prevents you from taking damage from magic missile until the start of your next turn.
- Duration
- 1 round
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S
- Damage
- Reduces incoming damage by 5 plus your spellcasting ability modifier
- Higher levels
- When cast using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage prevented by magic missile increases by 5 for each slot level above 1st.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
2nd level
2- One creature or loose object rises vertically up to 20 feet and remains suspended. The target can move only by pushing or pulling against a fixed surface or object within reach.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- One creature or object weighing up to 500 pounds
- Components
- V, S, M (a pinch of dust or sand)
- Save or attack
- Constitution saving throw if unwilling
- Higher levels
- No additional effect from higher-level slots.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- For the duration, you see invisible creatures and objects as if they were visible, and you can see into the Ethereal Plane.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 hour
- Target
- Self
- Components
- V, S, M (a drop of mercury)
- Higher levels
- No additional effect from higher-level slots.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
3rd level
1- The touched creature gains a flying speed of 60 feet for the duration.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 1 hour
- Target
- One willing creature
- Components
- V, S, M (a miniature cloak)
- Higher levels
- When cast using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 3rd.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
4th level
2- You teleport yourself from your current location to any other spot within range. You can bring one willing creature of your size or smaller carrying gear up to its carrying capacity, or up to three willing creatures one size smaller. You arrive at a chosen location you can describe. If the destination is occupied or unsuitable, the spell fails.
- Duration
- Instantaneous
- Target
- Self and willing creatures within reach
- Components
- V, S, M (a forked metal rod worth at least 250 gp, attuned to a particular plane of existence)
- Higher levels
- When cast using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can bring one additional creature for each slot level above 4th.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
- A shimmering sphere encloses a Large or smaller creature or object. An unwilling creature that fails its Dexterity saving throw is enclosed for the duration. Nothing can pass through the barrier, though the target can be rolled or lifted. The sphere is immune to damage and can be moved only by limited magical or physical means described by the spell.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- One Large or smaller creature or object
- Components
- V, S, M (a miniature platinum sword worth at least 250 gp)
- Save or attack
- Dexterity saving throw
- Higher levels
- No additional effect from higher-level slots.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
5th level
1- An invisible wall of force appears at a point within range. It can be a hemispherical dome or a flat surface, is immune to damage, and cannot be dispelled by Dispel Magic. Nothing can physically pass through it, though teleportation and ethereal travel can bypass it.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- A surface or hemispherical dome within range
- Components
- V, S, M (a pinch of dust and a drop of ink)
- Higher levels
- No additional effect from higher-level slots.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
6th level
1- Lightning arcs toward a target you can see, then jumps to up to three other targets within 30 feet of the first. Each target makes a Dexterity saving throw and takes lightning damage on a failure, or half as much on a success.
- Duration
- Concentration, up to 10 minutes
- Target
- Up to four creatures within 30 feet of one another
- Components
- V, S, M (a bit of fur and an amber, glass, or crystal rod)
- Save or attack
- Dexterity saving throw
- Damage
- lightning damage on a failed save, half on a successful save
- Higher levels
- When cast using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, one additional bolt leaps from the initial target for each slot level above 6th.
- Source
- Player's Handbook
In the margins
4 notes
The shortest path between two points is still dangerous if the destination is inside a warded circle.formula
Never cast Counterspell while angry. Anger introduces unnecessary variables.warning- I have proven that magic has structure. I have not yet proven that structure is benevolent.diary
- Three concentric circles, each marked with a different version of the same sigil. The outermost circle has been scratched away.diagram
The book itself
The book smells of cold brass, rain on slate, and extinguished candles.
Its diagrams appear incomplete until the reader understands the principle behind them.
Every spell is framed by a different geometric theorem.
The final pages contain blank spaces reserved for discoveries that have not yet occurred.
The caster
Academic arcanaSeraphine Vey
Studies: Abjuration, spatial manipulation, and arcane countermeasuresManner: Precise, soft-spoken, and unfailingly polite, even while describing catastrophic magical outcomesFocus: A silver rod capped with a rotating crystal polyhedron, used to trace spell diagrams in the airQuirk: She counts silently before answering any question, claiming that every thought must pass through three stages of verificationWants: To locate the Ninth Orbit, an invisible theoretical plane where every spell has a perfect and permanent formSeraphine Vey was once an apprentice cartographer for a royal observatory. After discovering that the stars formed a vast magical equation, she abandoned celestial navigation and devoted herself to cataloguing the hidden architecture of reality.
The book
A tall, narrow codex bound in midnight-blue dragonhide, its silver clasps shaped like interlocking arcane sigils. The pages are thin vellum layered with faint geometric lines, and the ink shifts subtly when viewed from different angles. A brass astrolabe is built into the spine, turning whenever a spell is prepared.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatIlluminated codex
ThemeArcane
Written by aWizard
Caster level12
SystemDungeons & Dragons 5th Edition
Plot hooks
1The codex identifies a hidden leyline beneath the city, but its location changes whenever the book is opened after midnight.
2A rival archmage steals the brass astrolabe from the spine, causing several spells to produce unpredictable but mathematically consistent distortions.
3The blank final pages begin filling themselves with the names of people who will soon need the party's help.
4The wizard's former mentor claims the codex is one volume in a lost series designed to rewrite the laws of magic.
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