The Legend of the Mutus Liber

All magi know that Mercere was a master of transformations before he lost his Gift. In the time while he still bore his magic, he recorded much of his knowledge in a book, which came to be called the Mutus Liber. Now, this was no ordinary book, for it contained no words, being entirely composed of elaborate pictures. And thus no attempt to copy it has ever been successful, for no copyist without Mercere's mastery of the magic can hope to know which elements of the picture must be copied exactly, and which may be varied in order to preserve the meaning. Even magical attempts to produce a perfect copy have all failed, as if thwarted by some greater force. For Mercere may have been the greatest of the Founders.

The Mutus Liber was lost when Mercere lost his Gift, and some have said that the reason Mercere turned to delivering messages was in order that he might find his book again, for with it he could restore his Gift, even though that was beyond the Art of such a magus as Bonisagus. If that is so, it is sure that Mercere never found his book, for he died, still bereft of the Gift. To be sure, some whisper that this was his last and greatest transformation, and that he still watches over the Order he helped to found, but some will believe any story, especially if it tickles their vanity. And what could tickle the vanity of Redcaps more than the belief that Mercere watches and approves, and may even grant them the Gift.

However, that is not the last that has been heard of the book. Many magi have claimed to have found it, but the tomes that they produced did not live up to the standards required. To be sure, they were written only in pictures, and they conveyed some secrets of Muto to those who studied hard enough, but they were not the great works that the Mutus Liber must be. There are tales that suggest that some may have found it, although they chose not to speak of it.

Such a one was Grenial, a magus of House Criamon, and as enigmatic as his kind always are. Immediately after his Gauntlet, he left his covenant to wander Europe, seeking for something that no-one, perhaps not even he, could tell. Five years later he appeared at Tribunal, saying that he bore tidings of the Enigma. Before the astonished gaze of the magi, he reshaped the air and stone of the covenant around him, into a maze that defied all reason and logic. By the time that the magi could break out of the maze and search for him, he had disappeared. His parens averred that Grenial had shown no particular talent for Muto during his apprenticeship, and everyone marvelled at the skill and power that he had shown. Some even whispered that he must have made a pact with demons.

But Grenial had not disappeared. He was found, still wandering the lands of Europe. The Quaesitored watched him take Mass, and sit in the holiest of churches without pain, a questioning curiosity on his face. And while he seemed to leave disappointed, they felt that he could not be a diabolist, for no demonkin could have survived that. Some still doubted his mastery, thinking that the display at the Tribunal may have been a trick. He was challenged to cert�men in Muto by some of the greatest masters of House Tremere, and he, a mere stripling, defeated them easily. Magi brought him trinkets of all materials, and asked him to transform them into shapes that reflected his wisdom. Soon, all were convinced of his power, and wished to know its source. Only his teachers in House Criamon shook their heads, and said that he was no nearer the Enigma than he had ever been.

Perhaps Grenial agreed with them, for he refused to co-operate with the curious magi, rather asking them about obscure riddles that he had learned, and creating puzzles that seemed all but impossible. At length, he grew tired of the questioning and pestering, and disappeared. With his mastery of transformation, no-one new what they should seek, and so he was lost. It was assumed that the source of his power, which many assumed was the Mutus Liber, was lost with him.

It seems that this was not the case. Lassus, an ancient magus of Tytalus, travelled on one of his own errands once, off into the wilderness. Of course, he told no-one where he was going. He reappeared in the covenant two Seasons later, deep in the throes of Twilight. His body shifted form more rapidly than Proteus, and he was a statue of finest gold one moment, and a raving lion the next, all the time his eyes were staring and his hands reaching out for something that was not their. Amid his ravings, he referred constantly to 'the pictures. All the pictures, all the secrets, all clear. I can see the answers in the pictures'.

At length, he came out of the Twilight, but sadly he remembered little of the preceding journey. He did remember finding a book full of pictures, that seemed to hold the key to the mysteries of transformation, but he could not remember where it was, or why he had returned to the covenant. He spent the rest of his life searching for it, for he was a Tytalus, and it was a challenge. But he did not find it, finally passing into Final Twilight in cert�men with a magus he believed knew its whereabouts.

There are other tales of the book, but none which say where it is now. Certainly, if it were held by any covenant, the existence of such a group of Muto masters would come to the attention of the Order. Thus, I believe that it is still lost, still somewhere in the world. Still waiting to be found.

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