Pop-Up Travelogue (Patreon)

Wondrous item, very rare

This leather bound book magically records what happens to it as well as the creature carrying it. It describes even mundane happenings with flavorful language and narration. To even a dedicated reader, it seems like the book frames itself as the protagonist in its own story. The book creates its own illustrations, complete with dynamic paper pop-ups, based on the events surrounding it. While the book isn't sentient, it nevertheless writes with more energy and intrigue when visiting or exposed to new things. The book's pages return to blank daily at dawn, but are filled again within 24 hours.

You can use an action to hold the book aloft and describe, dramatically and aloud, how the book magically casts one of the following spells (save DC 16): comprehend languages, dimension door, hallucinatory terrain (the spell ends early if cast again), illusory script, major image, phantasmal force, or tongues. The book maintains concentration on the spells it casts; casting a second spell from the book that requires concentration causes the previous one to end. Once the book has been used to cast a spell, it can’t be used to cast that spell again until the next dawn.

As the plane shift spell resolved, the world stopped spinning around the group and eventually settled into place. The travelers took in their surroundings and looked perplexed.An armored human asked what they were all thinking, "Hey, Danni, where are we?"A wizard looked over their glasses at a book in their hand, as if checking their notes. "Well, I thought the spell would have taken us somewhere near the City of Brass. But this doesn’t look like it at all."The wizard's brow furrowed before giving up their staring contest with the book. They then took out a different one, perhaps hoping for better luck. "Let’s check the travelogue. It might say what the hell happened. At the very least, we can use it to ask any locals we find where we are."