#### Codex Canticalus Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement) --- At first glance, the codex canticalus—also known as the Book of Song—doesn't appear to be a tome at all. Instead, the codex is a deep blue music box, dotted with gilded constellations and accompanied with a case of engraved brass cylinders. Placing one such cylinder into the box and winding it releases a transcendent melody into the air, its rhythms rumbling in the heart of its listener. Thus is the wisdom of the codex conferred: not by sight, but by glorious sound. Authorship of the codex canticalus has been attributed to numerous bards, but none have been confirmed. Analysis of the language used in the songs puts it no earlier than the beginning of the Age of Wonder and the end of the Age of Enlightenment, a span of 3,600 years. The book's cylinders, known as leaves, contain songs sung in almost every language—mostly Elvish and Common, but also Dwarvish and Infernal. Surely these cannot be the work of a singular bard. Higaran musicologists from the Age of Heroes "proved" with statistics that each leaf's composition reflects a unique musical style. Because this is the prominent view, it is also oft challenged. Perhaps it could be the work of a single bard. Because no sage has ever beheld every leaf, and some leaves have been recorded as two different song-cycles before later scholarship revealed them to be the same cylinder, the number of cylinders is not known. It's possible some have been written recently, if we accept the Higaran view that each cylinder is written by a different bard. If so, perhaps the Book of Song is in some modern obscure genius' hands even now—a bard of great skill but little note who found the blue music box and beheld within a blank cylinder, there to write their masterwork and preserve a fragment of their magic for all eternity. A creature that listens to and attunes to the codex canticalus and understands its secrets gains the following abilities. ***Polyphonylasts.*** If you have levels in the bard class, you gain one additional use of Bardic Inspiration. If not, you gain a number of d6 Bardic Inspiration dice equal to half your Charisma modifier rounded down (minimum of 1); you can give these dice to other creatures to use as per the Bardic Inspiration feature in the bard class description in the core rules. In addition, when you use your bonus action to give a creature a Bardic Inspiration die, you can also choose to sacrifice 1 Hit Die and pour more of yourself into your performance, granting the creature one of the following additional benefits: - The creature's attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 17-20. - The creature's movement speed is doubled, and the creature is immune to the grappled and restrained conditions. - As long as the creature isn't dead, the creature regains a number of hit points equal to your character level at the start of its turn. The benefit lasts until the Bardic Inspiration die is lost. Once the Bardic Inspiration die is lost, you can heal the sacrificed hit points. ***Run to the Hills.*** When a hostile creature that you can see within 60 feet of you drops to 0 hit points, you can use your reaction to conduct a piercing lament that shudders through the fallen's allies. Your performance conjures a ghostly wisp of energy from the fallen creature's body, which then lashes out toward up to three other targets of your choice. Each target must be within 30 feet of the fallen creature, and a creature can't be targeted more than once. A target must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw, taking 6d8 necrotic damage plus 6d8 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Once you have used this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. ***Solicitors, Swords, and Money.*** The melodies of the codex have made your wit sharp, your words eloquent, and your voice ever so charming. You gain proficiency in the Deception and Persuasion skills, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of those skills. In addition, you have advantage on Diplomacy tests. ***Swords of a Thousand Men.*** By playing a jaunty tune from the codex, you can inspire your companions even amidst the tense air of a war room. When a fellow officer of your domain makes a domain skill test, you can use your reaction to give them a Bardic Inspiration die. The officer can then immediately roll the Bardic Inspiration die and add the number rolled to the total. ***Golden Slumbers.*** Once per intrigue, you can use a domain action to weave a soothing song over the opposed domain. All denizens of the opposed domain fall into a deep enchanted slumber, allowing your domain to take an additional 1d4 + 1 domain turns. These additional domain turns do not count toward the total number of times your domain has acted during the intrigue. Your domain can use these additional turns to take domain actions as normal. During these turns, the enchanted realm automatically fails any domain skill tests, and tests made against the enchanted realm's defenses are made with advantage. Once these additional turns have been taken, the opposed domain awakes with no recollection of being enchanted, and the intrigue resumes as normal. ---