The Tome of Arcwelon

Sometimes called the Greatest Story Ever Told, the Tome was written by Arcwelon himself. It is the tale of the entire world as told by every storyteller who ever put pen to paper, or regaled an audience with a legend. The great library dedicated to Arcwelon contains many of these stories, but only the Tome of Arcwelon contains them all. He created the Tome as a repository of knowledge -- many would posit that it contains all knowledge, in one way or another. It is a safety net lest any worthy stories somehow slip past those dedicated to his cause. The priests themselves are forbidden from ever peering into the unabridged collection of lore, though they always seek clues as to its current location (see below).

The bearer of the Tome may concentrate on it for a moment, beseeching it to show him a story which matches certain criteria. He may be as specific or vague as he likes, the Tome always knows the perfect story to match his wishes. Upon opening the tome, the story comes to life on the pages for but a moment, then the reader is transported into the narrative itself, to witness the events firsthand as a disembodied presence. When the story is completed, the reader is returned to his original location, while the book itself is transported through space and time to the location within the narrative, or a close approximation if the story was purely fiction. Because the device can travel through time, more than one Tome may exist at any given point in history.

Also due to this last attribute, the location of the Tome is often difficult to track. It had been held in Arcwelon's great library for decades after being discovered by one of his paladins. However, during a dark and troubling time, a great hero required access to the Tome to gain insight into an ancient evil. He learned what he needed from the Tome, but the Tome then traveled to a point in pre-history, a place the hero could not identify for the priesthood when he returned from the living story. They search for it still. - Nevvur