* RESTRICTED: Kings of the House of Bjørn only
Bjørn II wrote many Grimoires. Some he published (i.e. made public for no charge); others he sold; some he kept secret and personal. The latter he left in a secret horde; for his heirs of the House of Bjørn. They are a family heirloom, revealed only to the King, and his Royal Binder (the offices now being separate).
Bjørn III had his Royal Binder, Chomek, an Apprentice of Bjørn II, publish a single, authoritative, collected Grimoire of his father, drawing on all the works of the late King that were deemed suitable for public disclosure. This work was completed in 2243, when the definitive First Edition was published under the title of, "The Compleat Collected Grimoire of His Late Majesty, King Bjørn II, of the Kingdom of the North.
More commonly known as "The Grimoire of King Bjørn II", it soon became the standard Grimoire used by Binders, famed for its accuracy, reliability and clarity of exposition. Parts of it had already appeared, between 2226 and 2243, as the compilation progressed.
The description of it as complete was not strictly true; for much of Bjørn II’s "secret horde" was deliberately omitted from it, partly, no doubt, because of the damage it would have done to the reputation of the House of Bjørn, partly to maintain their lead over other Binders. These works were catalogued, but never compiled. The most prized documents in it are Bjørn’s diary, called by him his "Journal" (a day by day account of his Summoning and related activities, and of his most private thoughts) and his "Secret Grimoire" (the working Grimoire he maintained for his own use).
The Secret Grimoire has been updated by successive Royal Binders, and is still in use as a working Grimoire, maintaining the edge of the Kings of the North in matters of theory over all other Demon Summoners, save perhaps the Dwarves.
There follow two important extracts from the Journal:
"My pen shakes as I write this. I have just struck the most fateful deal of my life. I cannot any longer call myself Good. This must be final proof for my theory that we Binders must be above Alignment.
Once again I Triangled BORRO [Demon of Books- Ed.], and charged Him to tell me how I might gain unrestricted access to the Nine Books of OMERRON. Still He did not admit Their existence, but We now talk of Them hypothetically. He told me They could not be copied, and also that it might be possible to steal Them. This is old ground, but important nonetheless.
The breakthrough came when We started discussing the hypothetical price for Him telling me what I needed to know. Everything has its price, in Demon Summoning, as I am fond of saying, and there is always a way to find that price.
The price was clearly going to be high. He would not even accept my immortal soul (after the seven I have already sold). As I have said, we were talking purely hypothetically, for I made it clear that I would never abandon my golden principle, of retaining my immortal soul, and that my long-term aim was to recover the souls I had sold.
He suggested that what we wanted was some "package deal": my complete immortal soul, and the key to the Books for some higher price on my side. That was either going to be Artefacts, or other people’s immortal souls, or both. I refused to surrender my Kingdom. It still worries me deeply that Demons should ask for that. I repeat to my successors: never give a Demon any part of your Kingdom.
Eventually I offered Him the Immortal Souls of the 8 greatest Binders of the other 8 Alignments. (I still thought of myself as Good then, despite offering Him the thing that would take away the last shreds of my personal morals.) If a Demon’s poker face could ever slip, His did then. He confided (sic) in me that He had His personal ambitions, and that would be very useful to Him in them. He would have to approve it higher up, but He thought He could arrange for me to have my complete immortal soul and the Key for that.
Another of my golden rules: never accept the Demon’s first offer. I said that if He was getting a promotion, I wanted His old job. I practically had to Control Him again! This encouraged me to hold fast to my position. I formulated a new "golden rule" on the spot:
"The more outraged the Demon appears to be at your proposal, the closer you have come to finding the optimal contract."
I therefore told Him at the first opportunity that once I had the Books, His job would probably be beneath me, but it would be nice to be able to appoint my nominee to the position, and I supposed that the detailed terms should include my pardon for the theft of the Books. I would of course be prepared to allow OMERRON regular access to the Books, at convenient times.
This proved my new theory. BORRO demolished this argument on rational grounds, and I allowed Him to beat me down to just making me a Demon.
Whilst I deplore myself for the treachery to my fellow Binders that I have committed myself to, I cannot help congratulating myself on this deal. Immediate promotion straight to Demonhood! What in Anarea is BORRO getting out of it?
I can see the attraction of His prize: the permanent removal of the Nine Greatest Binders in the world will set the Art back a thousand years. I betray my Art as well as my fellow men. But what do I care? As a Demon, it will be My aim to suppress Demon Summoning. From now on, I must try to think like one, now I have forfeited my humanity.
The deal is, of course, conditional upon approval by BORRO’s "superiors". But I am confident it will be. I am seldom wrong in my intuitions about the conduct of others.
And there is a bigger prize still - suppose I got the Books? In theory, becoming anything less than a Demigod of OMERRON’s status (whatever that might be) will be an irrelevancy. But my intuition here is that there will be some catch. It cannot be that easy, and I should consolidate my gains, and become a mere Demon Earl. Still it’s worth trying. Isn’t it?"
"Today we are to attempt the Great Summoning. I have little time to record this, my last entry, I anticipate, in my Journal.
I dedicate this book, the essence of my life’s work, to you, my heirs who will come after me, and I charge my beloved son, Bjørn, to keep it safe, and hand it down to you. It must be kept a secret, for the King’s eyes only, for reasons which will be well appreciated by he who has read thus far.
I started off eager for the pursuit of knowledge, not just for its own sake, but for the benefit of all, in accordance with the tenets of Good (as they must be in the Creed of ESCUS, before His so-called Church twisted them for its own political ends). I have come far down that road, and somewhere along it, and maybe only as a gradual process, I had to choose between the single-minded pursuit of the Truth, at whatever cost, and the principles of my Alignment and Faith.
For better or for worse, I chose the former. I believed, and perhaps still do, in theory, that the greater good can best be served by deciding one’s actions on the best possible information. This can involve sacrificing one innocent for the greater good of more. That, I told myself, is the essence of Good. The fallacy is that the decision to make the sacrifice should be made by the innocent himself. For others to impose their choice on him is, for whatever their reasons, Evil, I now believe.
But I have remained true to the course I chose. I will, I hope, be remembered as a "Good King", but I have paid a heavy price, personally, and in the lives of more than several others for my "Good Works". I pass on this body of knowledge, but it was paid for dearly.
Today I will either receive the ultimate punishment, which I richly deserve, or will escape into that higher plane of existence which I have touched on before, in which such moral considerations as I now dwell upon, which make you and I human, are scorned upon, as interfering with the practical running of an (impersonal) world. At those levels, only the Clerical Gods are capable of concerning Themselves with moral issues, and in our hubris my House has dared to accuse those Gods of manipulating those morals for Their own political ends, much as I have done. For in truth the Church acts strictly in accordance with the wishes of its God.
I have no more time. Today will be my nemesis, or my vindication. I hope only that these, my works, will survive, for the enlightenment of my House. I go now. Do not follow me, my sons."
P.R. Wild, 25 August 1985
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