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The Grimmerie is an ancient Ozian book of spells written in a language lost to time. It is currently in the possession of Glinda Upland.
Historiography[]
According to the Wizomania production in the Emerald City ("One Short Day"), the Grimmerie was compiled by a group of beings known as the "Wise Ones" long ago in Oz. With the foresight that they would not live forever, the Wise Ones transcribed all their magical knowledge in the Grimmerie, in a language that only few could read. Over time, this ability was lost. Before their passing, however, the Wise Ones left behind a prophecy that stated an individual with the power to read the Grimmerie would one day emerge during "Oz's darkest hour" - though they did not specify when this would be exactly.
When a man arrived in Oz through hot air balloon, the citizens believed him to be the individual spoken of in the prophecy and brought forth the Grimmerie to have him read it. The man uttered "Omaha", which the Ozians took as confirmation of his ability and proclaimed him to be a Wizard. In actual fact, the Wizard was not able to read the Grimmerie at all, but he continued to maintain the charade in order to rule over Oz from the Emerald City.
Madame Morrible, the Dean of Sorcery Studies at Shiz University and an ally of the Wizard, claimed that she was only able to read a few lines from the Grimmerie after many years studying the book. Nevertheless, Madame Morrible continued searching for magically gifted individuals who would one day prove to be worthy of reading the Grimmerie. She found one such person in Elphaba Thropp, a green-skinned woman from Munchkinland who possessed great powers ("The Wizard and I"). Madame Morrible immediately notified the Wizard about her and personally tutored Elphaba in sorcery, preparing her for the day that she would demonstrate her power to the Wizard.
When Elphaba received an invitation to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, Madame Morrible arrived at the Emerald Palace to show Elphaba the Grimmerie. Together, the Wizard and Madame Morrible convinced Elphaba to cast a spell from the Grimmerie in order to grant Chistery - the Wizard's Monkey guard - the ability to fly. In Elphaba's presence, the Grimmerie immediately opened to the page of her choice and she instinctively began reciting the spell with no trouble. To her horror, Elphaba discovered the spell caused Chistery and all the Monkey guards in the Emerald Palace to painfully grow wings from their bodies. When Elphaba tried to correct this course of action, Madame Morrible stated that spells cast from the Grimmerie cannot be reversed.
With the revelation that the Wizard and Madame Morrible had planned this all along in order to use the Monkeys as spies across Oz, Elphaba also learnt that the Wizard had no real power of his own. She took the Grimmerie and attempted to flee from the Emerald Palace with her friend Glinda Upland in tow. With the Wizard's guards and the Monkeys in pursuit of them, Elphaba used the Grimmerie again in an attempt to cast another levitation spell to facilitate her grand escape. Although it seemed to fail at first, the spell proved to be successful when a nearby broomstick started to levitate. Parting ways with Glinda, Elphaba used the broomstick to fly away from the Emerald City with the Grimmerie in her possession ("Defying Gravity").
Before faking her own death, Elphaba entrusts the Grimmerie to Glinda, telling her that now it's up to her, that she must learn to read it. Glinda expresses the desire to do good in Elphaba's place, banishing both the Wizard and Madame Morrible and welcoming the Animals back to Oz. ("For Good")
Spells[]
- Winged Monkey Spell
- Animals Losing their humanity spell
- Flight spell
- Motion Spell
- Love Spell
- Tin Man Transformation Spell
- Scarecrow Transformation Spell
Gallery[]
