The Necromancer's Chronicle

Written by the infamous Mulgurd the Necromancer himself, this semi-autobiographical work includes accounts of the conquerer's early battles with rival sorcerers, his creation of powerful undead armies, and his quest for immortality. It also includes a section about an entity called the Demiurge being shattered into something like two dozen pieces during a previous age of the multiverse, the secret lore of which is still protected by "the nine True Queens of Otherwhere who remain hidden." The historical references mentioned in the work seem to end about two decades before Mulgurd was defeated and his empire overthrown, an event that happened about 300 years ago.

Among the text are pages that function as a spell scroll...

Create Undead
6th-level necromancy

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 10 feet
Duration: Instantaneous

You can cast this spell only at night. Choose up to three corpses of Medium or Small humanoids within range. Each corpse becomes a ghoul under your control. (The DM has game statistics for these creatures.)

As a bonus action on each of your turns, you can mentally command any creature you animated with this spell if the creature is within 120 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.

The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it stops obeying any command you have given it. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to three creatures you have animated with this spell, rather than animating new ones.

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SPELL SCROLL RULES (DMG p. 200)

When using a spell scroll, the spell must be on a caster's class spell list to use as an action (no need to provide any spell's components). Otherwise, the scroll is unintelligible.

If the spell is on a character's class spell list but of a higher level than can normally be cast, the character must make an ability check using the usual class-related spellcasting ability (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma) to determine whether it is cast successfully. The DC equals 10 + spell's level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the scroll with no other effect.

REQUIRED SPELLCASTING ABILITY CHECK
* Cantrip (Common) ... DC 10
* 1st Level Spell (Common) ... DC 11
* 2nd Level Spell (Uncommon) ... DC 12
* 3rd Level Spell (Uncommon) ... DC 13
* 4th Level Spell (Rare) ... DC 14
* 5th Level Spell (Rare) ... DC 15
* 6th Level Spell (Very rare) ... DC 16
* 7th Level Spell (Very rare) ... DC 17
* 8th Level Spell (Very rare) ... DC 18
* 9th Level Spell (Legendary) ... DC 19

Once the spell is cast, the words on the scroll fade, and those pages within the book fall out as dust.