📜 Entry: “Fortune-Favored Fools”

Location: Onadbyr, Tower of Mordenkainen (base)
Recorded: Following the Emporium infiltration and return

It is, perhaps, a peculiarity of the mortal condition that providence and absurdity so often travel hand in hand. Our recent expedition to the Emporium—ostensibly a containment operation—offered little in the way of elegance, yet nonetheless achieved its critical objective.

The Emporium itself proved a sophisticated arcane construct: a retail façade veiling a vault of considerable magical complexity, anchored by a suppressive crystal and sealed against all but the most tenacious intrusion. Illusions layered upon enchantments masked its true nature; even time and sound bent unnaturally within its chambers. One might admire the design, were it not so profoundly unnerving.

Our party’s entrance, by contrast, bore little resemblance to finesse. A confrontation with the shopkeeper escalated rapidly, resulting in several innocents being restrained, silenced, and traumatized. Despite our collective insistence on good intent—and, in truth, our desire to avoid harm—the outcome was one I cannot easily justify. Coin and apology do little to erase fear once it has rooted itself in the mind.

Nevertheless, the artifact—dangerous, corruptive, and unstable—was successfully secured. The vault was reached. The Relic placed. The distortions subsided. And the Emporium was left behind, sealed and silent.

I find myself reflecting not on the arcane mechanics of the vault, nor even on the success of the operation, but rather on the conduct of our company. It would be facile to describe them as reckless, though the word tempts. But what I see more clearly now is a form of chaotic courage—raw, untrained, yet unmistakably driven by conscience. They act not from polished doctrine, but from instinctive defiance of injustice.

As one who once taught in the halls of Onadbyr’s Collegia, I recognize the rhythm of early students: eager, errant, brilliant in bursts, impatient with process. And I recognize my role as well. Not to lecture, but to temper. To translate urgency into insight. To protect not only lives, but the legacy of those lives.

The Queen’s regime continues to darken the sky above us. The Choking Rain met our return, as if to remind us that the work is not done. But we have taken a step—awkward, imprecise, but forward.

And so I write: fortune did favor us. Whether we earned it, or merely stumbled into its gaze, is a question for scholars yet to come. My only hope is that we shall give them much to study.

May clarity walk with me.

— A.J.