Aenhever conveys that Maudin and Rheya have both come forth expressing their interest in the Coalesced Aether. That Rheya has claimed she will 'cleanse the rot' from the Mycellium should the Locus turn it over to her, and that - while this must be kept secret - Kzagoth will use it to separate himself from his infernal half. Both Maudin and Rheya have promised 'favors' as rewards...

✧ ✧ ✧ According to Adan, the Golden Geese are a "band of braggarts", ("sarcastic blowhards", "clowns",) -- also, a group that "expects to win", ("entitled to victory", and "wins gracelessly" when they do (see: other annotations on "games")) -- (apparently fuelled by "sheer, stubborn, childish will," other times described as "pure and bullheaded force", a "blunt hammer" -- in its various forms, apparently, not all of which physical or unsubtle) -- and who are "vainglorious", ("conceited", "egomaniacal", "overweening", "credit seeking", "self-aggrandizing",) who are best curtailed and redirected at enemies ("that can temporarily sate their bottomless desire to flaunt a bloated sense of importance, pride, and accomplishment.") (Note: Many of the above remarks have been added in as addenda, having been made in a singular fit of quiet bother later on, long after the initial entry, shortly after the Golden Geese effectively raided one of Whisperwick's more prized towers and he lost access to all resources within.) (I will later discover that Adan pulled strings to redirect their attention towards Lord Bellos.) Suffice to say, he holds the Golden Geese in rather low regard. I will be meeting with them shortly, actually, to assess them myself. ✧ ✧ ✧ Having met with the Golden Geese, on behalf of Bellos, I do not believe Adan gives them enough credit. ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan’s assessment of the group "Locus Operandi" is notably more favorable than his assessment of the Geese. He views them as a competent collective of earnest and well-meaning adventurers -- the very kind he wants to label him an enemy, something he approves of, in his own peculiar and contradictory (stupid?) way. According to Adan, then: Laura Cade is a mage with genuine curiosity. She is a viable candidate for apprenticeship, as Adan recognizes his own younger self in her drive to learn. (I will later learn that he actually provided her with, in essence, a copy of a "Clone" scroll, and encouraged her to use it (in case he ever killed her accidentally during a confrontation? (see notes on "games"))). Jhaelryna is a (half?)drow mage. His opinion of her was initially low, as expected, with a fair amount of emphasis on her devil familiar. (He will eventually speak rather well of her, after she will surprise him in an encounter, and he will admit her potential is comparable to Cade's, perhaps higher in pure arcana.) Jax, also known as "206," is an ex-Zhentarim soldier. He is physically strong, blindingly fast, and possesses a flexible and merciful sense of justice. Adan at once admires this of him, but for the same reason believes he represents a threat, which does not make much sense to me and he has yet to fully explain what he meant by that. (Still do not know?) Florian, a fey Bard, whom Whisperwick initially called flip he now calls affably charming. He considers the fey a tactful diplomat who might even be useful at curtaining "certain planar threats." (I thought, mistakenly, that fey are less prone to his prejudices?) (I will later appreciate Florian more than the others.) Nerrez is an ex-Zhentarim operative who commands rats. He is likely a wererat. As a purveyor of information, he is dangerous. Adan has ordered that we maintain close surveillance on him. (I will later learn that Nerrez and Adan are of similar temperament when it comes to cutting off loose ends.) Ashla is a paladin and a former member of May Celine’s lunar knights. She left the order after a disagreement with her superior. Adan says that, "despite her being an Aasimar", he admires her willingness to act independently and defy orders based on secret and unknown reasoning -- which he calls a "distinctly human trait" (I will later learn that Adan confronted his own former arcane teacher in a very similar circumstance). Aenhever is a human ranger. He is clever and highly competent. While he is bullheaded and often adversarial toward Adan, his loyalty to his group is a clear virtue. (A werewolf of low self-esteem being courted by one of the packs of ferals that skulks the Province of Moonreach.) Patrick is a bard with a righteous, zealous nature. He is an admirer of the human paladin Temperance of Gulderhorn (whom, I will later learn, Adan also holds in high regard?). Adan considers him a man of good taste. (Re: Gulderhorn?) Lokelani is a fey. Adan initially disliked her due to her nature. (So fey not less prone to his prejudice? (More hypocrisy and contradiction from Adan?)) Like Jhaelryna, she has proven herself through action, and he now recognizes her as a worthy arcanist. Octavia is a human mercenary, a hunter of runes and rare artifacts. Adan admires her tenacity and shares her professional interest in antiquities. (Later, he will remark that he regrets his actions against their former shared organization, the Caldera Manor.) ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan told me he sent assassins to eliminate Locus Operandi. He told me he promised those assassins great material reward if they should succeed, along with high credit and praise, among his circle of business affiliates (Later, I will learn such affiliates included Lord Bellos) -- i.e. he promised them prizes, gold, fame, and glory. At the end of that very same conversation, he told me he did not expect the assassins to succeed. A bewildering sentiment and a waste of resources. Truly, he contradicts himself. (Another game?) (Later he will remark to me with a bemused smile that the Locus Operandi dispatched them with ease -- before indicating he has already sent yet another assassin!) (Further note: I will eventually learn not to question the baffling hypocrisy of Adan having sent various assassins only to have them fail in his name -- against his supposed favourite group of antagonists!) ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan's opinion of the Locus Operandi is almost diametrically opposite to that of the Golden Geese, who he considers more brutish, brash, and blunt in their approach - by contrast, he considers the members of the Locus, as sincere, earnest, and unpolluted by the cynicism of time and effort, without vainglory. (I wonder how accurate this assessment is?) "Of all my opponents," he said, "the Locus Operandi are my favourites." Having a "favourite opponent" (antagonist? (enemy?)) and enjoying them to the degree that Adan does is yet another contradiction in Whisperwick's bizarre personality. If he is so entertained by them, and so attentive to them, and seems to enjoy them so much, why send assassins after them? (Insane question with no answer.) Why not emulate them? (Fair question. (No. Not in our nature; our endeavours require harsher sort of pragmatism.)) I have yet to meet this Locus, and we will eventually see, I suppose, if I agree with his assessment. ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan maintains membership in the Caldera Manor. I have not bothered to join. I find the organization unnecessary. I am occupied with Lord Bellos’s tasks, which I perform out of obligation, not desire. ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan uses multiple clones. These copies operate in various towers, methodically harvesting arcane materials. The volume is excessive. I do not know his final objective. (To do with his efforts against the entity?) ✧ ✧ ✧ He continues to find amusement in his adversaries. He is entertained most by the earnest ones who fight for some sense of duty or morality, even while he engages in activities various authorities would call criminal in order to continue amassing his hoard of arcane resources. He (namely thru clones) acts with extreme cruelty. When I challenged him on this distinction between himself and those he seems to be most obsessed about and entertained by (admire?), he laughed and offered to buy dinner. It is an illogical contradiction, with no definitive explanation. (I have concluded that this manner of adversarial relationship is his favourite, as though all it were a game to him. (Adversaries in games are typically friends. (Sincerely doubt his enemies feel same way. (Talks of "winning" and "losing" and seeking a "worthy opponent." (I will later ask him what that means. (He will later still reply: "Someone worthy of being my end." ("We all face the music sooner or later"? (Death wish? (Re: From prior to Dweomercore? (Re: Eltorchul Academy?)))))))))) ✧ ✧ ✧ I reiterate that Adan is convinced that mages must rule Faerun. He views the arcane as the only defense against otherworldly and interplanar threats. He sees non-magical rule as a failure of stewardship. He considers militant soldiers, royal Kings, nobles, republicans, peasants and the like as all ultimately incapable of doing anything substantively useful when truly faced with planar or otherworldly threats. He is, as ever, arrogant about it, though I cannot say I can truly fault at least the bare core of his logic that magic users are best placed to defend against such threats. ✧ ✧ ✧ Rare coalesced aether, or Aetherite, has fallen from the sky in the Province of Moonreach. Adan secured it. He recruited Olivia Gor, a member of Moonreach Keep, to betray her kin and prevent Moonreach Keep from obtaining the resource. It is now confirmed and known that he possesses it. The thing apparently disrupts divination magic and all manner of far-sight (permanent, temporary, or otherwise). He tells me he intends to put it to that very use. When I asked him why he wouldn't use it for its other properties, he told me it was far more valuable to him for its ongoing anti-divination effects. ✧ ✧ ✧ I learned that Adan betrayed the Caldera Manor to secure this Aetherite. It is an odd choice. He aligns himself with magocracy, yet he discarded a potential set of allies in that political, magocratic institution. I do not know his reasoning, nor can I follow the reasons why he is deviating so far from his usual mode of operation. In my opinion, he is not acting rationally. ✧ ✧ ✧ I asked if he will keep his word to Olivia Gor. He offered no response. He is shielding his true thoughts, but I can tell he is concerned (actively worried?). I have never seen him this way. (Still do not know? (The machine? (To be pressed. (Refuses to answer questions!)))) Additionally, he is gathering unexpected allies: fire giants, bugbears, and a pale, vampiric entity. He has, apparently, been currying favour with them. But why? (See note above.) I suspect he is lying to them / using them as he did the cambion. ✧ ✧ ✧ Adan will no longer speak of his plans to me. He has refused to inform me why he has destroyed and usurped various mage towers on the Sword Coast and the outskirts of Hillsfar, Scornubel, and Loudwater. He has grown more and more secret. I do not know why. (Still do not know. (See previous pages. (The machine.))) ✧ ✧ ✧ I assisted the Golden Geese. Specifically, I warned Aoth Sepret, the rather striking Thayvian "Golden Goose", regarding her upcoming betrothal to Lord Bellos. I could not see her to be subjected to his profane rituals. Bellos discovered my interference, invoked our magical bargain, and easily captured me. I am currently his prisoner. ✧ ✧ ✧ As I linger in this prison, I recall the night Adan showed me a powerful spell he had derived from a fabled one called "Aumvor's soul shatter." The original spell separates the soul from the body. Adan's variant separates the soul, from the body, from any additional passenger in either, which is to say, from any other soul, or any other influence or magical or planar presence within a given target or the target's soul that is not native and original to that target or the target's soul - i.e. a third party presence, including otherworldly influences, even those deeply and subtly embedded. I asked him why he devised such a spell, and upon whom he intends to use it. He did not answer and changed the subject. ✧ ✧ ✧ I have been released! I learned that Whisperwick used his internal connections to Bellos to pinpoint my location. The Thayvian exile Zodar Flass, another one of Bellos' associates (Note: extremely frail without magical protection (dead!)) provided him with the information in exchange for a promise to help his disgraced family in the future. Adan informed the Golden Geese of where I was held, leading to my rescue. (I will later learn that Adan attempted a direct rescue only to be foiled and subsequently threatened by Bellos personally. The two also apparently engaged in a spell duel that ended with Whisperwick's loss, and a promise (lie) for Whisperwick not to challenge Bellos again, enforced with magic. It was only after this, that Whisperwick went to the Geese with the information.) I am grateful to Adan (also Flass) and to the Golden Geese, for their intervention. ✧ ✧ ✧ Florian, of the Locus Operandi, was among the Golden Geese when they came for me. I can see why it is that Adan enjoys him. (I confess, I enjoy and am more impressed by the Golden Geese - though here Adan and I are at utter odds, with his preference being for the Locus Operandi, and mine being for the Golden Geese.) (Adan has a copy of each of Florian's publications, "The Moonreach Gazette" I think it is called, which Florian circulates in Moonreach Keep - do not ask me how Adan obtained them - whereas I prefer my copy of "The Mystery of the Eye," by Isolde Garibaldi.) ✧ ✧ ✧ Whisperwick has besieged Moonreach Keep. He betrayed many of his own allies in the process during the siege. I confronted him, demanding to know the tactical necessity of such a ploy. He refused to answer. His silence is heavy. He bid me gone. I have formed a theory from our past discussions, on the source of his secrecy and his concerns. The orange star, ablaze in the sky. I have read up on the subject. I can now confirm that some stars or things that appear like them ("entities"), are capable of sending agents ("star spawn") down to our world. These spawn, it is written, might possess the ability to occupy living vessels or even to masquerade as such individuals. I do not suspect Adan of being such a spawn. Rather, I suspect, that he suspects me, and others. And I suspect, that he suspects, that he cannot rely any longer on those he could once trust. Such as myself. This accounts for Adan's growing secrecy. It also explains his obsession with the Aetherite, and its anti-divination, effectively magically cloaking properties. He is hiding from the entity, and its potential spawn. He believes himself to be defending against the threat of the entity, as well as against an infiltration that might have already begun. (Machine?) I will help him in this regard, whether he wants my help or not. Unfortunately I've come to the this realization painfully late. Time is now imminently scarce, all divination magic is failing, communications as well, and it seems someone has now breached our tower and my invocations are already low. I only write this entry as a means to focus and calm my mind, as writing often does, in order to access more of latent invocations. In any event, I have my items and scrolls. As well as one spell in particular, to imbue upon this very tome. Just in case. If all else fails ... ... Jinsen, may we meet again beyond the veil. ✧ ✧ ✧ [End of log.] ✧ ✧ ✧ [DM Xanatos Gambit / Eternal] [Architecture of Metamorphosis - 2026/04/25]