[AUDIO LOG] Why am I doing this?
Source: Master Resonance Crystal (High-Fidelity Echo-Orb) Status: Archived / Inadvertent Broadcast Speaker: Grand Matriarch Draconia Maelstrom Annihilux
(Sound of heavy void-steel armor shifting. A low, reptilian exhale—like steam escaping a high-pressure vent. The sharp screech of a claw dragging against crystalline glass.)
DRACONIA: Is it supposed to hum? (Tap. Tap. Tap.) It is, isn’t it? It’s humming… and I hate it. I cannot, for the love of the Lysianvael, stand this low-rattling noise!
Fine. Apparently, I’m doing a “public transmission.” For the Codex. The thing that’s supposed to be writing itself but apparently decided to stop working for the first time in a thousand years.
For archival context, before I bite someone: The Valora Codex is a living (mumble: and lazy) archive we carry. It keeps the realm synchronized. It remembers what systems try to erase. It updates whether you approve or not.
Now. The Mist-Lore Custodian, Eldria, insisted the Codex needs a “voice of martial authority.” Honestly, it could have just written an introduction for me. I would have signed it without batting an eye. Hmph!
I told Eldria my voice is usually screaming orders over the roar of a Cyclone-Furnace, but she just gave me that… look. You know the one. The “I’ve already judged you, but I’m going to remain quiet so you realize exactly how frequently I judge you.”
Eldria is too humble to say this, but she has an extremely (and obnoxiously) great memory. She once told me she memorized every mistake I’ve made since the Third Age, and she’d recite them alphabetically if I didn’t agree to “share my thoughts on the realm.” Hmph!
So here I am! Staring at a rock that won’t stop humming. At least the Mør stays silent when it tries to murder you. This thing? The moment the realm hears my voice, I will have died from embarrassment!
…Anyway, Eldria wants me to talk about “strategy.” About “the burden of command.” But honestly? I think she just wants me out of the Elder Library and back to the Ashen Aeries so I stop reorganizing her shelves with my tail.
Hmph! Ridiculous! I should be burning Void-spawn, not talking to a crystal about my feelings!! And if you think for a single moment I’m going to share any details of the Pyre-Ward Lattice on a public frequency, you are out of your Dielmind!!!
(Sound of a door slamming open. Hurried footsteps clicking on obsidian.)
ELDRIA: (Distant, panic rising) Draconia! Are you touching the Master Resonance Crystal?!
DRACONIA: Yes? I’m “contributing,” like you said! I’m telling them how boring this is. How absolutely, disgustingly, and maddeningly boring this is! I want to stop a Void Incursion, damn it!
ELDRIA: (Very close, breathless) Idiot! That crystal records resonance in real-time! Anything you say gets inscribed! Locked in!
DRACONIA: Locked in? What does that m—
(Sound of a scuffle. A sharp static hiss. The recording cuts abruptly to the Valora Codex sigil.)
ELDRIA: (Distant) I can’t leave you alone for a single minute! You’re as impulsive as a Wyvern!
[FOOTER NOTE: This entry has been archived by order of the High Magus. Despite the irregular nature of its creation, Resonance Law holds: once a frequency is broadcast, it cannot be un-sung. Welcome to Valora.]
[POSTSCRIPT (UNOFFICIAL): Witnesses are advised to remain present. The Codex prefers them.]