#codex entries

Also since I'm a firm believer in sharing resources, have fun with these codex entry bases I made.

Go nuts, be free. Create those weird and wonderful fake codex entries.

For added authenticity, the font used in game for codexes is called Astoria.

This is from the blighted tree in the crossroads.

This is found during Bellara's mission to stop Anaris.

Codex Entry: Shadow and Ambition, Pt.2

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Chapter Song: End of the World Sun from No Man's Sky

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I dreamed of Gale last night.

Not the radiant God of Ambition in his silver tower, but my wizard—the man who used to steal all the blankets and mumble spell components in his sleep. Every detail burned so bright behind my eyelids: the sleep-rumpled disaster of his hair at dawn, that stubborn ink stain on his left pointer finger (from annotating spellbooks with ridiculous marginalia), the exact cadence of his voice when he'd sigh "Ves" in that tone that meant you're impossible and I adore you.

When I woke in a cold sweat, I couldn't remember if his eyes were hazel or brown or silver.

This is how I'm losing him—not to some grand cosmic divide, but to a thousand quiet erosions. The way his fingers would tap arrhythmic patterns when working through a complex theorem. The warmth of his palm pressed between my shoulder blades. That ridiculous little smirk he'd do when a spell theorem finally clicked into place. Each memory dissolves like sugar in tea, no matter how fiercely I cling.

A childish part of me keeps waiting for celestial trumpets—for Gale to come striding through a portal in full divine regalia, toss me over his shoulder like some romantic ballad's plunder, and drag me back to Elysium kicking and protesting. Sharess would fawn on and on about it for centuries. But my Gale has always been meticulous, measured—he'll trust me to find my own way home.

(What if the path disappears before I can follow it?)

The eclipse crouches on the horizon like a stalking panther.

Selûne requested only a whispered prayer at Moonrise Towers. Shar commanded a full eclipse—her due as the darker half of my domain. And I?

I am the trembling fulcrum between them.

For five perfect minutes (one for each phase of the moon she so despises), I'll be strong enough to satisfy the Lady of Loss’ demand and Toril will be blanketed in void. She'll be waiting in that sliver of totality, I know, her voice slick as oil in my ears: You are the space between stars, little shadow. He is false-dawn— you will always be the fading night. Embrace loss, child. In my darkness you will never suffer again.

The terror isn't that she's wrong.

It's that when the moon devours the sun, I might agree.

Because when the world goes dark in three days, which self will remain? Vesper who loved Gale Dekarios beyond all reason and mortal sense? Or Moonshadow that Ao forged from nothingness into a crude mockery of mortality and godhood?

I... don't know.

But I know this much: if I ever forget the exact lavender his Orb sparks when he's excited beyond words, if his laughter fades from my mind like an old song, if I wake one morning and don't recall how his hands felt tracing the scars on my body or the husky timbre of his voice when he murmurs my name—

Then let Shar claim her victory.

Without Gale, I am just a shadow cast by absent light.

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(Galerian Weave woven ink stains the page aggressively)

I’m going to send a tressym, you get distracted so easily I swear.

Read the previous entry you wrote again and come back to this one, you daft fool!

To Your Flawed Premise of " Losing Me (Especially to Shar, what absolute nonsense) ":

No. Cease this nonsense.

(The words strike like a thunderclap, the ink searing void black into the page.)

You will never lose me. Not to time. Not to godhood. Certainly not to the petty squabbles of mortals, the Gods or the scheming of the Hells, not even to the Far Realms.

We are not Midnight and Kelemvor Lyonsbane. We will never be them. I have spent every waking moment of my godhood ensuring it. They wept over their immortal limitations and lost themselves, I rewrote the rules. While they bowed to cosmic consequences, I burned the ledgers.

Even as I failed at first, I kept trying and I have finally succeeded.

My next plot will upend the status quo and earn me alot of new enemies (not you though; you are the inbetween, even as my Exarch. Ao will not punish you. He cannot. He knows why) and also very unlikely allies.

All I will say is that our next visit together to Elysium might be our last and that I’ve found a more suitable realm for ours, my Divine Tower, your Moonlit Camp, together as one.

I must leave you in suspense of course. I love keeping you on edge, my daft bard.

That and the gods are keeping tabs on you and I.

Unfortunately for them, I’m twenty steps ahead.

It would be irresponsible to spoil the fun, no?

(The ink flares crimson, then cools to steel-blue resolve.)

Regarding your lovely daftness, even in godhood...

Every night you thought yourself alone? I was there.

That "chill" along your spine? My hands—every scar, every curve, every inch of you, mind, body and spirit mapped and remembered with divine precision, every single night.

You sleep soundly because I am with you. You never sleep soundly otherwise.

The six months we spent apart as I ascended to godhood was proof of that. You looked so tired when we reunited at Withers’ party. But then again, the way your eyes lit up when you finally recognized me... It was all worth it.

Even now, frayed liked this, our love will endure. You need only keep faith in me, as you always have.

This pain, this feeling of loss will pass and you will be in my arms again. I promise.

I cannot wait for that moment to come.

(The writing shifts, each letter now edged in gold—the color of a vow.)

I have studied our predecessors’ failures like a dying man studies alchemy to stave off death. (Ironic, considering my research on the orb when we met, I was in the same boat back then too, and even then, the solution was you. Albeit Mystra stabilized the orb, you made me want to live.) Memorized every misstep, every compromise, every moment of weakness that cost them each other. And then—then, Vesper—I tore the fucking page out of the equation.

Because we will not fail.

I succeeded where Karsus failed and you and I together will succeed where Midnight and Kelemvor Lyonsbane failed.

Hand in hand.

On the Matter of Consequence:

Let Ao stew. Let Mystra sneer. Let every god in the pantheon clutch their pearls at my defiance when the time comes.

(A sketch appears in the margin—a crude lanceboard with Gale's rook knocking over the king, the queen, and the entire board itself.)

You are mine. I am yours. And if the cosmos demands otherwise?

Then the cosmos can burn.

And we’ll make our own world, together.

(The ink turns deep purple, the color of the Galerian Weave at its  strongest )

Come home soon.

(The command glows white-hot, the parchment bending reality under its weight.)

Not only for me to apologize. Not only for me to atone for being a cosmic asshole. Not only for me to rehash words better left unsaid.

Come home because I have built you a kingdom where you can be as mortal as your heart desires. Come home because every road leads to me and I will never let you walk alone again. Come home because I refuse to exist in a reality where "Gale-and-Vesper" are anything less than eternal.

Come home because your foolish oaf of a wizard misses you dearly,

And he wants to make things right.

(The signature burns itself into the page—not ink, but raw Weave given form:)

Yours always, Gale Dekarios, foolish oaf and God of Ambition

P.S. - Our bed is still calibrated to your preferences even though I have no reason to use it in your absence. And before you ask—yes, I did turn down an honorary major seat on the Conclave of Mt. Celestia to perfect that particular enchantment. Some things are worth burning bridges for. (Apologies, Tyr. Love, like Time, waits for no one, let alone a God)

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Part 1 of the Shadow of Ambition fic series.

Featuring Bandcamp Friday, a new garages goodbye album, and more!

Today is Bandcamp Friday, and we've got loads of goodies in store for you. Before we jump into it, just a reminder that today is Bandcamp Friday. All album sales today have 100% of their profits go directly to the artist (as opposed to the usual 85%). If you've got the funds and are looking to spend on some absolutely SICK tunes, consider giving some love to this month's roundup <3

And with that, let's get started:

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The Garages announced the final installment of their We Are The Garages series, appropriately titled "we've been the garages." It's up for pre-order on Bandcamp right now, along with the first single "we stood at the precipice of total collapse, fingers intertwined, our truths settled with words we'd never speak" by Woosh, Amadis, and Bertie.

The album releases on Jan 5th, 2025, and there'll be a listen party the same day to celebrate the album.

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2. @bardapologist's the sound engineer and editor for the new Dragon Age 2 playthrough podcast Codex Entries! We're linking Spotify and Apple Podcasts below, but you can find Codex Entries wherever you listen to podcasts. For a little extra incentive: Carly's also done the theme song!

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3. Yuppie Supper ( @thwackamabob )'s debut album Dracunculiasis came out at the end of last month, and it's certified sick! Grab it on Bandcamp or stream wherever you stream. They've got some really cool t-shirts out too (though the shirts might be sold out by the time this post goes out.)

And if you missed the release show over in Leeds, catch a recording over on YouTube (from a weird angle):

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4. @dynamicentropy has art commissions open right now and is looking to raise some funds! You can find xer commissions sheet below, along with examples of some of xer art.

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5. Aren't you tired of being human? Why not be tired of being human with lAra-a ( @girltentacles )'s new track, out now on Bandcamp and streaming.

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6. Sparkle on, it's Friday; be yourself: Julien, who you might've seen taking an electric screwdriver to a bass during THE GARAGES SIGN OFF, has some new ✨songs✨ out on Bandcamp!

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7. Keeping up the sparkly, space-y theme here, Gabi ( @girlballz ) has pre-orders up now for faer re-release of infinite spacetime:

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8. Last, but certainly not least, Bertie's got a new Magic: The Gathering inspired track up for pre-order over on Bandcamp. The song releases January 3rd, 2025; sign up for emails to make sure you don't miss it!

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9. This isn't really promoting something I've made, but it was my (roundup writer)'s birthday this week, and I've been thinking some about the privilege of growing up. I've also been, and continue to be, very proud of Fourth Strike's song jam fundraiser from last year, where we raised over $1000 for the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. Speaking as myself and not as Fourth Strike for a moment, if anyone is looking for places to donate this holiday season, I'd be moved if you chose to donate to some of the many Palestinian relief funds still looking to meet their goal.

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This was a long one, but hey, we've been busy! Thanks for sticking around, and we hope you'll try out all our new directions. Every stream, every comment, every share means so much to us, and the enthusiasm so far has been really cool to see. We'll plug another reminder here to follow the #beyond strike four tag if you want to keep checking in!

I keep trying to write little snippets like Request, but they end up either too dramatic or too silly and don't feel like they fit Unwanted

My brain seems focused on Unwanted: Attention and Wedlocked but I wanted to do more Bonus Chapters first

so many of the Mementos have me like

Nevarra in World of Thedas

I'm trying my hand at writing codex entries for my Inquisitor, Renan, following the DA:I OC codex prompts by @cassandrapentayaaaaas. I'm starting with number 1: something written about your OC by the cook! I'll probably go down the list in order, but lmk if you'd like to see anything on it sooner rather than later :^)

The chef's journal is well-worn, its recipes annotated, dog-eared, and splattered with use. The final third of pages, however, are titled with the names of various Skyhold figures rather than dishes.

Inquisitor Lavellan —

Smiles politely like I've tried poisoning him no matter what's on the plate. What in the world do the bloody Dalish eat? Tried asking him, Lady Josephine pulled me aside and called it "rude". Bloody elves and their secrets. Is it a crime to want to know if he'd rather a roast druffalo or a flimsy salad? Blast, I'll figure it out myself.

Below is a lengthy list of various food and drink, each with a note regarding its reception. Of the extensive list, only three are circled:

Honey black tea — I've cracked it. The bastard's hiding a sweet tooth. Wrinkled his nose over plain tea when he thought I wasn't looking. Tried the next day with honey and he slid into the kitchen asking for another cup. Honey-glazed druffalo next?

Orange salad — Just threw oranges in to use before they rotted, but I peeked at his plate after he left. Only ate half the salad, but all the orange bits were gone. Will have to ship more in from Nevarra — maybe other citruses too? Or is it any sweets he's after?