Backstory

Almundo the Wise was a prodigy, her insatiable curiosity and eidetic memory making her a perfect candidate for the Avowed of Candlekeep. She was brought to the great library as a child and quickly consumed every tome she could access. Her dedication and intellect earned her a place among the Chanters, the voices who maintain the endless, magical chant that has echoed through the library's halls since its founding. For years, Elara believed the chant was merely a tradition, a method of preserving the most ancient of texts through recitation. However, her 'dangerous curiosity' led her into the forbidden archives, where she uncovered the truth: the chant is no mere tradition. It is a monumental, millennia-long ritual, a powerful work of enchantment that actively suppresses the latent, chaotic energies of the world's most dangerous magical sites, including the Bukhara Spire Gateways. The discovery thrilled and terrified her. The weight of her duty became immense; a single misspoken word could unravel the delicate balance. It was this terror that led to her secret shame. One afternoon, during her chanting shift, her mind wandered back to a simpler time, to her only childhood friend before Candlekeep: a fluffy hamster named 'Squeaky'. In a moment of profound distraction, while reciting a complex passage about planar suppression, she replaced a crucial esoteric term with the name 'Squeaky'. The magic of the chant faltered for a fraction of a second. A tremor, imperceptible to most but feeling like a thunderclap to her, shook the foundations of the library. It was only weeks later that news reached Candlekeep: the Bukhara Spire Gateways, dormant for centuries, were showing signs of reactivating. Elara was horrified. She is now convinced that her momentary lapse, her absurd, trivial mistake, is the direct cause of this new global threat. Every moment of her life is now consumed by a frantic, secret search for a way to repair the chant and avert the apocalypse she believes she instigated, all while protecting the absurd truth of its origin.