InsaneJournal

Elminster sat, contemplating the horizon. He did this from a wooden chair which he had enchanted to float 50 feet above his tower. This is where he did his serious thinking. The vista was always so peaceful, looking out over Shadowdale, the city he had chosen to make his home. He had just received some disturbing news from an ally of his, a Diviner named Rumah. He had apparently foreseen some impending disaster concerning Mystra, not to mention the rest of the world. Closing his eyes, he focused his magical energies on making contact with Mystra. As he felt her familiar presence in his mind, a horrible scream tore through him. It was as if the whole world was screaming inside his mind! His vision, enchanted to view the substance of magic itself, was going wild. Furthermore, his chair was now plummeting towards the ground. Elminster used the power stored in one of his rings to slow his fall to that of a feather. Something was very wrong. Elminster, on the way down, recognized the scream as coming from the voice of Mystra. Raw magic began manifesting all around him. He decided the
situation was desperate enough to risk a spell, even with all the roiling magic around him. He took a deep breath and teleported away. He did not, however, reach his intended destination.

After a brief moment of disorientation, Elminster popped back into reality, though not where he intended. He landed hard on his rear, in a hallway. Nearby, an open door led into a room full of books. Elminster picked himself up, brushed off his robes and said "That was a near thing. I nearly didn't make it. Now, where on Toril am I?" Looking around, he noticed the door and, above it written in large letters was the word "Library".

"Well, at least wherever I am, they speak Common." Elminster said to himself. Then he remembered the roiling chaos of magic he saw before he teleported out. Quickly, he muttered an incantation designed to detect the presence of magic. As the reassuring presence of the Weave made itself felt in the back of his mind, he also quickly enhanced his sight again, so that he could see the raw magic flow around him. Oddly, the spell seemed to require more concentration and effort on his part than he was used to. It was as if the Weave, although there, was somehow distant. He completed the spell and opened his eyes. Instantly, he recoiled, blinded by the sheer amount of magic present around him. It was as if the entire planet was charged with a greater amount of magic than even he had ever seen. He staggered down the hallway, dismissing the spell as quickly as he could, but before he could regain his sight, he ran straight into someone, knocking the both of them off their feet.

"My apologies" said Elminster, as he slowly regained his feet and his vision, "You'd think that at my age, I would've learned to watch where I was going. Elminster, the Sage of Shadowdale at you service" he said with a bow, offering his hand to help up the person he had collided with.