Before You Ask

Are fireballs truly square?

It has been a trial to my scholarly composure that this is the most common question.

No.

Also yes.

The distinction is less important than several correspondents believe and more important than several wounded persons hoped.

If you have reached the point where this matter is personally relevant, I recommend leaving the area first and writing to me afterward.

Is Orentha Vale still alive?

Yes.

Surprisingly.

How she managed this remains one of the great mysteries of the multiverse.

How many times has Orentha Vale been resurrected?

Fewer than rumor claims.

More than caution recommends.

Did Vale personally experience every spell recorded here?

No. Vale was committed to scholarship, not redundancy.

Some accounts are hers. Others come from contributors or public incidents later reconstructed under safer conditions.

Several contributors survived.

Several then made further decisions.

What is a Sensate?

A member of the Society of Sensation, which holds that experience is the beginning of knowledge.

In Vale’s case, this principle was applied with unusual commitment, questionable caution, and a truly impressive tolerance for follow-up pain.

Where is Sigil?

Not on the next road.

Sigil is the City of Doors: a planar city connected to many worlds by passages that rarely care whether the traveler is prepared.

Orentha Vale came from there. That is the relevant fact for this edition.

This edition does not provide directions.

Why did I prepare this edition?

Because Vale’s work is too valuable to leave behind Candlekeep’s restrictions and too dangerous to circulate without editing.

A smaller book may prevent a few readers from learning everything personally.