I don’t think it’s a cop out at all. It’s a very good start and I appreciate the work and the quote. It sets me to thinking of a monstrous demigod by the name of Na’scrivas I’ve had rattling around for some time (I made an anagram of scrivener and changed a few letters. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a good apostrophe in a fantasy setting.). It’s takes the form of a journal that makes its contents a reality at the cost of slowly detaching the writer further and further from reality. The idea is that by the end of the story the reader should question how much of it actually happened, and how much was simply the protagonist going mad.

I was just looking to express my penchant for collecting pseudo-historical stories that I don’t feel compelled to check the accuracy of because they don’t purport to express anything important. Ngl though, I would play the fuck out of that encounter if you made it.

Iirc, Tchaikovsky wrote his 1812 Overture rather quickly to commemorate the defense of Russia against Napoleon and wasn’t too thrilled with it himself. I believe he called it noisy and without artistry, but I’m prone to collecting myths, so please do check my work.