[Sitting in a small alcove on the low road Sywyn Yanodin keeping to the shadows begins to write in Drow]

It has been many years since i captured my thoughts in the written form and believe it may help to order some of my thoughts... so diary i will begin...

In starting to capture and order my thoughts it may be of value to give a little of my history.

I was born, i believe, around 100 years ago, i never met my parents, the reason they ended up in the underdark was that they had been caught, so i have been told, by Drow followers of Lloth on a surface raid. Whist these Drow were returning from their raid to their Underdark home, they themselves were ambushed by Drow of Vhaerun. In the battle i have been told that my father died and my pregnant (with me) mother was badly wounded.

The Vhaerunite priest were able to keep her alive for long enough for me to survive, much to their surprise so i am led to believe. In any case my earliest memories are of the Vhaerunite enclave in the underdark.

I feel no great sorrow for my parents, as i had no knowledge of them, i would guess my feelings are just of curiosity. I was left with only one small item from my parents a small symbol of Mielikki, which i hold dear to this day, a link to my past so to speak.

My life in the enclave from my earliest memories is one of hardship, work and training. The group numbered close to 60 and was mostly made of male Drow warriors, clerics and mages with a few females. We also had a number of surface elves like me. I was taught the thoughts and ways of my parents by these surface elves as all of them had been born on the surface. This was always done in secret, so as not to anger the leaders of the group. We were not slaves and yet not quite equals, i suppose for most, the protection of our Vhaerunite Drow cousins was preferable to death or enslavement by Drow followers of Lloth, the Illithid or Beholders.

I along with the younger Drow and surface elves were taught by Celan Myudrasin (a Drow cleric of Vhaerun) the basic tenets of the Vhaerunite faith and learned the languages of the Drow, Surface elves and the Common tongue. Whilst i had a general interest in this, my thoughts of the gods of the People always returned to Mielikki, though i knew my connection would never be strong enough to warrant clergy ship.

I have no shame in saying that i have said prayers to Vhaerun at times to keep me hidden and protect me. Does this make me evil... i do not know, i do not believe so.

I lived with this group, my family, for the next 96 years, sometimes in the same place for extended periods. Continually being harassed by Lloth's agents or other creatures of the underdark made life harsh but the cave encampments we had were well protected and guarded and most creatures gave us a wide berth.

During this time i was often taken on training exercises in the underdark, with my dark brothers, and i tasted the power that it is when creatures believe you to be Drow, powerful creatures cower in your wake, others run for their lives. I must admit that at times this was exhilarating, something i suppose that i am ashamed of.

It was on returning from one of these sojourns with a hunting party that we came across the total destruction of the enclave, magic buzzed in the air and had left scorch marks on the stone. The level of the attack and its completeness meant only one thing that a powerful Drow city had found the location of our enclave and decided to make a point of ensuring its complete destruction.

How they found us and who exactly they were i suppose i will never know, the results were clear however.

The five of us (four Drow brothers and I) left the scene quickly and began to travel as fast as we could away from it; having collected everything we could from what little remained un-destroyed. We travelled for weeks, always looking over our shoulders until we found a cave high in a cliff, over a great underdark lake. There we began to decide what to do. We surmised that not all of our kin would have been killed and that some must have been taken captive, that being said our existence would not have remained secret.

A decision was made by the leader of our hunting group (Aneniu Jarcind) that the four of them would try to make contact with another known Vhaerunite Enclave far to the north, many months travel, I however would not. Due to my inexperience and lack of innate Drow abilities, I would travel towards a place called ‘Sanctuary’ a slave city in the ruins of Dunwarren where it was rumoured that a small Vhaerunite thief’s guild existed. There I would make contact, ensure my own safety and wait. When they had made contact successfully with the Vhaerunite Enclave to the north they would send for me and I would join them, they said to not expect to be contacted for potentially months or even years. That is of course presuming they were ever successful and were not killed whilst making the attempt.

So, I made my way alone the short journey to the outskirts of Sanctuary and have begun to find my way, it has been many months and my skills have extended greatly, I believe some of the snobbery my brother showed me would be removed if they could see me now, but maybe not.

I have yet to successfully contact the Guild though I am always watching from the shadows’; I have also heard nothing from my brothers though I do not really expect to, given the risks they will undoubtedly encounter. I suppose I am alone, though I hope that will not always be the case. I believe I may make a habit of writing of my adventures… we will see where they take me.

[Sywyn sits on the jaw bone in the Deep Lizard bone yard and begins to write]

Now i have given something of history i can give something of my present.

I have met many races. Most of them i have only had minimal contact with up to this point in my life before arriving in Sanctuary. Here are my thoughts on them

Humans: Mixed is the best way to describe this short lived race. Most i had encountered up to this point had been slaves in the enclave i grew up in. Their slavery has always seemed somewhat natural to me, do i think differently now? I am not sure, i am not sure how Mielikki views them, as i this was not discussed directly by my surface kin in the enclave, but i doubt she approves of mistreatment... certainly from my Drow brothers actions Vhaerun sees them as slaves at best, though i cannot believe he agrees with needless cruelty? I am not sure, they certainly seem to have value, i guess i will reserve my judgement and do what i do best, listen, keep quiet and wait and watch.

Dwarves: Not met many so far, they certainly enjoy fighting, but seem to lack the intelligence to not attack from the shadows with overwhelming force, the times i have travelled with them they rush in against equal or dangerous foes.

This is a strange way to behave; i will have to make a point to watch them more. A predator will not attack unless it knows it can gain a safe kill, and the prey will run if it cannot fight or defend itself, this is a part of the 'balance' as has been taught to me and i have witnessed. If every creature fought at stupid odds it would die hungry and injured.

When i hunt i select a Rothe which is injured or old, or lame, and i only hunt when i need food. I make the death unseen, swift and painless, no fear and bloody battle, i make sure by stealth that is not pregnant or young, yet the dwarves almost relish just the battle itself, seeing it as the thing to be cherished. How un-elfish. How lesser.

Halflings: Although weak i have gained some respect for these ones. They make intelligent traders and almost match elves in their stealth. They do though have a whimsical side which lets them down. I had one challenge me in lower, which i believed at first to be a joke. When i realised it was not a joke and he actually tried to attack i was almost caught off guard. I could have killed him; my brothers would have done so i am sure and would have thought me weak not doing so. Something in me held my hand after i had knocked him down, is that weakness, or something else? Without my brothers i do feel lost as they at least have 'an' answer rather than the limbo i sometimes feel. Is it Mielikki that holds my hand, no, i believe i am too insignificant for such contact and too far from the 'forests' that she holds dear.

Gnomes: Rock Gnomes seem very strange, very weak. Quite how they have ever survived is a mystery given the ones i have met. I am presuming that i have not met the 'right' ones and therefore i am reserving judgement. The Sverfbien are a different matter and should be afforded no short measure of respect. They are canny.

Half-Orcs - I remember the ones we had in the enclave incredible strength and usually incredible stupidity. They are what they are, one on one powerful melee fighters. The ones i have met in Sanctuary have been along these lines, with a couple of minor exceptions.

Well those are my thoughts.

Are any the equal to elves, no.

Are they all deserving of death as little more than cattle no.

A grey area... or a weakness that would deserve scorn and my chastisement for such thoughts. I cannot ask the kin i have met so far as i trust none enough. I guess i will have to ponder it some more and watch some more... and of course it will be from the shadows.

[As Sywyn stops writing a group of humans and orcs comes into view, he slides into the shadows and watches as they noisily trample by, he smiles to himself and silently goes deeper into the Underdark] ((happened IG))

[Sywyn sits on a cliff overlooking the Sanctuary Gate]

I had a dream, a women was walking away from me, i could not see her face... but i new her a little i think. Some one was standing behind me, with their hand on my shoulder, comforting me for a loss or holding me still i could not quite tell..... his eyes were golden... the rest of his face was covered....

I awoke from reverie warm, which was strange given the cool air in the cavern in which i had rested. I thought i heard something behind me and swung around, thrusting my sword, but nothing was there.... at least not by the time i turned...

The magic that permeates areas of the Dark must have affected me, i shall remember not to sleep in that area again...

I have continued to aid the elves that i have met around Sanctuary, offering supplies, armour or weapons, trying to ensure they stay alive and ensure they remember that above all they are elves, something many seem to forget... I have so far contacted, Lanwess, Morwen, Tsien, Amendur and a few others who's name now escape me. I told then my name and that should they ever need assistance they should contact me.

I have had no fortune in finding what i am looking for. Maybe it is not there to be found?

I came across some information whilst trading with the Duergar at Fort Mur, a blonde women was being sold as a slave so the note said, i thought it was probably the same individual a group i watched the previous day, was looking for, Eleina, or some such.

I sold this information to a half breed Uneldor for 250 coins. I thought afterwards whether i should have done this, should i have given the information for free? But then considered if any of the humans involved would have cared if the slave had been me.... and the only answer i came to was no..