*The black leather of this book is marked with ancient runes from a long dead language and the grinning skull surrounded by the tears of a thousand souls*

Given the choice, whether to rule a corrupt and failing world or to challenge the Fates for another throw, a better throw, against one's destiny. What was a faithful serven to do? But does one ever truly have a choice? One can only match, move by move, the machinations of Fate, and thus defy the tyrannous gods that have doom my lord to drift for all time in the endless void.

I am Nupraptor Tane, faithful servent of Bhaal and bearer of his gift. For thirty long years i have known what I am and now fate brings me to a place ripe with fear and hatred where I might forge my will and Bhaal's dark powers as great weapons. But fate it seems has a sence of humour and has left me damn near dead and without even the shirt upon my back. Foul Drow, thay will one day pay for this as i reap my vengance on them and all their kin. But this city, this Sanctuary will serve my purposes well, it is, perfect. The strong rule the weak, it has always been so. Fear will drive men to depths thay do not know and deliver them to damnation where thay can be manipulated with an ease that is like the taming of a wild beast.

The dark powers grow and my strenght returns and with it thye avatar of my master comes back to me once more. Its has many names for it is many, thousands of tourtured souls forced to the will of the lord of murder before is fall. It is a powerful ally but nothing more, it has no mind of its own and will obay with out question which is all i need of it. As my power grows back to that which it was so shall its power grow and soon it will be able to serve me as it once did, but it will need blood. The blood is what drives it, keeps it strong and so it shall have it but not until i can be sure of how best to feed the creature. To have it rampage freely would be foolish for however unlikily it be that the watch would be able to track it back to me it is a risk not worth the taking.

I have reforged the sword and while its once great power is gone it will still serve me well. The reaver, the weapon of my late brother. A damn fool who walked the path of Tyr and who fell to my hand for it. Still the weight of the sword is comforting and soon it shall taste blood once more.

This town, it is almost too good to ask for. The lower city is ripe with chaos and disorder and so i can move quietly with out notice building on my lords will while feeding the creatures needs. The upper town is more of a problem. Paladins and law men roam the streets but the same laws thay would defend also defend me so even this is no problem. Yes this town is perfect. It seems local elections are to be held soon and I should see to finding out a little about those standing, should any of them be possesed of the strenght and ill nature to let me further my purpose. Some powerful lord or Necromancer perhaps if such exist in this place. But still the beast grows hungry and it must feed, i shall take it to the werehouse. Some accident has turned the works to walking corpses and so the beast can feed with no fear of questions or hastly formed reasoning.

Orc bloods are toloranted here like any other. How interesting to see such a thing, then when all where slaves tolerance becomes easier to deal out. My own slavery has simply made my goals clearer and so I shall continue to strive to them. With each passing day the beast grows closer to me, learning from my memories developing its own personality. Strange it should choose Mortanious to model itself after, but then my old master was a wise and powerful man. It was he that learned of my mark, and he that brought me to the alter of Bhaal to fufill my purpose. A fitting choice it seems.

Darkness rises all around me and it comforts me to find souls of similar views to me. A man by the name of Aldren, Yanos he said went with me and the creature on a few minor tasks. A powerful warrior and level headed man he will make a powerful ally when the time comes. He did not say he was not related to the man running for a post with the city council so perhaps he can be of even great use than I have thought. With a councial at the whim of a man so powerful it should be possible to cover up some of the creatures somewhat unfortunate lapses into violance. I shall have to look into this further but thus far things progress well.

I continue to serve my new master. His strenght is matched only by his vision and it shall be my honour to help it come true. He has shown me such great things and I shall forever be grateful and will serve as he see's fit. The beast's hunger grows as does my own power and soon it will be powerful enought to truelly serve our lord. It seems even here Paladins exist with their narrow minded ways. But for all their posturing and power thay are not imune to the darkness. How long can a man fight the darkness before he finds it in himself. This question i will answer, for i will break one of these most holy of warriors and turn him to the darkness forever granting him power but of a far more base form. I will bring into my masters service the ultimate warrior, a man without caring an without compassion.

The fools within this town seem to be unaware of a great deal. Thay seem not to know that slowely thay give away their city and slowely thay lose even the hope to fight for its very survival. I have made a curious friend of sorts this day. An orcblood follower of my dark lord. He is strong and powerful and will prove a useful servent of Bhall, and the new wave he shall bring onto this place when i find the means for his rebirth. My lord continues to grow in strenght and as such so do I. My current master leads me on yet more quests into the dark places of this town and so we grow in power. His will is strong and it is with honour i continue to serve his will and that of lord Bhaal.

Paladins are such damn fools at times i wonder at how thay ever survive long enought to be become an problem. One such man has spoken of an attack against an inn far from the city where the dead walk and a powerful necromancer resides performing his experimants and tests to better understand his darkest of servants. Any fool enought to follow this paladin will find only death and at worst eternal life as the very thing thay seek to destroy. While not to my taste the necromancers ways have caused me no harm and his inn is a curious place i must visit more often. His power is clear from the beasts he commands and I shall wait to see how this fool errand pans out when the paladin and his fool companions lie dead before the might of a true master of dead. I should inform the master of this development if he does not already know of it, for it seems that the paladin in question is a council member and his dead will be of great importance these coming days.

The dark powers rise up in me and my power grows letting me call forth more of the lord of Murders power. Power i use to fully serve the will of my master. His power grows and his will to fulfill his destiny remains ever strong. Destiny, we have no choice but to play the parts it has laid before us. We are but mer pebbles in the great river of existance and cannot hope to alter its course. Well mer mortals cannot but a God. What would happen if a man became a god, what would happen if he was given the chance to change the course of the world. The chance for one more toss of the coin of fait, for another, a better destiny. Wouldnt any man take that chance. Things are progressing well and soon perhaps i will have the will to focus the power of Bhaal into some thing more real than a faded memory.

It would seem that dispite all the unpleasent elements of this town, good prepails. Such a thing is not to be unexpected but alas it reigns free with nothing to stand against it save of course my lord. Still my power grows and as does the hunger of the beast that continues to take on the personality of Mortanious. Damn his soul for its strenght. He has no choice but to serve but still it is if he laughs at me from the abyss by having the beast take his shadow form. Then it is to be expected that he could such things for the creature is of his kin. The life of the planes has been known to take form in our world and even to sire children. Such a child was Mortanious, son of a devil spawn and sorcerer of untold power. His teachings have stood me in good steed these past years and while it was regretable that i had to take his life now he serves a greater purpose even if his presence iritates me. Still with every passing day my strenght grows and with it my will to make the beast more subserviant.

The beasts hunger is beyond belief. It hungers at all waking moments and it is driving me to distraction. If i could i would simply unleash it within the city and let it feed but such actions will draw unwanted attention to my powers. I have to satisfy the beast by releasing it in the underdark and letting it feed on what it finds there but such activity will be noticed eventually. While it has its uses the beats has a greater purpose. A secret that Mortanious once told me, a secret I now carry. The dark heart of the beast can be used to purify the soul of one torn between the paths of life. It's true power lies in granting the dark powers to one who's soul is willing much as mine was. Perhaps if i find one who is so torn, with the desire to grasp power beyonf that which thay have i can fulfill the creature's destiny and bring into being that most powerful of the darkness's servents. Speak with the darkness and so it shall take refuse within. How long can any man fight the darkness, before he finds it in himself. That darkness is the key and the creature is the lock. Together, strenght and power will flow and bring forth a new beginning.

Choosen, more commonly known as Lycanthropes or Wererats. This city is infested with them. Round ever corner these beasts lurk. Is it any wonder the common man is fearful of straying to far from his own door. Still thay seldom seem to enter the city at large prefering to raid the place known localy as sewer town. Strange that such powerful beasts are allowed to remain considering the very grave danger thay cause. Still it is not my place to question politics. I leave that to those that know its deceptions and trials. I will continue to research this subject and perhaps find some form of answer to why the beasts thrive in such large numbers. Even stranger seems to be their relationship with the legions of undead gnomes that attack the city through the old ruins. I saw scores of them together during a raid on their camps. Undead are typically mindless tools of Necromancers but these are differant. This is a dark and interesting place i have found my self in. Perhaps it is here that i will fulfill the path laid before me, perhaps in serving my masters will i will do that which is most pressing to my destiny and see the old ways reborn.

I have done it. I have broken into the forth circle of the dark arts. With my increased powers and those of the beast we are now well placed to serve our masters will. Though not all the doors we once might have used will be open to us others will become available thus we can continue to grow. My research into the strange behavior of the Choosen contnues and I have observed them in an ally way just off the populated section of lower. Quiet why no-one has seen fit post a warning about this danger is unclear but perhaps such information will be of use to my lord. I spoke with a local begger about the comming elections. He says that counciler Bhast is a good man, but i have faith in the masters plans and his will to carry out them. After all this place is my home now and a safe home is better than one over run with danger where one cannot practice his art in peace. Time will as always tell what is to come but thus far things have progressed well.

The dark power gives me strength yet dispite all this i find i need more. The power i have is not enought and i must find a way to gain more of it. Perhaps with my lords grace i can make further head way and bring this wish to reality. Time will tell but until then i must continue to progress as i am.

Gnomes, undead, Gnolls, all fall before the blade of my lord for his strenght continues to grow. He seems to know more of this city than he lets on but such is to b expected. It is wise to show only part of that which you know to leave those facing you with false hope that you are ignorant to all that there is. Still, as my knowledge of this place increases i find it odd that so many have found power through force yet nothing is done about it. The self appointed lower council is a prime example of this. Thay are men who siezed power during some kind of revolt and have held on ever since. Thay make demands for allowing the recombining of the city that by all accounts seem unfounded foolishness. Thay are so foolish to even leave the very door to the city unguarded, though this is no better or worse than the previous stewards of the gate thay had employed. What kind of fool places the defense of a city in the hands of a band of kobolds. Still some level of respect should be had for their ambition in taking what was not theirs to take. But to act as thay have and do shows weakness. Thay will find that weakness is seldom rewarded with anything but death, though i pray thay do not bring it upon us all by their actions.

The Beacon, what manner of place is it. A place of healing and shelter for the poor and the needful. While such a place has its uses, it seems to be far from that. Poetry contests and teh like do not feed the hungry. From what little i have picked up about this place it was once owned by the Counciler known as Bhast. The building was run by a group doing that which its current ownersas it claims to do now. Its current owner is nothing but a thief from what i have learned. Perhaps you may find it strange that a murderer and servant of a dark power should care about such things but let it never be said that acted with anything but honour in my affairs. Thievery is seldom to be justified, and such as was done in respect to this place is nothing but a cowards act. Not suprising really that one of the demands made to rejoin the rest of the city was to have all crimes and chrages to be held againsy the people responsible for the troubles with this house and lower itself where to be torn up. While society would wish my head if thay would but know some of the I have done it should see those men and women dead as well. Perhaps one day thay will be held to account as must we all be. One must hope that those with authority will see through the false lies of a band of brigands and murders.... and put an end to this foolish mess before it destroys us all.

It is all almost to easy. Fear and distrust rule the streets of lower like a tyrant king. While in some times this is no bad thing, it does make some of the things I hope to bring into being that much easier. The lower footmen seem to be a band of common thugs and while this sort has it uses as law enforcement thay are useless. Threats and violance against the very people that thay are ment to guard and protect will only hasten the downfall of the fools that put them in a position to do it. Then what is to be expected when those in charge are not but a band of cowards and fools who hold power only through thievery and murder. The murders i hold no problem with in principle but to hold a position of power one must ensure that its ends do not cast on you, for most of the rest of society finds its practice to be unwelcome. Any fool that does not ensure thay are not linked to the murders carried out to gain their position will find death an all to close friend in time. But for now the situation plays into the plans i have and doudtless those of my lord.

I supose that if this is to serve as a record of my deeds i must detail that which has brought me to where i am now. I was not always as I am now, long ago I might have been considered a pure soul. Then, one day i was gifted with the power of the fallen god. His death created hunderds of of us. Some call us teh children of Bhaal but if only that where true. We are simply touched by his power and so gain strenght from it that we would never have had. I was the son of a noble in a great city far to the east where life was comfortable and we would want for nothing. Of course things tend to change when you discover your destiny. My own brother, the one whom i had always looked up to had left while i was younger to join the ranks of the temple of Tyr and had returned a paladin. The dogma of his god forced his hand and sencing the power of the dark within me he, my own brother tried to kill me. Is it little wonder i dispise paladins. Their blind teachings took my own brother from me, that and the sword thay had him use to deal their own brand of justice. I drove that blade into his heart and as he died i bound his soul for all time to a hell that would see him understand that which i had become. Of course few understood what i had done or had become and i was forced to flee. Years passed and as thay went by I learned more of what I was and of the lord of murder. It was then i met Mortanious, the old man who's knowledge would build my power and make me that which i am today. Of course not without many years of service and uses of the devine powers that some consider to be unatural. Death is not the end, for even as we slip from our mortal bodies we may yet return, for the gods power is great and so I and my old master lived far beyond the time we should have. Alas though time will eventually catch up with one and so it did with my master. He raised me as I am to this day. Weak as is always teh case with little of the power i had but none the less alive. It was then i killed him. I took his place and assumed the position he had created for himself and so started the next part of my journey. I have lived three life times of men and still i have not yet learned all that their is to know of the dead god. Perhaps now that i have found myself in this dark place with a man who's determation is stronger even than my own i will find the answers to my questions and truelly understand what i am.