a couple of filthy and torn papers, patched with wax and other not recognisable things, bound together with animal sinews
Where to begin? Lets just say I once lived a happy life ... a life amongst the stars, amongst the sun, amongst friends, laugther and good food. By all the gods .... the food! Thoughts of the time seem to fade away with every cursed day i spend down here, I -have- to spend down here. I can barely remember the sun rising over my valley anymore, I cant smell the fresh bread from my good friend Jake the baker. The time when we played as children on the riverbanks has too long passed to be of any hope to hold on to. We werent rich, far from it ... but my father took good care of us, what did he look like? Yes! The longest nose in town .. or ...
It all happend one dreadful night, so long ago. We were in our beds, sleeping well after a good meal and a hard days work. It happend faster than anyone of us could think, faster than anyone could react. They slew all the grown ups, cut their throats and spilled their blood and innards on the floor. Our whole village was then set ablaze and we, the children, were taken into the dark tunnels ... marching for days with nothing to eat. When we were allowed to rest, we licked moisture from the walls, some tried to eat mushrooms and other things I have never seen before. It was a mistake ... quite a few died in horrible pain under the laughter of the dark skinned ones. I will never forget their horrible laughter, their cruel faces and the pleasure in which they pushed us deeper into the darkness.
We were shown on markets, sold to the highest bidder - the one who took a liking into gnomes, longnoses as they called us. I was sold to a house which name is too difficult to remember, too painful to recall and too fearsome to speak out loud. I quickly learned that I was bought as a pet, a thing they could experiment on. Something on which they could test their latest cruelty, being new spells they developed, new methods of interrogation and torture, new alchemistic mixtures that burned holes into my hands, ... I could continue the list ... for a long time. Their cruelty soon slipped into my heart, trying to defend me from their torture I left many of my feelings behind. Slipped into a mere shell of myself, a armor to protect me and over time coldness replaced what once was a gnomish heart. Down here everybody has to look out for himself, no matter what.
The house got into troubles with another house and quickly a rather bloody masacre took place during which I managed to escape. I was able to grab a few things, something to eat, a dagger and a few more things. Most important I managed to grab one of their spellbooks, one of those they left lying around with the most simple incanations. Something their children play with ... but it allowed me to focus on something when I couldnt run no more, something that shielded my thoughts from the steps and groans echoeing through the Underdark.
I am on the run now since days, the "secure" house I had to live in left behind and to me unknown caves before me. I managed to find a hopefully secure place to sleep, a small hole high up above the cave. I only found it thanks to some glowing moss which i scratched off the wall. It will provide me with a bit of light for the night to read the book. There is a spell in there I would like to understand, its called light and it might provide me with some advantage when I am pursued. The dark skinned ones hate light, cant stand it. They had been teaching their children how to counter the light spell, how to use their abilities. But not all who dwell down here know how to counter it ... i hope.