[The Clockwork Armour]

[Caster13]

[tface=callig][SIZE="5"]The Clockwork Armour:[/SIZE]
[SIZE="4"]A Tale of Two Gnomes[/SIZE][/tface]

[SIZE="2"]Primary Source: Nicolette Brightberries
Composed and Edited by: Clara Smogson[/SIZE]

[SIZE="3"]As you open this tome, Dear Curious Reader,
You should have in hand a tall glass of fine liqueur.
For the pages of this book holds a great grand tale,
A tale about a curious piece of plate mail.

It all begins many years ago in the past,
And it shall continue on to this day gone fast.
The armour lies in the centre of this story,
But it is two gnomes that are the unlocking key.

So, Dear Curious Reader, sit back and relax,
What will you find in this neat book: fiction or facts?
One way or another, does it truly matter?
You’ll still enjoy your time, I’m sure you will concur![/SIZE]

[Caster13]

[tface=callig][SIZE="5"]N[/SIZE][/tface] icolette Brightberries, as those who have had the pleasure of meeting her, likes to introduce herself as Nikki. She is a cheerful and friendly gnome of good spirit and hopeful soul. Though small and tiny compared to many of the things that walk this Isle of Ymph, she is full of enthusiasm and energy.

Originally born and raised in the Illul on the island of Lantan, it is there that Nikki served the Church Gond, enlisting first as a Wonderer novice. Despite her best efforts, Nikki found that clerical life just wasn’t her cup of tea. She did not let this dissuade her, however, and instead she joined the church as a temple guard.

Almost immediately after she finished her training, Nikki was transported to Ymph by the mythallar of Nebezzdos. This experience was heartbreaking, Nikki hadn’t even explored beyond the city of Illul and now she was in one of the most dangerous and horrid places in all the Realms. As any good, Gods-fearing person would do, Nikki turned to prayer. She renewed her vows to Gond, promising to create a machine to ease H’bala’s Withering Curse.

The next day, a sending was made by a man named Ritter Contego. He wanted to explore Nebezzdos and Nikki thought that made for an excellent opportunity to scavenge some materials for her machine. Along with an Order Footman named Ambrose Stafford and three other people who weren’t as memorable, the six of them went off to investigate the eerily named Tower of Mercy.

This tower, it turns out, was far from merciful! For infact, it was actually a prison for old and powerful wizards from Netherese times! Within, Nikki and her companions fought through many horrible creatures and explored through many a winding, twisting, and confusing chamber.

Eventually they made their way to deep within the sewers beneath the Tower of Mercy and fought the most horrid and vilest of things: toxic sludges and acidic blobs that crawled around trying to eat Nikki and her companions with their gaping maws of slime.

It was down in these sewers that a Nikki came across the sad and forlorn ghost. At first, the ephemeral form would only whisper and wail.

“Finish it...!” it moaned as it flew in out of sight in the labyrinthine sewers. “It is undone...!”

The group chased down this spirit and eventually it lead them to the poor, brittle corpse of a gnome lying within the dank, dark sewers. Within its skeletal arms, it held something wrapped in a cloak. Upon the ghost’s mournful urgings, Nikki took the items from the bony arms and unfurled the cloak to reveal, wrapped within, the Clockwork Armour.