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I told my tale in Duskwood. Many were there to listen, as we shared stories around a camp fire - takes of ghosts, fear and the unexplained. I will try to show the other tales eventually. For now, here is the story of my exile from Gnomeregan. Then I will begin... Erice fiddles with her pack I was born and raised in Gnomeregan, of course. When I was young, I had a doll, a clockwork gnome that my mother had made for me. I remember her always making changes to that little doll, throughout my childhood, and I loved it. As the years passed, I lost interest in a lot of my playthings. I was almost an adult when I found the doll in a box with tinkering tools. She was broken, and I tried to repair her, but I didn't have my mother's skill, and I made her much worse. At the time, my mother was visiting my father, who was working on a hush-hush project deep within Gnomeregan. I left the doll propped up on a table in my room, to ask my mother to show me how to repair her. Erice clears her throat. One night, I awoke to find my mother leaning over the table, engineering tools in hand. Later, I wondered how I could see her so clearly, because my room should have been dark, but at the time my mind was befuddled with sleep. She turned to smile at me, and handed me my doll. "Follow her," she said, "she has something to show you." Then she set the doll on the floor, where she started to walk quickly out of the room. I followed my little doll upwards through the tunnels of Gnomeregan in the middle of the night. As I got close to the main route to the lift, I started hearing voices. At first, they were confused, then panicked. Gnomes were yelling and running through the hallways. My doll stopped moving, and turned to me. I scooped her up and ran to see what was happening. Adults were trying to keep order, and directed me to the lift. I was safely outside Gnomeregan before I learned of the invasion. I started to scream for my mother, whom I'd left in my room. An older gnome - a distant uncle - took me aside. "She's not in your room," he said. "Your parents - I was in the workshop with them. Only two or three of us made it out, before the gas took everyone. I'm sorry, Erice," he said, "your mother and father... they're both..." Then his eyes filled with tears. As time passed, I came to believe him. But I know what I saw. And if you think it was all a dream, tell me this... Erice fumbles in her pack, then places a small doll on the floor Who repaired my doll? Erice blinks a few times.
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