Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

The beginning of this great book is ruined almost beyond reading. The language of the first 100 pages are in Netherese. Fragments of writing among the tattered pages seem be about the underwater city "Cuulmath". There are fragments that looks like recipes involving copper and gold powder, pieces of anatomical drawings. The last of these preserved pages describe the collapse of the crystal dome that protected the city. The near-foot thick book continues in legible gnomish without water damage and intact. It looks like the book was bound with great expense to include the ancient pages of Gamman's life first.

"Commoners of Raven's Bluff were surprised to find me washed up on a beach about 20 miles from the city proper. I have no recollection of how I got there, and it is unlikely, given my mass, that the water washed me there. Except strange dreams of the Deep Netherese city of Cuulmath. Faint memories of glowing arcane wonders, strangely dressed people from a time long ago invade my mind unbidden as I sit in my simple room at the Turning Wheel temple of Nebelun. I realize my memory fails, and my consciousness is fragmented. Only my heavy golden body seems to be intact, though mostly disabled. I will put what I recall of these dreams in this book, given to me by a priest of Nebelun, as a way of giving my maddening thoughts a body that is more coherent than my mind can manage unaided.

In any case, the priests of Nebelun seem to think me more like one for their wondrous collection, instead of a Gnome. I am being schooled in engineering and Alchemy, but I remember it quickly, and have been able to share what invades my mind of the wonders of the Netherese Empire. So I am valued and cared for, even as I "learn" or remember what must be done to make me able-bodied again. Nebelun has granted me a good body, I must make my mind worthy of it. They tell me it is the year 1308 DR, and my last memory of waters flooding the city, and enclosing myself in stasis supposedly happened in -1660 DR. -1660 to 1308 DR brings my the time in the chamber to 3000 years or so. I must thank Nebelun for my existence, such as it is. And now I tire and must return to meditation. Ah, blessed peace..."

July 10th, 1320 DR

The black sea high above the city of Cuulmath can be seen, with the occasional fish coming close enough to see from the glowing bluish white street lights far below also reflected above.
The palace stands proud and elaborate, defying gravity with its magically supported spires. And the great steps are flooded with the sea elf king and his retinue, kneeling before the high wizard. Magic then was different, more potent, the weave could almost be felt soft and electric against the skin as one walked the eerie lighted stone streets. The war with the sea elves had been a minor affair to the high wizard, who was content to oversee the magical advancements as his primary concern. Still his rule over the region was to be acknowledged and celebrated. But now I stood to one side, A Gnome who served as a slave-advisor to the high mage. I was respected for my skills as a master alchemist, and I had already begun transmuting my body into gold. I was uninterested in this display of authority and power given to the high mage, instead my mind, far superior to the fragmented state it has become now, toyed with complex alchemical formulae in attempts to solve problems and contrive experiments. I struggle to remember the long chains of symbols, much less their meaning, that flashed through this alien memory of my own mind, so that I can write them into this book.

I have never forgotten how to nourish my body with arcane energy. Necrotic energy to be exact, but the stigma of admitting that in this book available to the priests of Gond is minor. I am enough of a wonder for that to be an oversight. I don't need to eat, nor breath, but the repairs to my body are difficult, and expensive. It is clear my body has retained some ability to self heal, almost as if it were alive, but the present deterioration of my body requires the right combination of gold and digestive agents, as well as a crystal powder that makes the body a conduit for feeding it with necrotic energy .

A man comes to teach me the basics of alchemy personally now. He brings me books and comes prepared for the leaps and bounds I make in my understanding, ready with far more complex secrets to share. It would not be so if the great mark of Nebelun were not engraved on my golden chest. The priest is a good man, a burly human by the name of Abe. His long grey hair is unkempt which makes him look like a saint, and his kindly blue eyes sparkle with joy when I can contribute an insight I remember from an age long ago. Still, such a brilliant achievement as this body might not be possible anymore, with the weakness the weave has now.

Abe is kind enough to inform me of of the events in Raven's Bluff, but that is not a subject for this book. And after almost ten years rest and energetic meditation I have healed to the point I can take a few labored steps. My mind has healed some as well, with the blessed seclusion and company of wise priests my mind has been able to achieve a new wholesomeness, though I am a different person from the Gnome I once was.