The Greygem

by Arnaud Picard

When Reorx created the world, he began making things tough for us, Historians. He was responsible for creating races not originally planned for. According to most people, he was the one who built such things as the world of Krynn, the stars and the planets, the Greygem...

One of the aspects of Reorx, as a god, is craft. So he wanted to teach humans how to use their brains and muscles to create things. He took some with him. They were called the Smithes. Yet they didn't do what the god wanted, so he transformed them outright. Whereas they wer formally human, they became shorter, and lost the way of the Forge, yet the desire to build remained. Thus were born the gnomes. After an alteration between the gods and the intervention of those of magic, Reorx was tricked by Hiddukel.

The god of betrayal had Reorx build a gem, which was later placed on Red Lunitari. With the help of another Evil god, Morgion of the Diseases, Hiddukel won the Greygem, and tricked a little gnome. This gnome thought about a machine, as do all gnomes, that would be able to ascend into the sky. He built it successfully. Then, he went up into the sky, up to Lunitari, and with a net of his, he captured the Gem. Of course, that which nobody knew, Hiddukel had infused the power of row chaos into the Gem, that was alive.

The Gem escaped, and the gnomes were forced to follow it accross an ocean, and sailed from Taladas where they lived to Ansalon. There, the Gem was captured by a human, Gargath, follower of Zivilyn the Wise. Under the spell of two gems, it was held in place.

When they arrived, the gnomes took knowledge of this, and they wanted the Gem. So they asked Gargath to give it back. As he refused, they did what they could. They built machines to invade Lord Gargath's fortress. After the third try, they did it, though not like they thought they would. One of their machines broke down and began a fire. When they would have fought, they suddenly realized they were bathed in a strange kind of red light. All of them transformed. Those who sought the gem for its value became Dwarves. Those who thought it was just marvellous, and beautiful, and it would look pretty on them, became Kender. Those were not the only one affected by the gem : some sea-farers among the elves became sea-elves, Dargonesti or Dimernesti. Some bunches of ogres were made into Minotaurs, some humans living in mountains received the ability to fly, and grew feathers...

And the greygem escaped once more.