- A story about a halfling

    In the month of rat, on the day of Sacrifice, 1049 years after the arrival,
Golub was born in the green foothills of the Giat. In a simple wooden hut
he was brought up by his warm and kind mother and his happy father. Always
strolling and stumbling around in the foothills, catching butterflies was
his center of the world. Few years of his childhood passed, and still he was
far from mature, and ironically, far he has always been. One day, on his way
home from a small brook where he sometimes played, he found his parents
brutally killed and the hut burn down to ashes. He stumbled around the hut
and in shock, and in his fathers broken desk where he never earlier was
allowed to watch, he found a small silver ring. Terrified of what happend
to his parents, he took his fathers artifact and left the house in panic. He
ran to the foothills, across the river, and to the mountains of Giat.
He ran farther then he never before run, crying a flood of tears on his
way. Not aware of where he ran, he eventually got lost. Only wearing a
robe and a blue woolen shirt, he quickly met the mountains and the cold bit
into his child-face. He fell down into the snow, shivering, as he burst
into tears. What happened after that seems to be forgotten.

   A friendly soul must have saved the poor halflings life, for he would
have died in the biting cold of the Giat. Finding himself in a warm cozy
bed, he immidiately stood up and looked around the resting room in which
he was earlier lying covered in warm blankets. A ray of light streamed in
from the room nextdoor, and curious of what it was, he stumbled away.
A friendly face met him in the door-opening, greeting him welcome in
the halfling embassy in Elvandar.

   Golub was given food for the day and a place to sleep. The first weeks
in his new home, he was happy and surprised by his new friendly surroundings
and friends, but still sad he was sad for loss of his parents. After some
time in the embassy he became somewhat depressed. All the new became
everyday, but Golub stayed in the embassy for a longer time of his youth.
He lived his life in Elvandar, but as the days went he grew more and more
sad, dropping deeper and deeper into himself where he finally reached
a state of mind so dark and empty that regular alchohol abuse became
a part of his life. Still, these days were mostly happy, but he
needed the wine as his head got heavier or if he was left alone for a
while. But as time went, he decided to explore new parts of the world,
curious as he was. He set off for the human city and joined the skalds. He
learned how to play and sing and eventually became a rather good musician,
always playing the merry tune when he felt the emptiness crawling behind
him. But the sadness so deeply planted in him weakend his mind, and so
did the alchohol.

   One day he met a human with a strange mark on his forehad in the Golden
Dragon Inn. Since this day, Golub was never again the same. He was caught
by him, curious, but uncertain. A new world was opened for his eyes, and
he felt the presense of deadly humanoid shape for the first time.
Weak and lost as he was, he found new friends and he would stick
to them for a long time. His previous values of life became his nonsense,
and his earlier ways of thought became his shame. About this time of his
life, not much is known, but it is said he was often seen together with
strange, and sometimes dangerous persons. Less often he was seen in
the pubs and in the streets, but still sometimes talking to others, but
in a totally new voice and manner.

   In a constant surrounding of hate and despair he travelled and experienced
things no other normal halfling would like to. An underlying curousity, as in
one of his kind, made him find powerful artifacts he never should have touched,
for the deep wounds they tore into his heart will perhaps never go away.
It is said he learned a whole new set of knowings and like the wind blows
away the leaves, Golub stumbled from one side of chaos to the other. On the
outside he oftenly kept a good appearance, with few exceptions, but when nobody
looked, evil things happened.

   Not much is he seen today, but once in a while, people still talk
about him. It is said a friendly soul is once again trying to help him, but
this time to defeat his fears and overcome his past. Some even say he found
love, but that is probably all just rumours. You will probably
not see him around very often but you might spot him sometime, sitting
on a ledge somewhere, this furry little halfling.

"Golub? He is nice although he has hairy feet and lives in a huge mushroom! "

- Ancient TrolloC

"This friendly little halfling? I have always time for a cup of tea ... ..ooOO{If i would know where i have put my herbs again ...}OOoo..

- Sir Kelric