Gimply was brought into this world in the Forest of Lillith already agitated, like children generally are, but brighter than most.  The toddling little gnome child was walking, if undsteadily, within 4-5 months of birth, and was speaking passable common and gnomish, even for an adolescent, by 9 months of age.  

By the age of 4 Gimply was reading heavily on his own, and already dabbling in the arcane arts.  While most Gnomes tended to be gifted in the arts of illusory magic, and though Gimply showed the same, his talents seemed to lean more towards the manipulation of matter via transmogrification magic.  As he grew older, Gimply’s thirst for knowledge became more and more apparent, and grew relative with his age.   By the time he was 13 Gimply was already walking around temporarily changing small objects from one thing to the another.  After loosing his parents during a random forest raid by brigands at an early age, he’d turned his talents towards performing cons and tricks so that he could fund his jaunts into the nearby city of Moravia to pick through the library in order to expand his already surprising, if growing knowledge base.  

It was during one of these jaunts around the age of 20 that Gimply happened to encounter Yosmin while running a shady game of find the coin.  

Yosmin had come to town to peddle a satchel full of potions in order to get some coin for ingredients to further his alchemical experiments, and on the way to the shop his attention was caught by the sounds of the rowdy game going on just outside of a nearby alley.  Apparently several participants were becoming increasingly perturbed at their inability to ever find the coin hidden under the cups.  Yosmin stopped to watch Gimply run the game a few times, and with a studied ability for observation noticed Gimply was silently, and swiftly, transmuting the coin and merging into the wood of the crate he was using for the surface of the game.  

Once the game was threatening to get out of hand Yosmin stepped in and offered the few remaining participants with murder in their eyes a few potions of various types as consolation for their losses.  Shocked, but subdued, they took their potions and left, one stopping to kick the crate from underneath Gimmply’s hands whilst he stared at the already aged Gnome in confusion.

“That was very kind of you, but I can’t pay you for those potions.”

Yosmin quirked an eyebrow at the remark and peered down his long nose at the dark haired gnome.  “I don’t recall asking for payment.  I couldn’t standby and let that rabble tear you to pieces.  You have a singular talent young one!”

Kneeling down to collect the few coins that had been knocked from the ‘table’, including the ones that were slowly popping from the wood as the spell wore off as deftly as possible, Gimply cut his eyes to glance at Yosmin.  “It’s just slight of hand...any fool can do it with training.”

“Ahhh...but you do is no slight of hand.  I saw what you were doing, that was alchemy, or magic.  One of the two, either of which is useful in my line of work.” This was said as Yosmin shook the still bulding satchel of bottles.   “I’m looking for an apprentice you know.  I’m getting old and I can’t keep up with things like I used to, and that talent of yours would put you right alongside with my work.  Would you be interested in a steady job?”

As Gimply stood brushing dust and dirt from the rags and tatters he called clothes, he sized Yosmin up with a hesitant intelligence surprising in one so young.  “I make enough money for what I want running these games.”

“True as that may be, sooner or later you will be caught and either jailed, or killed by angry customers. Besides...what is it you spend the coin on?  I can tell by your speach you come from the same woods that I do, so I doubt you’re unable to provide food for yourself.  Your clothes make you appear to be a city street urchin...so you obviously don’t spend it on frivolous things.  Or have you just always been a con artist?” the last asked with a small sneer of derision on his face, making it plain that if that were the case, the job offer would be rescinded.

Staring up at the older gnome, Gimply opened his arms and eyes wide as if to embrace and take in the whole world.  “I spend it on books!  Knowledge!  That’s what I want!  It’s what I live for!”

“Yes young gnome, but WHY?”

That question caught Gimply short.  He stood there a long while, his arms slowly falling to his sides, then raising to fold over his chest as he stared up at the sky as if he could find the answer to that question in the clouds above.

“Because...because...because I want to understand how and why everything is the way it is, how and why it all works the way it does.  More to the point, I think it will help me expand my gifts.  To what end...I’ve never really thought about it, I just know that...I want to know...everything it’s possible for a mortal being to know.”

Yosmin only hesitated for a brief moment before nodding sharply.  “Very well then.  Will you accept my offer, or not?  I can even offer you free room and board for your services as an apprentice.  And I can asure you that you will find no better place to study or perform research.  After all...research is what I live for!  An alchemist is always ready to learn!”

Gimply nodded excitedly, holding out a hand in a city type gesture without thinking, he’d spent so much time in the libraries of the city up to that point.  Yosmin and Gimply shook, and then Yosmin plopped the satchel over Gimply’s head.  

“You shall begin by carrying my bags!”  

And so began Gimply’s apprenticeship.  Over the next 100 years Gimply studied both his own interests and alongside Yosmin.  He also discovered that Yosmin had a healthy collection of books of his own, mostly to do with alchemy, but some with magic as well.  

One night around 60 years after their initial meeting, Gimply came across a book nearly the same size as himself that Yosmin had mostly kept hidden.  Gimply had only ever caught the occassional glimpse of the book before it was secreted away yet again.  This night however, Gimply found the book, and was overjoyed at the opportunity to flip through the aged pages of the massive tome.

As he settled down to prepare and dive into the book, he flipped through all the pages, his keen eyes catching snatches of arcane symbols, alchemical sketches, and many other pictures that he didn’t reocognize.  Just as his eyes caught sight of a sketch with the word ‘homonculus’ written over top of it in dwarven, the tome was snatched away from his hands and slammed shut.  

His still somewhat youthful eyes slowly drifted up and locked into a terrified stare, seeing the fiery gaze of the now elderly gnome standing before him.

“Gimply...do not EVER attempt to read this book again without my permission.  There are things here that no one should ever know about.  Forbidden things, TERRIBLE things from times long past that should never be drudged up again.  SWEAR to me that you will never try again!”

In all the years the two had spent together, Yosmin had never shown such anger, and it seemed fear in front of Gimply.  Shaken and chilled to the bone, Gimply nodded his acquiescence.  

At around 80 years of apprenticeship, Gimply was dubbed a fully fledged alchemist, and Yosmin and he worked together as equals on many projects, though his title would remain apprentice until Yosmin passed away and it was time for him to take the place of his master.  

Many of the projects they worked on Gimply knew came from the forbidden book, but whenever Gimply started to ask about the book he would remember that night 20 years ago and refrain.  In all the years they’d spent together, he’d gained enough wisdom to help temper his extreme intelligence and thirst for knowledge.  

Unfortunately, Gimply would find out all too soon (for a gnome) what lay within the pages of the book.  By the time Gimply was approaching his 150th year a cult of dragon worshippers were on the rise, and a leader among their ranks, Rezmir had caught wind of this book, unbeknownst to either of the alchemists.

It was only a matter of time before she found her way to their lab.  Fortunately Gimply had been in the forest nearby and heard their approach long enough before their arrival to rush back to the lab and inform Yosmin of the impending arrival of the cultists.  

Thinking quickly, the two of them knew the only reason why they could be seeking out the lab, and then quickly retrieved the tome from it’s hiding place.  Between the two of them they rigged up a harness for the book to strap to Gimply’s back, which caused him to sag down from his already short 2′10″ to an even more diminutive 2′7″ once the book was slung on. Through some fast spell work he managed to disguise the actual contents of the book.  As Gimply prepared to leave he turned to Yosmin, motioning for him to come quickly while they still had time.

Yosmin smiled grimly and shook his head.  “My dear friend...you’ve been my only family these last years of my life, and I wish I could go with you.  But I’m in no shape to go on the run.  Go...take the book with you, and keep it out of their hands.  I’ll keep them here for as long as I possibly can.”

Gimply argued adamantly with his master and friend, but in the end accepted the wisdom of the decision, and took the forest none to soon before the cultists arrived.  Putting a decent amount of distance, but not too much, between himself and the lab, Gimply used his magics to hide himself and lay low.  He waited until he heard the cultists leaving and quietly made his way back to the lab.

What he found there broke his heart.  The lab had been inside of a massive, still living tree.  It was one of Yosmins proudest achievements, to keep the tree alive while hollowing it out for use.  All 10 floors of the lab had been ransacked as the cultists sought out the book, and nothing had been spared being torn apart...including Yosmin.  

On the top floor, laying on the balcony and gasping for breath Gimply found Yosmin struggling to prevent the last bits of life he had left from escaping.  Wounds covered his body, and one arm and leg had been torn off savagely  and then cauterized quickly with logs from the stone fireplace at the base of the tree.  

Gimply crumpled to the floor, the weight of the tome causing him to fall onto his rump, and gathered Yosmin into his arms.  Reaching a withered hand up to grasp Gimply’s shoulder, Yosmins eyes opened wide.  “The last of the knowledge you seek is in that book.  But never let another lay eyes on it!  And be careful what experiments you attempt!  Be absolutely sure of what you’re doing before you try anything!  Keep it safe from the cultists!   They will only use it to bring horrible atrocities upon the world!”

He paused to cough up some more of his life’s essence onto Gimply’s robes, his hand falling to grasp the opening of the younger gnomes robes, and his voice growing faint as he went on.  “Protect the book, and find others to help you.  Your work here was done a long time ago...no go...find companions....and......”

The remaining light in Yosmins eyes dimmed, and the rattle in his chest as his last breath escaped broke Gimply.  As the old hand fell dead into Gimply’s lap, one tear, and then another, and more streamed down Gimply’s cheeks as he clung to his master, burring Yosmins head into his chest and rocking back and forth.

Due to his distracted weeping however, he never noticed the sound of the cultists who’d remained behind at Rezmir’s orders approaching.  They’d grabbed the small gnome and dragged him away, kicking and screaming, and putting up quite the good fight.  All the years serving as Yosmin’s apprentice had helped him to grow strong in his body as well as his mind.  Nevertheless it was a losing battle, and so, as Gimply cursed himself for not realizing that of course, they would have known about both of them working here, he was taken captive.

Gimply spent months under the watchful gaze of the dragon cultists, but they never got the whereabouts of the book from him, and he was able to maintain the spells hiding the truth of the book in their presence long enough to be rescued by the party that would later become his companions.