Note: All Seekers of Norrathian Lore
With a sad tear in his eye, a patron of the Athenaeum brought us this note from the realm of Norrath. Found within a bell tower of vast importance, this note must have been placed with great difficulty as it originated from the Gray Wastes. With tears of sadness, we share this with you.


I have ventured into the belly of the Gray Wastes and faced the Hordes of Ethernere. What I find is not what I quested. My odyssey leads to a portal to other realms. Here within the Deathtoll Bell Tower, where hope is mired and escape impossible, there is a doorway that I must walk through or forever chase the one that hides in the halls of this tower. Although my target could reveal the destiny of my realm, to snare it would mean my eternal existence in Ethernere. I must escape the Gray Wastes.


Before I step into worlds beyond I must say farewell to the world I sang about. Though it brought many tragedies upon me and my ilk, the treasures it offered were far greater and well worth it. There is no world that shines as bright or sounds so harmonious in song. My realm will live on in my songs, those I shall always hold close. They shall inspire my actions in worlds beyond. The compositions of those that follow in my footsteps will ring loud the tales of destiny and I shall hear them from afar.


Should anyone discover my final words, take them far from here. Follow the sound of ghostly libation and descend the spiraled maw. Face the final foe and you'll possibly escape with your life. Run into fields of skulking haunts and a million headstones. Find the tombstone with your name and should you read it aloud you may return to the realm. If this works and you escape, deposit my note in my crumbling tower. I bid Norrath farewell, but better words are... Till Yonder.

"We draw our inspiration from everywhere, we're not ashamed of it, and we think that's one of our strengths," said Trost. "People can get into our game, and they understand what they're seeing."

Trost, however, couldn't resist adding some elements of his own. Years before, he had run a Dungeons & Dragons campign, and he had been trying ever since to resurrect elements of that campaign. Characters and places from his original map were translated into the world of Everquest. Lucan D'Lere, the main villain from Freeport, was the character that Tony Garcia, Trost's lead content designer, had run in Trost's campaign..