Pit's Tale

Pit's story: The Early Days and The Fall of Gnomeregan

I was fourteen when the Third War broke out, I remember it as if it was yesterday. My father a struggling man that was usually seen with deep wrinkles of exhaustion under his eyes came bursting through the door with a smile on his face I hadn't seen in weeks. "I did it! The design has been approved for further funding and research!" He unrolled the large familiar parchment that he had been working on for as long as I could remember. A blazing red stamp with the words 'Approved for Testing and Research: by the Gnomeregan Technology Development Bureau' shined at the bottom corner.
My mother leaped from her chair, tossing the book she was reading aside and hugged my father tightly. "That's great news! How did you finally manage to convince them? She asked after kissing him. I remember dropping the remote controlled chicken I was disassembling and hugging him as well.
As soon as my mother asked the smile faded from my Father's cheeks. "The Scourge have made an aggressive push into Lordaeron. They're saying it's the start of another war."The room fell silent as my father comforted mother.
Over the next few weeks Father was rarely seen in the apartment. Every now and then I would sneak down to the Weapon Production Laboratories and proudly watch him pour over various schematics and order technicians and order engineers around. He walked with a spring in his step and held his head proudly. Finally he could cast aside his father's name and take on his own. You see, in Gnome society our family name is cast aside at the age of 30 and replaced with a name based on an invention or achievement. Longshanks was the name that my grandfather, a rogue, took on. My father, at the age of 43 still hadn't an achievement of any value to name himself after. This was his big chance to earn respect for himself and our family.
Then those damn Troggs came...
It was early morning and we were sitting down for breakfast, father was in the middle of his daily rant about the work a the Lab, today he seemed especialy excited as he went over the details of the destructive capabilities that this new weapon could achieve and how near completion the first working prototype was. I sat and listened, trying my best to keep up with his rant while reading my book on Fire Magics when the first alarms went off. Able-bodied gnomes were ordered to report to the B-5 Level, prepared for combat. Father stood from the table, ordering me to protect my mother. He grabbed his dusty sword, shield and helm off the wall and that ws the last I saw of him... during the following days Mother and I were ordered to evacuate and head to the Dwarven city of Ironforge. We escaped just as the green cloud began to rise from the lower levels,

To be Continued.