This text is written in Common and is entitled The Fools Who Stood Before You: First Lessons in Magecraft, written by Malchor Harpell, dated 1365 DR. The tome consists of histories concerning various less renowned spellcasters throughout Faerun's history. The text is aimed at aspiring practitioners of the arcane arts. A key passage reads as follows:
Everyone has heard of Elminster, the Blackstaff, and the Seven Sisters, so I’ll not set down once more what even the most inattentive would-be archmage must by now know. Instead, read and heed, of the fates of a handful of lesser-known spellcrafters.
Archveult: A pupil of the Seven Wizards in Myth Drannor, Archveult was dignified and handsome and impressive from the first. Tall, graceful, and silverbearded, he was soon the epitome of the cultured, aweinspiring archwizard. He is believed to have been trapped and imprisoned by fell magic in Calimshan, and is said to still exist today as a tortured sentience as his unknown captor somehow forces him to power and guide magical automata from afar.
Caligarde: Another pupil of the Seven Wizards in Myth Drannor, Caligarde was a sarcastic, sharp-tongued, arrogant man of dark good looks and little patience. He somehow survived the fall of that fair city and lived beyond his normal life span. He burns with an unknown hatred against elvenkind, and now slays elven mages whenever he catches them unguarded. Caligarde works mischief wherever he goes, stealing or seizing magic. He seems to have taken on young human apprentices, or agents, who are as cruel and ruthless as he.
Grimwald: A mage of the Covenant, Grimwald was a hunched and untidy, shuffling, muttering, and yet kindhearted man. He dwelt in the Tower Terrible at Wrinklestone in the Sword Coast North, and has not been seen in Faerûn since at least 1298 DR. He and Presper embarked on expeditions through portals to “other worlds.” They reappeared three or four times, only to not come back thereafter. His home was plundered long ago.
Nchaser: A wandering mage of the Sword Coast principally known today for his glowing globe spell, Nchaser was a kindly, inquisitive, nigh-fearless man of homely looks and great endurance. He disappeared in the 1330s, and was long thought dead—but recently walked into a sage’s shop in Neverwinter, demanding information about “the Thalang.” Nchaser seemed much changed, almost deranged, and told the sage Harquel that the Thalang is an enchanted, animated gem from lost Netheril that can cast spells, that it holds the sentience of many Netherese wizards, and “is the only thing that can save us from the coming doom.” Nchaser’s present whereabouts are unknown.
Nulathoe: Famous today for his ninemen spell (that makes the bones and sinews of skeletons supple so they don’t fall apart upon being animated), Nulathoe was a mage intensely interested in necromancy, who lived in various places around the Sword Coast North. He created many strange guardian creatures by combining skeletal parts from various monsters, and ultimately, as he grew elderly and frail, prepared his own series of skeletal bodies to live on in. He’s presumed to have hidden his various bodies up and down the Sword Coast, and to be inhabiting them yet, jumping from one to another as he desires.