 |
The History of the Gnomes
The First Gnomes
Gnomes were created by Urdlen, the Worm, He Who Hunts The Dark, at
the same time that he created Goblins and Kobolds.
He had long crawled through the tunnels in the darkness, and when
he learned of Tynian's creation of the Dwarves
his evil sense of humor was aroused. He created three races and set
them about his realm. He then hunted them, picking them off one by
one, letting his presence be known by the slime-covered skeletons he
left behind and in dark dreams, sent to those unlucky enough to
become lost in the tunnels. The three races warred with each other,
moving through the caverns, trying to escape his predatations. For
three thousand years they have fought and died in the darkness, and
each race hates the other two almost as much as they fear the slimy
jaws of Urdlen. Only twice have Gnomes escaped the darkness. Twelve
hundred years ago a Gnome scout found a passage up and out. His tribe
met and they decided to leave the deep caverns. Being careful to
leave no tracks for the Goblins or Kobolds to follow, they climbed up
and out into the icy heights of the Oort Range. The second time that
Gnomes left the lower realms was some 700 years later, and far away
from the first location. It was in the deepest parts of the caves
known as Moria, and this escape was far less ordered.
Gla-Shorn's Realm
It was sometime between 800 and 900 YH that the Gla-Shorn clan came
up from the darkness, Gnomish history gives no more exact dates.
They emerged in the icy western Oort Range, far from the more
hospitable temperate zones, and unaware that such places even existed.
They traveled across the frozen wasteland for days, hunting what scarce
game could be found, slowly working their way toward the mountains,
where they hoped to find shelter. They had been traveling for many
days when a dark shadow passed over them, and the Gnome who had been
scouting ahead was suddenly bathed in flame. The dragon, for that was
what it was, landed by the steaming corpse, unworried by the presence
of the rest of the clan, and rather hoping they would stay around, in
case one Gnome wasn't enough to appease his hunger. The clan was
shocked at first, but they quickly recovered their wits, and carefully
struck up a conversation with the dragon. Now, dragons are as known
for their skill with words as Gnomes are, but this was a young dragon,
and hardly prepared to take on an entire clan of Gnomes. After only a
few minutes they had talked him out of eating any more Gnomes, and in
an hour or so more, had gotten him to apologize for crisping their
scout. The Gnomes were highly impressed by his quick wit, as he was
by theirs, and they soon were exchanging their reasons for being in
such a desolate place. The dragon had heard of a rich diamond vein in
a frozen cave and had been searching it, hoping to find diamonds that
he could add to his hoard. The Gnomes were pleased to hear of the cave
and persuaded him to lead them there, promising to use their mining
expertise to provide him with enough diamonds to make it worth his
while. It was in these caves, above the diamond vein, that Gla-Shorn's
Realm was founded. The clan settled in, bargaining with their friend
the dragon. In return for providing him with food and diamonds, he
agreed to stay with them, heating the cold caves with his mighty
draconian flame. The Gnomes soon settled into their new life, mining
diamonds, and learning to hunt the glaciers and fish the dangerous,
icy Maelmordian Seas. Near 1100 YH, one of their hunting parties came
across a small group of young Aarakocra, who had been brought there by
one of the mighty storms that sweeps the Maelmordian Seas. Upon
realizing the odd creatures were sentinent, they camped there, near
the edge of the glacier, and nursed the half-frozen birds back to
health. They sent a messenger back to the caves to fetch them some
dragon's blood, to allow them to communicate with their find. When
the Aarakocra search party from Aran found their fledglings they were
overjoyed to see them safe and sound, and quickly warmed to the Gnomes.
This warmth quickly changed to fascination when the plentiful diamond
jewelry worn by many of the Gnomes caught the sharp eyes of the
Aarakocra. The Gnomes quickly realized the potential of that interest,
and began to make arrangements for trade between the two races.
Unwilling to give out the true location of their home, the Gnomes gave
the Aarakocra directions to the dock of Gla-Shorn's Realm, hidden
safely in a cave from the freezing Maelmordian storms. The following
summer, a Wing of Aarakocra flew in from Aran, bringing with them as
much trading goods as they could carry. When they flew home, they were
laden with diamonds and jewelry instead, and the position of Dealer
had been created in Gla-Shorn's Realm. For some 400 years the Gnomes
and the Aarakocra were exclusive trading partners, until the summer
of 1516 YH. Jon Keyotay came to Gla-Shorn's Realm that summer, having
learned of its existence from the Aarkocra of Aran. He came with ships
of goods brought from Safehaven, and beyond, exotic things that no
Dealer had seen before. With Keyotay's visit the horizons of the
Gnomes were expanded greatly, and they wasted no time in capitalizing
on this new knowledge. With their great wealth in diamonds they have
made up for their poor location, and for the fact that they can only
be visited in the warm summer months, when the ice has thawed, and
have become a powerful trading influence in the world. Their beautiful
diamonds are exported throughout the world, and are known far and wide
for their clarity, caret weight, color and cut.
Thistlerock
It was 700 years after the founding of Gla-Shorn's Realm, indeed, soon
after Jon Keyotay's expedition there, that another group of Gnomes
came up from the depths. This time it was no carefully planned
decision, but a flight. Pressed on both sides by growing tribes
of Goblins and Kobolds, these Gnomes had been steadily retreating
higher through the caves for several decades. Gnome scouting parties
were working hard, trying to find an escape route through the endless
twisting tunnels to a place where they could settle and regroup. One
of these parties found an opening into higher caves, in the depths of
Moria. Upon reporting home they found that the Goblins and Kobolds had
joined forces in an uneasy alliance, determined to wipe the weakened
Gnomes from this area of the endless tunnels. The Gnomes fled before
their combined forces, up through the passages, through Moria, and into
the surface world. The Goblins and Kobolds followed, but with the
discovery of the surface world their alliance fell part, and they
scattered into the surrounding areas. The Gnomes went south, out of
the mountains and into the forest below. There, in caves near the
River Fastwater, they settled. Aware of the threat presented by the
Goblins and Kobolds they built a fortress to garrison their troops in.
Deep beneath it, safe in the sheltering stone, are the clanholds and
caverns of Thistlerock.
Back to The Histories of the Races page.
|
