|
Unlike the gnomes of other worlds, such as Krynn, the gnomes of Gaeleth were no-nonsense geniuses with a penchant for technology, and a drive to survive. Their direct relationship to the dwarves, the humans, and the elves is questionable, but it is believed by most that the gnomes were direct off-shoots of humanity, possessing as the humans did the holographic mentality. Others believed that the gnomes were related more closely to dwarves, because of the similar stature, or to elves, because of their natural magical talents. Whatever their origins, they are lost to history.
Prior to the Storm Wars, the gnomes kept mainly to themselves in the aftermath of several centuries of antignomic sentiment. Their citadels in the Heavensbane Mountains and the Avris Mountains served as bastions of knowledge as the Storm Wars began to erupt. Their devotion to Agincoth through the centuries was rewarded, as the goddess' Prophets spoke. The gnomes of both nations were terrified as the words of the Prophets spread. And lo, the God Slayer shall strike as the Shadow Star draws near. The Dark God's minions shall find a Dark Race, and they shall destroy the foundations of the Goddess of Knowledge. One fallen of Justice shall wield the Slider, and where the blood of dragons lives, send to the heavens the descendants of Umanark. Until the second sundering of the worlds, they shall walk not upon the world. Esladakt, governor of Ulenark Il'Avris in the Avris Mountains, galvanized the gnomes to action through their fear. The sages of Ulenark Il'Avris had found something that would forever change the gnomes. Deep within the granite and basalt of the Avris Mountains lay one of the ancient Gates, used during the original Sister Worlds War. Its purpose was unknown, and its histories spoke to deaf ears. The gnomes neither knew who built the Gates, nor cared. They knew only how to use them. Their sages and technomancers unlocked the secrets of using the Gates quickly, and followed the one in the Avris Mountains to the Gate Nexus deep in the heart of the Heavensbanes. Through that Gate Nexus, the whole of the gnomic race could escape Gaeleth. Umanark's descendants had very little time. Barely a decade passed before the Shadow Star drew near. Esladakt became the de facto leader of all the gnomes, devising a plan, and a mission. Exploratory units travelled the Gates, moving from world to world, until the right world was found. The gnomes became even more closed off from the other races, as their preparations to leave neared completion. The Dark Race -- the drow -- began to make massive assaults against the gnomish citadels. Though the northern nations were at war with Nathel, the withdrawal of the gnomes had bred contentions that transcended the war. Rumors and gossip replaced the truth, and many peoples aided the Nathelian troops, and the Dark Race in its attempts to wipe out the gnomes. Esladakt called upon centuries' old ties to the Karatikans for aid, and that aid came but fitfully, as the northern nations fought for survival. The Slider, an ancient gnomish blade that slid through rock and metal alike with ease, was finally captured by the drow at Yersolakth Il'Murabikth. The weapon was turned over to Simon Luminar, once a paladin of Yatindar, the God of Justice; Luminar had become an antipaladin of Nathel, in the service of General Roreth. Armed with the Slider, Simon Luminar and his drow began a final assault against Amianzril Il'Murakbikth, the heart of all gnomic culture. Eight miles tall, the Heavensbane Mountains were like fingers of black rock reaching for the sky they could never have. White dragons ruled the heights, so far up that no living man could breath. They fed upon the cold creatures and the white puddings at temperatures where blood froze. Amianzril Il'Murabikth lay at the heart of the Heavensbanes; 'Murabikth' meant 'Slayer of Godshome' in gnomic. As Luminar moved further and further into the Heavensbanes, the gnomic position became more and more tenuous. Whatever happened in that final confrontation, Esladakt and Simon Luminar met. What gnomes remained alive on all of Gaeleth fled through the Nexus, to another world. In their wake, they left sealed-up mountains that were hidden from the histories of all other nations. Their technologies, their magics, and their own histories were buried in the midst of the Storm Wars. The one man on all of Gaeleth that could tell of the gnomes' passing and histories was sealed by a vow, brought over from the side of the Dark God to a reinstatement in the paladinhood in the service of Arpelos. Not too far from the Avris Mountains, the gnomes had constructed a living legacy of all they stood for on Gaeleth. The Griktale Escarpment would stand as testament to the whole of their civilization. Hidden in the southern heart of the Choranil Desert, only the kobolds ever knew of the great construction project. The project was built from the inside-out, using the Ulenark Il'Avris Gate and the Gate Nexus at Edimrorn Il'Murabikth. All the kobolds ever saw was earth rising from the desert. The Legacy Project -- the Griktale Escarpment itself -- would house within it the greatest of the gnomic devices, copies of their magics, and the location of the new world they had gone to. The project was hidden beneath the sands of the desert, and the only way to access it from the outside was a single doorway cut half-way up the mile-high cliff face. Only the Locator, a sun-powered device that told the location of the gnomes, would be found through the doorway. The gnomes had no reason to hand over their art, their culture, and their knowledge to just anyone that might come across the Legacy Project; in particular, the orcs that ranged across the northern end of the Choranil Desert. The Locator would be found in time, of that, the gnomes had little doubt. Esladakt hid the rest of the project carefully, creating a puzzle that could only be solved by a combined team of humans, dwarves, elves, tomanths, orcs -- and gnomes. The gnomic governor fought against the motion to leave some of his people behind, and lost. Volunteers from among the citadels of both the Avris and the Heavensbanes hid themselves away, awaiting the day when the time would come for the gnomes to return home. Esladakt and his people would never know the horrors of Nabrol's part in the Storm Wars. Neither would his people know the retribution of the Inquisition, or the centuries of the Church's rule that would follow. They would know only that one day, they would return, and that when they did, it would be of necessity. The Prophets of Agincoth had more than doom to foretell. And then shall the dead stalk the world, and the Dark God be raised. From the Dead Lord's loins shall spring the Betrayer of Worlds, the one who will lead the second sundering. The Light Wielder shall return the Slider to the descendants of Umanark when the Father speaks of the unburning flame. Then shall the eldest daughter of the Dark Race aid the blaze of trees to find again the God Slayer, in the land of the stone trees. The Slider and its wielder shall determine the first battle of the new wars, and therein lead the world from darkness. Else, the world will be split in half. |