Gadgetory

North of Magnapolis in the Wycliffe Point region is a large factory complex known as the Gadgetory, owned by two renown gnome families, the Loosescrews and the Whirlycogs. The main product of the Gadgetory are Autognomes , although they also manufacture steam vehicles. Many of its workers come from the nearby village of Gearwich, which suffers from the environmental damage done by the factory.   Gadgetory was founded in the year 423 of Steaming Age by gnomishstudents of the Marvellan Academy of Artificers, Gillavant Loosescrew and Huldalourd Whirlycog. Both of their families owned farmland in Wycliffe Point, so they decided to build the factory there, far away from the capital but near the Eastward Nethergate leading to Netherspan, knowing it was a risk to the business. From the start, they recruited farmer families to work at the factory with a promise that they could keep their homes around Gearwich. At first, the factory concentrated on rudimentary automatons, steam vehicles and mining machines.   The business struggled for a long while, as the Gadgetory was in direct competition with Master Artificer Gnosticus Marvellan based near the capital to the south. Gnosticus produced superior automata and machines, so the only way the Gadgetory could compete was in price.   The two founders prepared to retire as they taught their sons, Galliflaunt Loosescrew and Desimond Whirlycog, everything they knew. Disaster struck in the year 469 S.A. when a faulty experimental engine exploded, killing both sons and dozens of workers, and destroying much of the facility. The founders were forced to continue working and rebuild the factory for the sake of their grandchildren.   Around that time they found a new power source and started to produce autognomes en masse. Living workers were slowly replaced by these smarter robots, although rumors said that the technology was stolen from Gnosticus Marvellan. At the same time, nature around the Gadgetory started to wither and die. Many people from Gearwich left to find work elsewhere, while those that remained started a strike against the factory tycoons.