Gnharneblin, Rock Gnomes

From Forests & Faeries   It started with the Noum, they came first, poor creatures created for a single purpose so terribly created that they were so driven to their industrious nature that they would could only rest when the sun turned them to stone until it set. There are still noum even after some earned their freedom and became the first gnomes. It may surprise some that those who do not still dwell in the first world are often welcomed into our communities and homes, they didn't accept mortality as we did for whatever reasons and choose to remain cursed with the stone sleep and a constant restless mind while in their waking hours and for that we respect the Noum for perhaps only they know the real reason why some did not become gnomes.   We became the first mortal gnomes and called ourselves the Gnharneblin, the name being a complicated combination of other words that roughly means the free people whom are no longer bound to the stone slumber or the whims of fey lords. The common name of Rock Gnome comes from the name the dwarves gave us, rocklings. To this day our dwarven friends still call us rocklings and its a nickname we have long come to accept as a sign of friendship between us. The word Gnome comes from the elven word for our people that has found its way in the common tongue.   At first when it was just we, the dwarves, elves and ghoblyns we had hoped for peace between us, that our shared past as slaves to the fey-lords would unite us. We soon found out that the others did not share this hope. The elves and dwarves almost immediately took a disliking to each other and as sadly happens the oppressed goblins desired to become oppressor's. It was unfortunate that we were forced to fight our fellow former slaves and drive the ghoblyns away but it was fortunate that their attempt to conquer us brought the rest of us together and allowed we gnomes to help bridge communications between the dwarves and elves. We would soon after agree to the borders of our peoples lands, the Elves would take the great forest valleys to the south, the Dwarves the rugged mountains to the North and we Gnomes the green hills that lay between them.   In a way we were the perfect balance between the elf and dwarf, we understood elements that both held dear, we were of the stone and soil and beautiful gems and cunning craft made our hearts soar yet we were also of the wild places, the deep green forests and star filled sky held just as much attention to us as a perfectly cut diamond. We were and still are a curious and eclectic folk who love everything in equal measure as a culture. You will find few cultures as varied and accepting of different ideas as that of the Gnharneblin.   Curiosity kills cats not gnomes   We were driven by curiosity and wonder perhaps more so then any other of the fey born, we wanted to explore everything the mortal world had to offer. Many of the other gnome folk became obsessed with specialized areas of interest, most of our sub-cultures are based on groups of like minded gnomes who diverged from the mainstream to focus on very specific areas of interest meanwhile we Gnharneblin remain generalists so to speak. We are also the most eclectic of gnomes and often shift the focus of our interests over our long lives exploring new things rather then become too focused on one thing.   As new groups of focused gnome communities arose we rejoiced in seeing our fellow gnomes branch out and follow their passions, in those early days we were all in contact and sharing ideas and discoveries with each other. We Gnharneblin also worked hard to work on our friendship with the elves and dwarves. We stood along side the both when their realms were threatened and when the Halflings appeared on our world it was we who discovered them and helped them survive in those hard early days for their folk. When the Ghoblyns returned and waged the Dark Walker War we were a driving force in forming the Golden Alliance. We were very proud of this coming together of different peoples of the sharing of so many new and wonderful ideas! It was a golden age of discovery a time of invention and development. It was also a time of terrible trouble. The Ghoblyns and later Ecress would do terrible damage to Dothmeryji and we were a driving force in the attempt to save our homeland from ecological collapse.   Darkness in the Deeps   The Tarnishing struck us different then the others, the Drow and Duergar didn't have any gnomes they would turn against our power structure so they went out of their way to start one of the oldest feuds known to gnome kind. They used the kobolds, they encouraged them and brought out the worst part of their nature. They came to our mines, wanting our gems and trying to enslave our people. The War of Scale and Spell seen us fighting near endless waves of kobolds that came from below ground or else the shadowy forests of our homelands. The Drow and Duergar had given them detailed information about our defenses and we became embroiled in a brutal war for survival against the kobold menace. Unable to communicate with our allies we were pushed back into our strongest defended warrens and much to our regret we couldn't stop the Tarnishing. We couldn't stop the senseless blood spilt nor the terrible betrayals and worse the Kobold attack drove wedges between us and our cousin gnomes many forced to retreat in the face of an enemy who choked our caverns with the shear number of their dead. Nor did we learn until too late that a mad Knocker Gnome Inventor was in the process of planning to unleash an eldritch machine that would spell a thousand years of Doom.   The End of an Era of Gold and Diamonds   We drove the kobolds off but at a terrible cost to our population and sociality, we were separated from our cousins, seen that the alliance we had dearly worked to keep was shattered and terrible evils walked the world. We for the first time found ourselves very tired so very tired. We did what we could to ensure the fiend mirrors were ended but there was so very little we could offer after the War of Scale and Spell. The activation of the Global Weather Device by the Nokneblin Inventor Nhavrel the Mad would bring the curse of the thousand year winter upon the north and we retreated into our warrens as the long winter came to drained to more then try and recover our losses. In our retreat we became more and more distant with our cousins and former friends. We watched a world change, we watched humans spread far and wide and we watched an age pass. When at least spring came and we left our warrens were were a shadow of our former selves.   Yet in this we found hope and a new goal, to rediscover the world, to find new ideas and reconnect with our lost cousins and settlements. Few of us remain in our ancestral nations borders most of us spread far and wide after being separated by the War of Scale & Spell and we are have become the forgotten folk in many lands ever present yet barely given notice in world affairs due to our small population centers. Yet the day will come when someday we are all connected again, we are all sharing ideas and concepts and we Gnharneblin stand with all other gnomes as one family.