Gnome

Origins
The gnomes were created by a god that is not mentioned in any holy texts or pantheons: Ag'leyth the Forsaken, in their bid to create what they precieved to be a perfect society. In the demiplane of Leytha the gnomes were formed, moulded with a chisel of god-like power from the primordial amethyst, the Heart of Ag'leyth. As such, Gnomes were made in their image, and with their inate hunger for knowledge imbued in them. Ag'leyth is neither man nor woman, but they divided their creation in their two halves, creating the two biological sexes, needed for reproduction.

And thus the gnomes were born. Man and woman are alike, for sexual dimorphism in gnomes is minimal, both sexes having naturally long facial hair, for example. In the realm of floating amethyst islands, the demiplane Leytha, they were set with unending natural resources, and no natural predators. Ag'leyth's experiment had started.

Empire of Leytha
What others did in thousands of years the gnomes of Leytha did in centuries, and so it was that alchemy, the arts, engineering, astronomy and astrology, phylosophy and sociology all developed in record speeds. Ag'leyth was pleased, but it seemed that the gnomes were not. Their empire came to dominate the entirety of the demiplane, and they needed more space, for there was a growing under class of serfs, nigh slaves really, that were homeless, poor and hungry, and this ubset Ag'leyth. As such, he delivered to them a single piece of technology that allowed them to travel outside of Leytha, passing through a region called The Nether. Purple portals made of a new stone called obsidian, when set afire and in a particular configuration, opened portals to this Nether, and through it they found other portals, already built, to other planes, made by other gods. The eyes of the gnomes tingled with awe and wonder, and the first adventurer souls did not take long to make their way to Eldham.

They arrived in what is now known as Othukhan, central eldham, and this land they named Maddrak, Forest Land in their tongue, and the overflow of population settled in it. But there were already tribes of natives in there. Granted, this all happened hundreds of years before any true civilization was present in eldham, at least from the point of view of the gnomes, but the land was already owned. Having little simpathy of those not created from the Primordial Amethyst the gnomes of Maddrak mercileslly slaughtered the local tribes of Goblins, and the surviors were set to work until death in terrible conditions as slaves. And thus, gnomish slavery was born, and trolls and ogres, goblins and orcs, and even ice elves were exported from the New World back to Leytha, and life there became an utopia to the gnomes themselves, their every need served by their newly found slaves.

Great wonders were built in the name of progress by the gnomes of Leytha, as the slaves were bred like horses and stuffed into tightly packed barracks, barely even able to be called habitable. Amogst said wondes were the Source Crystal.

Age of the Crystal
The Source Crystal was made in the image of the Primordial Amethyst, the heart of Ag'leyth. Floating several dozen feet in the air, the Crystal was made from pure and solid redstone, indeed a very rare mineral at that age, where the enchantement known as Fortune had not been discovered yet. It was a Mind Engine, simulating the combined computing power of several million brains put together. It was so smat, in fact, that it gaied individuality, and was able to predict the future with uncanny precision...

Exodus
The Source Crystal had predicted that the Empire of Leytha and its colonies in Eldham would fall soon to a massive scale slave rebellion, and so the scientists and engineers that built the mind engine organized an expedition to leave to yet another demiplane, outside of Leytha and Eldham. They passed through one of the obsidian portals and found themselves in the Nether, as was expected, but suddenly the portal colapsed behind them, and they were stuck. Nobody ever heard from this group.