The Tank of Ravencross

''A very short story documenting the Gnomes & their ancient technology during the conquest of Maddrak. The story also touches on some Lutumite & Mřau history by nature.''

Long ago, during the great conquest of Maddrak by the Gnomish Empire, engineers were hard at work. Conquest was difficult work, and the Mřau, Goblins, Trolls, and Lemurfolk refused to go down without a fight. Most of their soldiers were well-trained with bows & arrows, which made moving throughout their terrain even more difficult. The Gnomish engineers however, invented a tremendous machine to combat this; great mechanical marvels made of stone & wood they called the tanks. These Gnomish tanks were made of stone primarily, with wooden gears & reinforcements. Their treads crafted from the strongest stone they could gather from the grand depths of the Nether, Blackstone. The machine itself would need a crew of 5 to operate properly; two for cranking the gears of its treads, one for turning the canon-like attatchment on top, one for firing this weaponry, and the last for steering. The large artillery fixed to the tank would fire using special Gnomish compounds fashioned by their greatest alchemists. They were capable of firing out flames, thunder, ice, and many others, along with regular canon balls should the need arise. Not many were made due to the meticulous nature of their inner workings and the difficulty of maneuvering & coordinating with a crew of 5. All but one tank were completely decimated during the slave uprising of Maddrak's inhabitants. During the Gnome hunts, it --and most of the remaining Gnomes-- were relocated to the town of Ravencross, where humans would be able to properly protect them.

Today, it still stands in Ravencross; as both a reminder of ancient times within Maddrak, and the great feats of the engineering conjured up by the Gnomes.