Gnome

Gnomes (Pumilo gnomus), known in the Traveler's Tongue as Maddrakki and to themselves as Maddkairn, are a short-stocky hominid species with a sparse population scattered across central Eldham. Related to but distinct from the dwarves, they became known for their skill in alchemy and the ancient empire of Leytha before its inevitable collapse.

Races of Maddkairn
Several sub-species of Gnomes have been discerned over the course of modern history, despite the fact that differences may appear unnoticeable to all but the Maddkairn themselves. Despite any differences in appearance or thought however, they all hold themselves as kin and therefore hold the tightest bonds with one another.

Forest Gnomes
WIP.

Rock Gnomes
WIP

Pre-History
Modern secular hypotheses indicate that the gnomes' closest modern relatives are dwarves, and as such the two races share the genus Pumilo together. The two likely evolved from a short and robust species of early hominin, possibly Homo erectus, Homo athielensis, or another as-of-yet unknown ancient race. The gnomes, or rather their ancestors, most likely migrated to Eldham using their portals during an ice age, and completed their speciation once separate from the ancestors of the dwarves' tens of thousands of years ago.

Mythical Origins
According to legend, gnomes were created by a god forgotten, Ag'leyth the Forsaken, in a bid to create a perfect society. In the demiplane of Leytha the gnomes were formed, molded 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 innate hunger for knowledge imbued in them. 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, philosophy 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, but they vied for space because of overcrowding, and this upset Ag'leyth. As such, he delivered to them a technology that allowed them to travel outside of Leytha. These were purple portals, made of a stone called obsidian, which linked them to a fiery realm, the Nether, and through it they found other portals to other worlds. The eyes of the gnomes tingled with awe and wonder, and the first adventurous souls did not take long to make their way to Eldham.

Era of Exploration
They first arrived in a region of modern Onthukhan. Groups of dissatisfied gnomes came to settle this land, but savage tribes ruled the land. Having little sympathy of those not created from the Primordial Amethyst, the gnomes mercilessly slaughtered the local tribes of Goblins, and the survivors 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 brought from innumerable Worlds to Leytha, and life there became a utopia for the gnomes, 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, unsanitary quarters.

The Collapse
Unfortunately, these slaves came to outnumber the gnomes immensely. An army rose from among them and nearly every gnome in the demiplane of Leytha was slaughtered. Not even the children were spared, for there was no mercy for their former masters. Soon, these Freed Peoples, as they called themselves, began organizing themselves to form their own empire, intending to make the gnomes their slaves. In a desperate bid to preserve their beloved experiment, Ag'leyth collapsed all entrances and exits to Leytha. The Gnomes within Onthukhan found themselves cut off, isolated, and they never heard again of Leytha of the colonies on other worlds. Slowly, the natives noticed the sudden weakness of the gnomes, and sought to destroy them for their crimes. One by one they were hunted, til they were driven from dominance to seclusion in the modern region of Maddrak, the "Land of Forests" in their tongue.

New Age
Civilizations has come and gone in Eldham and all that was left of the formerly so dominating empire was dust and echoes. Eventually the gnomes reestablished for themselves a nation, Phoenia,

a nation was founded on the ruins of the gnomes, Phoenia, and with it came hope for the gnomes once more, for within the political machinations and histories that developed on said nation arose the Chancellor-King, Skippy "the Gnome" Amethya Blizun, who was, for a time, the leader of said nation, and while doing so he rediscovered what his race had done, rediscovered what had happened to his people and, above all, rediscovered the Source Crystal, and now builds a religion around worshipping it, as well as building a containment facility for it in a bid to make it stop using its incredible intelligence and child-like personality to alter reality itself.

Wonders
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 enchantment 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 smart, in fact, that it gained 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 collapsed behind them, and they were stuck. Nothing was heard from this group for eons to come.

The Language of the Gnomes
Gnomes speak what is known in the Traveler's Tongue as Maddrakkian, or simply gnomish. The language is slowly being translated into the Traveler's Tongue by Skippy Amethya-Blizun from loose pieces of found partchment and inscriptions on amethyst tablets, tree bark and stones.

Here is what is known so far: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Aq8jzjQmEzs210WcKYnLQkzMmHUPbtGGbHs5DGSk_UI/edit