Allrighty, lets take a break and I’ll tell you some stuff about Harrgard and it’s inhabitats.
Harrgard was formed some decades before the discovery of thunderstone. A couple of forward-thinking Gnome families travelled east of the Aaskran wastes and settled there, just at the borders of the Kentaari Empire, on an island in the Harkan gulf. They founded what is usually now referred to as Old Harrgard, a small merchant town. When thunderstone was discovered, Harrgard became the center of the thunderstone shipments to the old world. That made the Gnomes incredibly rich and their lifestyle became more and more influanced by the Kentaari humans that they traded with. They even started abandoning the Gnome ways of Wizardry and sent their young mage students to the great human Magic Academy of Calhara. There they learned of the human ways of magical Rune-Smithing. Some of their smarter designers thought of combining it with their own thunderstone tech.
The results were extraordinary. Their first invention were the aircruisers. Then there came the wargolems, huge steel monsters that reinvented the world’s way of warfare. Golems were old news. Anyone with enough silver in his pocket and the right wizardly connections could get one, but they never served much military purpose. They were slow and stupid. But when you could attach two huge thunderstone cannons to their backs and make them fly, slow and stupid wasn’t that much of a deal anymore. It seemed as there were no limits to what the Harrgard gnomes could do with their tech.
Anyway, one thing the Harrgard gnomes didn’t do was share. They sat on their secrets like a dragon would sit on his loot. This did not sit well with people, especially the other gnome nations which felt that their Harrgardian brothers had betrayed them with not sharing (this resentment then just grew and grew through the ages) and the Kentaari Emperor, who felt that the Harrgard gnomes were stealing profits which were rightfully his. After trying to force the secrets out of the gnomes with diplomatic ways for a couple of years, the Emperor lost his temper and sent three legions of his best troops over to take over the city.
But the people of Harrgard were prepared. Just as the legions came to the city, the earth shook violently and shattered under their feet. The city slowly rose up to the sky, carried by huge aircruiser engines. The Kentaarian soldiers were burned to ashes in the blue flames. Since then the city has not touched the ground. Many later emperors as well as various pirates groups have tried to take over the city since, most with aircruiser fleets. They have never even been close to victory. The city is heavily defended with golems and artillery and surrounded by a nearly unbreakable magical shield.
The Harrgard gnomes have a strong caste system, divided into Tinkers (workers and inventors), Thinkers (scholars, philosophers and wizards) and Tankers (warriors). The first forty years of their life they are independant, just indulging themselves, playing and enjoying life. On their forty year old birtday they choose their path in life, one of the three castes. Most choose the caste of their parents, although it isn’t required. After they have made their choice fifteen years of apprenticeship takes over until they are deemed fit as fully functioning citezens. Marriages between castes are quite rare, but not unheard of.
