GreyOne
Explorer
A repost of what I started for the Brotherhood. I will add to it this weekend.
The Gnomish Brotherhood
“The skies are our inheritance and our deliverance. They offered us hope when our cities fell. They offered us prosperity when our people were brought low.”
-attributed to Gheshruz Eaglebrow, 10th Skylord of the Yellow Hall
“Windstorm, hail and lightning flash,
With halas and heart we shan’t crash.”
-common chant of Gnomish Brother deckhands
The Gnomish Brotherhood is a secretive and powerful group of folk with Gnomish blood, who build and operate the skyships of Daemonforge. Highly secretive of the magic and lore of their profession, the Gnomish Brothers hold great prestige, power, and in some circles, respect from the populace of the Last Haven. Many in power, however, resent and even fear the domination that the Brotherhood hold on the creation and operation of the skyships. After all, without the skyships, the fate of the mountain strongholds and the Kessel lies in doubt.
The Brotherhood is old and the exact details of its original formation have been lost over the tumultuous centuries since the arrival of the free peoples to the Kessel. Of old, the Gnomes were a proud if some might say impractical people who lived almost exclusively in the great mountain ranges that spanned the centre of the known world. There, in cities of glorious and curious design they lived peacefully with all other realms around them. It is said that during the time of Kyllat, they served as engineers, though their designs often appeared impractical or too dangerous to make proper use of. It is also said that during their service to the Kylatti Imperium they first discovered the miraculous properties of halas. From that was born the first skyships, ramshackle curiousities of limited usefulness. In the chaotic times after the fall of the Imperium, the use of halas and skyships became rare and the knowledge was nearly lost.
When the Fiends overwhelmed the nations of the west and rolled eastwards in all their fell and terrible might, the Gnomes fell easily to their onslaught. The remnants of their peoples escaped in the only method possible: by air. In great ramshackle fleets they flew eastwards over the lands that had yet to face the voracious hordes of evil. Many vessels failed, crashing and killing hundreds. In the end, some fled over the seas in the southeast to unknown fates. Others crossed the granite peaks that surrounded the Kessel or landed precariously in the heights of those southern mountains.
In time, most folk of Gnomish blood were absorbed into the growing masses that flooded into the Kessel. Those Gnomes who landed in the mountain reaches were either lost to the Serewail or went on to establish isolated holdings. The greatest of these proved to be the Yellow Hall, the birthplace of the Gnomish Brotherhood.
The Gnomish Brotherhood
“The skies are our inheritance and our deliverance. They offered us hope when our cities fell. They offered us prosperity when our people were brought low.”
-attributed to Gheshruz Eaglebrow, 10th Skylord of the Yellow Hall
“Windstorm, hail and lightning flash,
With halas and heart we shan’t crash.”
-common chant of Gnomish Brother deckhands
The Gnomish Brotherhood is a secretive and powerful group of folk with Gnomish blood, who build and operate the skyships of Daemonforge. Highly secretive of the magic and lore of their profession, the Gnomish Brothers hold great prestige, power, and in some circles, respect from the populace of the Last Haven. Many in power, however, resent and even fear the domination that the Brotherhood hold on the creation and operation of the skyships. After all, without the skyships, the fate of the mountain strongholds and the Kessel lies in doubt.
The Brotherhood is old and the exact details of its original formation have been lost over the tumultuous centuries since the arrival of the free peoples to the Kessel. Of old, the Gnomes were a proud if some might say impractical people who lived almost exclusively in the great mountain ranges that spanned the centre of the known world. There, in cities of glorious and curious design they lived peacefully with all other realms around them. It is said that during the time of Kyllat, they served as engineers, though their designs often appeared impractical or too dangerous to make proper use of. It is also said that during their service to the Kylatti Imperium they first discovered the miraculous properties of halas. From that was born the first skyships, ramshackle curiousities of limited usefulness. In the chaotic times after the fall of the Imperium, the use of halas and skyships became rare and the knowledge was nearly lost.
When the Fiends overwhelmed the nations of the west and rolled eastwards in all their fell and terrible might, the Gnomes fell easily to their onslaught. The remnants of their peoples escaped in the only method possible: by air. In great ramshackle fleets they flew eastwards over the lands that had yet to face the voracious hordes of evil. Many vessels failed, crashing and killing hundreds. In the end, some fled over the seas in the southeast to unknown fates. Others crossed the granite peaks that surrounded the Kessel or landed precariously in the heights of those southern mountains.
In time, most folk of Gnomish blood were absorbed into the growing masses that flooded into the Kessel. Those Gnomes who landed in the mountain reaches were either lost to the Serewail or went on to establish isolated holdings. The greatest of these proved to be the Yellow Hall, the birthplace of the Gnomish Brotherhood.
