Gnomish History

Gnomish history begins with the race of svirfneblin, who are the subterranean forebears of the surface gnomish race, which spawned in the early Mesolithic Period. Whatever the origin of the svirf, their incursions to the surface and the effect that sunlight had upon their offspring for a period of two thousand years, it is estimated, produced adaptations that resulted in a keener, though smaller offshoot whose first surface habitations occurred in the region of the Kjolen mountains within present day Finnemar, in Ulthua. Encounters between these small groupings and the winter elves of Ulthua were friendly and mutually beneficial, as the "gnomes" — no longer identifying themselves with their subterranean svirf ancestors, passed knowledge of mining and the smelting of mithril to the elves, while receiving a in kind a surpassing knowledge of woodcraft, sleds, animal husbandry and comprehension of the fundamental principles of magic.

Circa 10,000 years ago, during the mid-to-late Mesolithic, gnomish populations increased as they began to migrate south into the mountainous ranges of Scandinavia, particularly in the Dovrefjell, establishing villages along the higher mountain slopes. Exposure to sunlight and a shift in diet brought rapid changes to their physiology, as they became slighter in build and less rough-hewn in appearance. Gnomish habitations appeared around the mouths of the Vistula, Nemunas, Daugava and Bug rivers, supported by frozen routes across the Baltic Sea (safe for them, dangerous for larger folk) that permitted constant communication the year round. Well established thousands of years before the coming of the Balt Peoples, gnomes built small boats and explored into the interior, leading to outposts far from the sea, which in turn led to trade some 6,000 years before the time of Christ.

Associations with human cultures that the gnomes described as "Maglemosian," a cultural exchange again influenced both groups. Adopting clan and tribal associations, the gnomes experimented with the human practice of aggression, particularly against goblins and hobgoblins as these scattered peoples were confronted in lands that stretched from the Tatra Mountains to the Volga basin. This created a pre-Vepsian culture that inspired gnomish migrations into goblinish lands, south into the Central Highlands of the Sarmatic Plain (Scythian lands) and as far east as the Zhiguli Mountains. Much of this spread also encouraged a search for natural placer deposits, which became important in Gnomish art and religious belief. Despite this spread, gnomish culture would remain remarkably homogeneous in nature, suggesting that gnomes are fundamentally less individualistic as a people than humans.

Conflict with the Gunda-Gaa culture of the north (gnollish people) prevented the gnomes from occupying lands beyond the Volga; nonetheless, with trade routes reaching thousands of miles, a relative alikeness in gnomish perspectives across even such vast distances and a rapid population growth, by the Chalcolithic period an amalgamation of disparate gnomish centres was inevitable — the result being the Vepsian Culture.