Race — Deep dive
Gnomes — the test that worked, the precursor that stayed.
Valdris's first intelligent race — created just below the surface to be safe from the Everstorm. Few in number, fragile, brilliant. The technical groundwork they laid is what made the later dwarven cities habitable. They lived as one society with the dwarves for thousands of years and were sealed alongside them at the Vanishing. No gnome has been seen on the surface in two millennia.
Profile
- Titan link
- Valdris (Earth) — same as the Dwarves, with a different temperament
- Status
- Hidden — sealed underground with the Dwarves since Year 7,000
- Lifespan
- ~250 years (recorded); unknown for those still below
- Magical aptitude
- Limited natural magic. Excel at gadgetry, mechanism work, and essence-engineering.
- Population
- Few in number even pre-Vanishing — high in skill, low in birth rate
- Modern political form
- Integrated into dwarven society as one civilisation
- Current state (Year 8,955)
- No gnome has been seen on the surface in two thousand years
Origin and integration
Pre-Sealing
Valdris created the gnomes as a test of intelligent earth-bound life — built just below the surface to be safe from the Everstorm. Physically fragile but mechanically and intellectually exceptional. The technical groundwork the gnomes laid made the later dwarven cities habitable in the first place.
Years 1,000 – 7,000
Champion Era. Gnomes lived as one society with the dwarves underground. Most of the inventions credited to dwarven craftsmen were actually gnomish in origin; the dwarves built the structures, the gnomes designed the systems that made them work. The partnership was so close that outside observers often did not distinguish the two races.
Year 7,000 — The Vanishing
Gnomes vanished alongside the dwarves at the True Silence. No gnome has been seen on the surface since.
Notes from the surface record
- · Per the Brotherhood's pre-Vanishing records, the gnome population was estimated at less than a quarter of the dwarven population even at its historical peak. They were always rare; their complete surface absence is statistically conclusive rather than mysterious.
- · The Stone Brotherhood's records refer to several named gnome master engineers from the Champion Era — but the records do not preserve the names individually, only the engineering achievements attributed to 'the gnomish circle.' The convention is gnomish in origin, not dwarven editorial.
- · Gnomes were less religiously expressive than the dwarves. The shared Valdris worship was more central to dwarven identity than to gnomish. Whether this distinction matters below the seal is unknown.
- · Vault content on gnomes is sparse — most surviving canon is mediated through dwarven records rather than gnomish self-description. This page documents what the dwarves remembered.
Where to read next
← Back to races
Every race in the world. Titan links, magic systems, current state.
Dwarves →
The race the gnomes lived alongside for thousands of years and vanished with at Year 7,000.
Valdris →
The Earth Titan who created the gnomes first, then the dwarves from the gnome template.
Stone Brotherhood →
The surface-dwelling dwarven remnant. The Brotherhood preserves what little surface knowledge of the gnomes remains.
Source: Titan-Saga-Vault — TITAN_SAGA_LORE § Gnomes (sparse; most detail mediated through dwarven records).