World of Warcraft
You might be tempted to think that dwarves are the main race for the “inventor” role of this universe, and you could partially be right. They have the guns, tanks, flying machines and similar kinds of tech after all, especially in regards to machinery related to war. And while these are not stolen by them, they definitely are helped in both the planning and construction phases. That help of course, comes in the (small) form of Gnomes. This article today will focus on the distant relatives of dwarves, their foggy history, and their place in the ages following their discovery by other races. Basically, function matters over size.
Gnomes and How They Came to be Known
Being a highly intelligent race, they dedicate much of their interest towards technological inventions and advancements more than keeping their own history. That comes with the fact that not much is known of what they were doing for much of the time before the Second War. But from what we know, they share a similar origin to dwarves in how and why they were created, and what changed for them.
They were originally called “Mechagnomes”, made of metal parts and with the purpose of being servants and caretakers created by the Watcher Mimiron in Uldaman. Came into existence in service for the Titans much like their relative Earthen (later known as Dwarves), with the corruption of one of the Old Gods, they too suffered from a condition called the “Curse of Flesh“, which affected all Titan creations made of metal and stone such as the Earthen and Titan Keepers. The latter of those, who were also masters of both the Earthen and Mechagnomes, have gone into the depths of Uldaman in search of a cure, and the newly changed race now known as Gnomes abandoned their home.
Going out into dangerous lands, they barely survived in the harsh mountains west of Uldaman, with Ice Trolls and other dangerous elements bearing its fangs. This however didn’t stop them in furthering their technological understandings and even helped in better surviving in the new form they found themselves in. They would make homes for themselves inside the snowy mountains of what would later be known as Dun Morogh.
Gnomeregan – (New) Home of Gnomes
First ones to be aware of the existence of gnomes were the dwarves, who built their city of Ironforge inside the mountains of Dun Morogh not knowing who they were sharing the land with. Although not knowing their shared origin, they still saw the gnomes as relatives to them due to their similar physicality and welcomed them with open arms. They also happily helped them construct a city, just west of Ironforge and near the base of the mountains, called “Gnomeregan”.
This city of technological marvel would also bear hardships in the coming years, much like their dwarven allies. First ones would be in the form of the Orcs of Horde, in the Second War. In their renewed conquest of Azeroth they would try and lay siege to Gnomeregan as well, but the genius of gnomes would overcome this attack with their weaponized technological inventions. Following this, gnomes would be an invaluable help to the Alliance for supplying the allied races with weapons, vehicles and such other machines in and until the start of the Third War. They however would cut contact mysteriously after Lordaeron fell, and the reason would later be revealed after the end of the Third War.
By the curiosity of dwarves and exploring through Uldaman, a failed attempt at creation by the Titan Keepers called Troggs, would be unleashed upon Azeroth. Originally following the fleeing dwarves from underneath the ground, they would take interest in the sounds coming from the machinations of Gnomeregan, and dig their way inside the lower levels of the city. Not wanting to hinder the Alliance in their battle against the Scourge, High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque decided to handle the matter by themselves. A relentless defense would occur for five years, but the troggs would overcome everything the gnomes threw towards them.
Finally, Mekkatorque agreed on a plan made by Sicco Thermaplugg in which they would release toxic gas to the lower levels of the city. This action however was a failure, in which the radiation of the gas not only affected the troggs in regards to making them even more aggressive, but also the remaining gnomes, turning them into “Leper Gnomes” and making them violent towards anything in their path, much like the troggs. Few remaining gnomes fled to Ironforge seeking refuge and began planning on how to retake their city. However High Tinker Mekkatorque would decline this for the time being in order to support the Alliance.
But Who is this High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque?
Gelbin Mekkatorque was a graduate from the Gearshaft University in Gnomeregan, along with his fellow colleague Sicco Thermaplugg, who also gifted Mekkatorque’s signature gear-framed glasses to him. He was a young inventor most known for his practicality, and came up with many important inventions for both the gnomes and the Alliance later on in his life. One of these inventions include the famous Mechanostriders, a mechanical mount resembling an ostrich, which would be his rise to fame in Gnomeregan society. He would not let this get to his head however, and continue to contribute many brilliant machinery to the gnomish technological culture.
Another one of his most brilliant ideas, came to be after the Second War ended and the rebuilding efforts of Stormwind began. The road from the kingdom of Ironforge and Gnomeregan being a slow and tedious one, Magni Bronzebeard requested a faster means of travel from the famous engineer of his time, Mekkatorque. This made him shine bright in the face of adversity and he came up with what is known even to this day as the Deeprun Tram. This would start from Ironforge, create a fast underground train network all the way towards Stormwind, which would help tremendously in the aid efforts, and would also later continue to be of service to all the citizens.
After some time and before the Third War, the gnomish folk would choose Mekkatorque as the High Tinker, to lead the gnomish people after many of his contributions. His best friend Thermaplugg would also soon rise up as his chief advisor, but in time, this would have Thermaplugg go mad for his hunger towards the seat of High Tinker. This would go so far that the plan Thermaplugg came up with to rid Gnomeregan of the trogg invasion, was in fact a ruse to steal the title of High Tinker from Mekkatorque and blame him for the deaths of many inside the city after the released toxic gas. But this plan would backfire on him, as the gas proved more than dangerous and wiped more than half the population of the city, and Mekkatorque, seeing it as a last resort after this defeat, rallied all the remaining gnomes under him and fled outside the city towards Ironforge, where they would be welcomed and given an opportunity to to construct their own district there, later called the Tinker Town. Thermaplugg would however stay behind, and rule the remaining now tainted leper gnomes with an iron fist, having gone mad from the toxic gas himself. He now goes by the self claimed title “King of Gnomeregan”, and is available as the last boss of the Gnomeregan dungeon.
Personal Thoughts on Gnomes
My personal love of dwarves also extended to gnomes too after getting into World of Warcraft. The reason being that they were a fresh breath as they are different from many other gnome-like races depicted in various other media. Their origin of being created as machines and sharing the same place as the dwarves, how they stand in the face of danger with their quick wit and intellect, their unity as a whole race and friendly attitude towards the others. Engineers, inventors, backbone of technology for the whole of Alliance, and all of these titles are deserved because they are in it for the love of it.
