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So watching the Running of the Gnomes event over youtube, it got me curious about rolling a pink hair'd Gnome toon. It also got me thinking about how little I know about their lore.

I mean, I know they have a king and that king went bad and their city is filled to the brim with radiation... so they because refugees in Ironforge and fall under the rule of a new "king"? Is that right?

And then the Gnomes went to take back their old city, but it's too polluted to live in still so they built New Gnomer above ground?

Also, what is their political system like? They obviously still live under kings, so does that mean they are a monarchy? Do they have nobles in their society? Or was that all lost with Gnomer?

Mekkatorque was always the king, it was his adviser that went sour... or was more likely always sour. During the trogg invasion of Gnomergan Thermaplug (adviser mentioned earlier) convinced Mekkatorque to release radiation into the city to try and eradicate the invaders. Naturally this foolproof plan backfired and the city became a radiated disaster area and killed most of the gnomes to boot.

The gnomes that survived fled to Ironforge where they, until now, planned for the retaking of their city which they failed to do during the event in Cata. The above ground city is the reclamation teams base of operations.

As for their political system I think the king is actually an elected official chosen by a council of the most senior tinkers in the city.

inb4 qq

Actually, Mekkatorque isn't a king. Gnomes elect their leaders, and are a democracy.

The upper half of Gnomeregan is livable. According the leader stories, Mekkatorque slices Thurmaplugg in half. While in WoW nobody is ever dead, but until we hear otherwise it 'should' be over.

Just Blizz hates Gnomes so no Gnomeregan. (There's your qq, lick it up)

http://wowpedia.org/Gnome
http://www.wowhead.com/quest=26889

Their political structure seems to reward a person based on their individual feats - a meritocracy, I'd wager. The majority of their city is still a radiated mess, but as was mentioned earlier they did reclaim some of it before Cataclysm.

Gnobles are very unlikely.

Just Blizz hates Gnomes so no Gnomeregan. (There's your qq, lick it up)

More like they don't want to take time to remove a dungeon and give it a replacement, make a city for the Alliance and make a Horde equivalent(to keep things balanced-- not sure with the whole Gilneas situation), and have to worry about Gnomes when they don't really need it at the moment. Yes-- they've been away from it and without a legitimate home for quite some time now... but whenever there's an open window of "relaxing"(or prepping to take back their home from mutant gnomes) something else comes along that's apart of the bigger picture and makes Gnomeregan a second priority.

So.. they might hate Gnomes, but I'm honestly putting my bet on the fact they don't feel like making a whole bunch of new stuff and writing more lore than they want to :P.

Sadly, there isn't a whole lot of gnome lore. What this does mean is that gnome RPers have a lot of freedom with what they can do with their characters.

I believe gnome leaders choose their own title, and Mekkatorque calls himself "King" even though it's unusual for a gnome to choose that title.

Just Blizz hates Gnomes so no Gnomeregan. (There's your qq, lick it up)

More like they don't want to take time to remove a dungeon and give it a replacement, make a city for the Alliance and make a Horde equivalent(to keep things balanced-- not sure with the whole Gilneas situation), and have to worry about Gnomes when they don't really need it at the moment. Yes-- they've been away from it and without a legitimate home for quite some time now... but whenever there's an open window of "relaxing"(or prepping to take back their home from mutant gnomes) something else comes along that's apart of the bigger picture and makes Gnomeregan a second priority.

So.. they might hate Gnomes, but I'm honestly putting my bet on the fact they don't feel like making a whole bunch of new stuff and writing more lore than they want to :P.

Except the whole pre-Cata gnome and troll event was all about retaking Gnomeregan and the Echo Isles respectively. Both built up their forces over several weeks before it culminated in the final push. Trolls took down their Big Bad and regained the Isles in one final quest. Gnomes got a voice recording and a big middle finger from Blizzard.

And the top half of their city as well as the surrounding area. Like I said-- Blizzard doesn't want to redesign it and make a new dungeon to replace the lost one, and the Echo Isles aren't a city. A small zone, yes... but not a giant city. Unless Gilneas went to the Horde completely(again, more re-designing), then things would be off balance and they don't want to do that because there are many people that'd complain about it, even if they wouldn't use the new city after the first week or two of it's existence.

I'm not denying that the situation is crappy, but you have to consider more than "Blizzard hates Gnomes".

It seems like they will have Gilneas under the Alliance again considering King Wrynn's focus on it. So anyway, little spats aside: Don't feel daunted, they actually have very little lore that's been revealed.

- Gnomes seem to function, as Lilliat said, democratically. Considering the advanced state of their society, their practicality AND that Mekkatorque is called " High Tinker " instead of King by title, I'd wager this to be the case. Their closest allies are the dwarf, and the gnomes living inside Ironforge are under the jurisdiction, of course, of the Council, as does anything and anyone functioning within their city.

- They tried to take back their city and apparently lorewise they have; they're just " cleaning it out" and taking care of resilient troggs and invaders. As Lilliat again pointed out, Mekkatorque pulled the plugg on Thermawhatsisface. New Gnomeregan seems to be a temporary workaround as a base of operations until they clear out Gnomeregan proper; an excuse probably to keep the Gnomeregan dungeon for a few more years and forgo having to redesign Gnomeregan, but that's how it seems to be.

- It's not a monarchy. They elect their leaders by democracy, complete with " set terms of service".

i dont think that blizz will ever make gnomeregun a non radioactive mess. if they do it would have to be in the nxt expanshion when vol'jin becomes the warchief and he can maby get the chance to make the trolls the own city and then the gnomes can get there own city

...It also got me thinking about how little I know about their lore.

Don't feel bad about that. As has been stated by others, there's not a lot of Lore regarding Gnomes. It's out there, but you have to really dig around to find it.

Gnomish Government is a Meritocracy - that is to say, whoever makes significant contributions to the society gets the big Chair. Gelbin Mekkatorque invented the Deeprun Tram, the MechanoStrider and the Arclight Spanner. These advancements got him elected.

Regarding Nobles (or GNobles): There might be some Gnomes out there who feel they would be considered a 'Noble', but it's really not the Gnomish way.

...so they built New Gnomer above ground?

The buildings around Gnomeregan have always been there. They were re-configured a bit for the failed "Operation: Gnomeregan" event to give Gnomes their own starting zone. This included the addition of Crushridge's Airstrip (I think that's its name). It was never there before O:G. The proper name for this area is New Tinkertown.

Likely, Forbs will find this post and give you a much more detailed rundown on Gnomish Lore. Trust me, she's given it a lot of thought.

~ Brix

The first gnome was "discovered" 26 centuries ago. They are thought to have existed long before this, as a creation of the Titans. But over time the Curse of the Flesh transformed the mechagnomes into living creatures. It is widely accepted that while the first known gnome was a good friend to the night elves, it was the dwarves who discovered their first city, and almost immediately, the two races called a friendship. The dwarf / gnome relationship is the closest in the world, over any two other species. The dwarves welcomed the gnomes to build Gnomeregan in their territory. Shortly afterwards the second war began, and that's when the gnomes joined the Alliance. (if I recall correctly)

This is more or less discovered in the Borean Tundra quests involving Gearmaster Mechazod; in it the gnomes you "save" cry and bemoan how perfect they were and didn't want to change back. Mechazod was attempting to reverse the Curse of the flesh (successfully) and turn gnomes back into mechagnomes.

I never realized, or knew, that gnomes actually voted. I always sort of assumed that the High Tinker is kind of chosen by default. Yes, they traditionally choose who the High Tinker will be, based on technological advancements and inventions. But this "choosing" I thought was more of a straw poll, than any sort of vote exactly. Subtle difference. It is interesting to note that both Thermaplugg and Meccatorque were good friends, both excelled in Engineering, and were more or less equally thought to hold enough sway to either be chosen as the new High King. When Mekkatorque won, Thermaplugg went a little crazy via being power-hungry - he really wanted the job - and basically tricked his friend into believing the bombs would only kill a few gnomes in order to win the city back. Meanwhile his lone goal was to become King of Gnomeregan.

Deeper into "Curse of the Flesh" - The gnomes as a people aren't really driven as the other species of Azeroth is. They don't care for territory or power, simply content to keep coming up with new ways (technologically) to make a life a bit easier, in so many words. The mechagnomes were created to create better ways, and maintain the existing infrastructure the Titans relied upon; their lone means of existence was to constantly perpetuate their craft. When "Curse of the Flesh" took hold, nothing changed, other than robots turned into people, and they now had the opportunity to ask, "Why?" Though most are contempt to never even wonder that, either.

As robots, they basically had a constantly upbeat and driven hunger to always do better. This too, extended to the living gnomes; which may help explain their cheerfulness and bright attitude. Also explains their eccentricity.

Now that they know how they were created, a lot of them actually feel less than worthy. They now know they were a much smarter, much more efficient race of technology crafters as mechagnomes, so they kind of feel they have de-evolved, not the other way around.

I think to fully determine whether they're a voting democracy or if it's more of a straw poll, one would need to consult the three sources cited in Wowwiki - the Alliance Player's guide, World of Warcraft manual and - oddly, enough, the Monster Guide. Having set terms of service as claimed there would indicate that they had already organized an advanced system of democracy, complete with limited terms for their candidates.

From a cultural perspective, gnomes are a highly tightly-knit community and have strong relations to the dwarves. Highly intellectual and focused on efficiency, I speculate that gnomes view certain professions like warlocks with less bias than most races, but simply as another point of research; a science to explore, much like they might treat magic as a science as much as technology. I'm not sure they feel " less worthy" now that they know their origins - they certainly don't seem keen to return to those origins - but it's possible some may feel that way. And as individuals with highly logical and scientific tendencies, it should be noted that aside from their general cheerfulness and eccentricity, gnomes can make excellent dark characters - for instance, one having strong goal-centered mindsets that don't consider moral consequences. Of course, they also have rather open minds about subjects, so really, a gnome character is highly versatile.

Wow there does seem to be a fair bit of misinformation floating around about Gnome lore, even given how little there is. There are some good references online for learning about Gnome lore, and I presume youre all accomplished enough internauts to find them on your own. However I feel I should correct and underscore a few things here...

1. Gnomes have the only elected leader of all the playable races. Gnomes have a functional democracy, but we dont know many details about it apart from the High Tinker being an elected post.

2. The High Tinker is customarily allowed to choose whatever title he likes, and Gelbin Mekkatorque has chosen: "King of the Gnomes" as his. Precisely why he did this is not fully explained since the Gnomes have had no functional monarchy per se for hundreds of years. However some speculate that he may have chosen that title in an effort to put himself on an equal footing diplomatically with the other racial leaders of the Alliance.

3. The Fall of Gnomeregan was cause by a deliberate act of sabotage orchestrated by the High Tinker's chief advisor Sicco Thermaplugg. Many people erroneously lay the blame for the tragedy in which 80% of the population lost their lives at the feet of the High Tinker, but that is incorrect. Thermaplugg deliberately and with malice aforethought hatched a scheme to flood the city with radiation designed to kill large numbers of Gnomes. Thermaplugg planned to fix the blame for those deaths on the High Tinker, and thereby secure the top job for himself. It should be noted that until that time, Gnomes had NO history of internecine violence. The very concept of a Gnome plotting the mass murder of other Gnomes in a bid for personal power was unthinkable, and so no one suspected Thermaplugg's treachery until it was too late.

4. The Gnomes have been staunch allies of the Bronzebeard Dwarves for a long time, but are *not* subjects of Ironforge nor do they owe allegiance to the Council of Three Hammers. In fact since the Cataclysm, and the political upheaval in Ironforge, the Gnomeregan refugees have actually found themselves unwelcomed guests in the city. This helped precipitate the events of Operation: Gnomeregan, and the founding of New Tinkertown, as Gnomes have begun to reevaluate their role in Khaz Modan.

5. Gnomish "Priests" notwithstanding, Gnomes are not a spiritual or religiously oriented people. They approach magic (including The Light) like any other branch of science. It is something for them to explore and understand, and to master. Gnomes believe in what they can see, and prove under experimental conditions. Gnomes believe in themselves and their fellow Gnomes, and in their technology. Gnomes do not believe in mysteries. Gnomes have absolute faith in their ability to learn and understand...*everything*. And it is that insatiable curiosity, and optimism, and courage that make Gnomes hands down the most interesting and fun race to play in my opinion!

- Forbs
"For Gnomeregan!"

I just learned a lot about gnomes. I wish I still had mine...

Gnomish Special Forces... forever in heart and soul...

Participating in the Running certainly reminded me that I need to create a Gnome again. It was the first race I ever played in WoW, and has remained a favorite despite the fact that I haven't touched them in years ... why I continue to deny myself, I'm not exactly sure.

But it's occurred to me that there is no true reason other than laziness that the Gnomes haven't gotten some level of Gnomeregan back, other than New Tinkertown (which is barely anything). Really, they could've created an Ogrimmar/Ragefire Chasm situation, where the upper half of Gnomeregan was reclaimed, but the lower parts are still too irradiated to be inhabitable. This could allowed for instanced content in the city, while actually giving the Gnomes a place to live.

I mean, I guess that's technically what's happened, they just haven't bothered to place it in the game world.

Gnomish "Priests" notwithstanding, Gnomes are not a spiritual or religiously oriented people.

Question, is there a lore-worthy way to RP a gnomish priest without depending on the light? I've thought of several similar, though different sources.

Perhaps a device that emits light which can be then manipulated to focus it towards whomever, and heal them. Granted, a light bulb and the sun aren't the same kind of light, nevermind the magical or spirit-infused "light" we're talking about.

Another option is just to say the priest has gleaned how to use light for healing simply because of his will to help others. This is bordering on special snowflake status perhaps? It's always kind of bothered me that for a people to learn how to use something they have to learn it from another race. Apparently the trolls figured out druidism on their own, so why are gnomes dependent on dwarfs or humans to teach them how to see and wield the light?

A third possibility could include RP spinning his healing skills to not be of the light, but rather just a very very good medic. I'm not even sure how I'd begin to explain the fireworks on spells, it's a working brainstorm...

Obviously the point is, for a gnomish priest to be self-reliant, or moreover, not permanently attached to the Dwarven "Church" of Light, nor the Humans'. You'd just have to figure that in 10,000 years, the gnomes would have found a better gadget or way than bandages, to heal each other.
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I really don't like wowwiki, or any wiki for that matter, too unreliable. An example, taken from the gnomes (playable) page (http://www.wowwiki.com/Gnome_%28playable%29):

Gnome priests have been often considered mages or arcanists that tinkered with their spells to mend the wounded and sick. Their high intelligence allows them bind injuries, enshroud allies with magical barriers and shields, or even twist the shadows to destroy a foe's mind.

This is actually perfect to explain how a gnomish priest can be self-reliant of the other races of the Alliance. But in every RP guide it's pretty much considered canon that gnomes learned to be priests via the dwarves and their holy light, not through manipulating their own magic to heal rather than hurt.

Not but 4 or 5 paragraphs later the same page lists this gem:

The ever curious Gnomes, being influenced by their friends within the Alliance, have taken up worship of the Holy Light.

Well, which is wowwiki?

Wowwiki / wowpedia is often used because it's the most commonly available source for lore information. Other sources include guides and books which would have to be purchased in order to be read, but otherwise I'm not sure where else one can find substantial canon lore information about gnomes.

Another option is just to say the priest has gleaned how to use light for healing simply because of his will to help others. This is bordering on special snowflake status perhaps? It's always kind of bothered me that for a people to learn how to use something they have to learn it from another race. Apparently the trolls figured out druidism on their own, so why are gnomes dependent on dwarfs or humans to teach them how to see and wield the light?

The answer is in what Forbs said - " Gnomes are not a spiritual or religiously oriented people". The trolls , much like tauren, night elves and worgen, are very strongly connected to the wilds, and the Loa which they worship take animal forms - it was not a big stretch for them to learn druidism. In contrast, gnomes as a culture are highly scientific minds and their traditional magic users - warlocks, mages - learn from disciplines which can be used with enough study. Priests, however, rely heavily on faith to use their magic - similarly to paladins, except that there are also priests of the Shadow. In addition, gnomes have access to advanced medical technology for healing and have had little contact with the undead, giving them even less reason to have picked up the Light for any reason other than scholarly curiousity.

If you're asking on the possibility of a gnome being a priest without depending on the Light, I can suggest a reference to the NPCs in the Hordeside scenario, Domination Point. There you battle gnome battle-healers with medi-beams. Such devices may or may not employ the Light - my guess is that they don't - but they can be rather flashy and serve a similar purpose to heal their targets.

http://www.wowhead.com/npc=69007#abilities