10/27/2013 03:52 PMPosted by
Pai They obviously still live under kings, so does that mean they are a monarchy
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.
He has said why in... something. Either questing or his short story. It is a more recognizable title to the other nations, and he enjoys the idea of being a king, though fully recognizes that the title is meaningless.
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.
Not only that, but (according to a source I don't remember) Thermaplugg originally had plans of gnomish imperialism, expanding Gnomeregan all the way to the edge of Ironforge, and use the superior technology to enforce that border if the dwarves got upset. Also, reinstating the royalty with him as the first king in a long time, though that part was probably kept in his head. This was found to be entirely unhelpful to the gnomish people, and so he was passed over for High Tinker in favor of Mekkatorque. And the fact that Mekkatorque never even considered that Thermaplugg COULD be jealous enough to even give slightly bad advice out of spite shows what a normal gnome is all about from the view of gnomes. To the point of not realizing that an unhelpful gnome is possible until Thermaplugg showed that.
I think my favorite thing about this is that Thermaplugg's original dream happened under Mekkatorque, with the aid of the dwarves he would have clashed with. And considering Thermaplugg is the first time the race realized not only that there are bad gnomes, but that they can get into power in a meritocracy, I can't see the gnomes being comfortable trusting another leader for as long as Mekkatorque is alive. He's the one who got them shelter after the betrayal, he's the one who won back their home, he's the face of their people to the Alliance, and what if another thermaplugg is still alive, just waiting for a chance to threaten their people? I hope that if blizzard ever gives gnome society some focus, it's a lot more suspicious and prying because of Thermaplugg, while tentatively keeping the focus of helping eachother, because he SEEMED to be a rarity.
edit Oh. I just saw the dates on the thread. Oops.
