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Lines of Blood: A History of the Gnomes
Other Bloodlines
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The history of Gnomes is incomplete. Until the
remaining bloodlines are completed, the following will serve
as general information about each of the bloodlines.
Bloodline Aledotter
Historical summary: In 1134, Winedotter brothers
Urho, Urko, and Urho Tewodros leave Ta’Vaalor to explore
the dwarven outposts on the DragonSpine. They sneak into the
mines, pilfer some raw ore and low quality gemstones. They
return home with their booty, and quickly sell it off. Recognizing
an opportunity for profit, they regularly travel between their
new home in the mountains and the gnomish compounds beneath
the elven cities. Eventually, they expand this trade to carry
gnomish goods (and messages) back and forth between Winedotter,
Withycombe, and even Basingstoke compounds. Never intending
to establish a new bloodline, the brothers Tewodros nevertheless
attract many Winedotter gnomes who admire their freedom of
movement and thought; this new group willingly adopts the
name “Aledotter” after it is applied to them by
a Winedotter wag.
Cultural summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Aledotter
live outside the caverns of the dwarves, often sneaking inside
to glean information about metallurgy and forging. Inveterate
tricksters, these gnomes sometimes perform acts of great kindness
and sometimes of great mischief, though more often than not
fear and respect temper both impulses. Aledotter gnomes supply
the other bloodlines with metals and weaponry; over time this
role has expanded to encompass the entire inter-bloodline
trade. Aledotter gnomes rarely overlook an opportunity to
turn a profit, especially when it does not involve any actual
work of their own. These gnomes are particularly proud of
their size, believing that it gives them an advantage over
larger, clumsier races; as a result, Aledotter women are known
to choose their mates on the sole basis of stature. Like other
burghal bloodlines, the Aledotter gnomes perform the coming
of age ritual known as the arvyad’gno, but for the Aledotter
the ceremony involves running away from home to see the world.
Those gnomes who return are initiated with a bloodmarking
of three vertical lines crossed by a horizontal sword, signifying
that they are NOT Winedotter gnomes. Aledotter gnomes rarely
worship the gods on a personal level, though respect for Eonak
and Gosaena is deeply embedded into their cultural lives.
The Winedotter gnomes are led by, insofar as a people who
actively cultivate an anti-authoritarian ethos can be made
to follow, a triumvirate of elderly gnomes whose respective
spheres of authority are pilferage from the mines, trade with
the burghal bloodlines, and trade with the forest bloodlines.
The Aledotter gnomes live more like forest gnomes than burghal
gnomes, in a single compound on the side of the DragonSpine
range and wandering the roads of Elanthia.
Bloodline Greengair
Historical Summary: Within the Imaera priesthood
of the forest arises a heresy suggesting that the goddess
would not approve of the gnomes’ most basic relationship
with nature. Stating that the race should live in harmony
with nature rather than in conflict with it, this ideology
makes little headway until the conversion of Doina Mazonn,
head priestess of the Basingstoke line. After a series of
impassioned sermons, in 2389 she leads nearly a third of forest
gnomes off to establish a new group, named Bloodline Greengair
after the fixed compounds they build.
Cultural summary: Unlike their wandering Basingstoke
forebears, whom they liken to a plague of locusts, Greengair
gnomes live in permanent compounds that resemble parks and
gardens. Because of their fixed location, these gnomes have
been known to tinker with the environment, seeking to maximize
the yield of useful plants. Greengair alchemists also produce
natural compounds that have the ability to modify (for better
or worse) a person’s skills and characteristics. Many
Greengair gnomes are vegetarian, and most are fanatical devotees
of Imaera. The Greengair bloodmark consists of five straight
lines arranged in a pentagonal shape, like the briar-covered
log fences that surround the greengairs.
Bloodline Wendwillow
Historical Summary: After the departure of the Greengair,
the Basingstoke gnomes enter a reactionary period in which
dissent and disagreement are strictly prohibited. Resentment
over these new policies grows, and less than a century later
the forest gnomes fracture again, this time producing a group
of gnomes famous for their unwillingness to settle on fixed
policy or procedure. Led by Mircea Adhiambo, a gnome chosen
for being the least likely to offer a settled opinion on any
question, the new group wanders aimlessly until someone suggests
stopping. They remain a while until someone suggests moving
on. Over time, this settles into a more fixed pattern in which
the entire bloodline wanders along the banks of rivers or
the shoreline of lakes and the sea. Groups break off from
the bloodline whenever they reach a spot they consider too
beautiful to leave.
Cultural summary: Known for their hospitality and
diplomacy, Wendwillow gnomes are easy-going and good-natured.
They often stop their wayfaring to heal environmental damage
from fire or flood, and many of them are drawn to the healing
profession. Their fickle nature leads many of them to worship
the goddess Zelia. Wendwillow gnomes have no institution of
marriage. They choose seasonal partners called Summer Loves
and Winter Love. In some cases a couple renews those relationships
throughout their lives, but in most cases the dalliances are
for one season only. Wendwillow artists are famous for working
with sand. They blow glass, making wonderful colored objects
for practical use and artistic design. At the end of a season,
they are destroyed or hidden in the sand of a riverbank. Another
unique art of the Wendwillow gnomes is sand painting. They
use colored sand to create elaborate designs and realistic
landscape paintings. They are created, enjoyed, then immediately
destroyed. The bloodmark of the Wendwillow consists of six
wavy lines, arranged like the limbs of an ancient willow tree.
Bloodline Rosengift
Historical Summary: A group of Basingstoke rangers
led by Srinath Harazhdo decides that too much effort is put
into hunting. They develop a variety of poisons, originally
for use on arrow tips, but soon enough for darker purposes.
Bloodline Rosengift splinters off for its own protection after
a young gnome accidentally uses the wrong compound when hunting,
leading to the death of five families who shared the tainted
venison.
Cultural Summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Rosengift
believe that they have a mandate to subject the forests to
gnomish rule. Rosengift gnomes reject any law but expediency
and their own personal code. They take particular delight
in violating the so-called “laws of nature” by
cross-pollinating plants, breeding new varieties of animals,
and tattooing their fitness-sculpted bodies. They delight
in sporting contests and competitions of every kind, and they
rarely find time or inclination to marry. Rosengift alchemists
reduce food products to powders which are ingested with water
or wine. Rosengift gnomes are also rarely content with the
body that nature provides, seeking to alter their features
in every way conceivable through body art and piercing, as
well as sculpting through exercise. The bloodmark of the Rosengift
resembles a bundle of seven arrows.
Bloodline Nylem
Historical Summary: In 4120, Danail Nylem is exiled
from the Withycombe for violating a centuries-old period of
official mourning for the collapse of the Kannalan Empire.
More than a quarter of the bloodline admires Nylem’s
transgressive humor, and they accompany his departure to form
a new bloodline. Reaction against the departure forces the
Withycombe to abandon their long-outdated somberness and return
to their original good cheer.
Cultural Summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Nylem
love nothing better than a good joke, preferably at someone's
expense. Where Withycombe gnomes act for the good of their
hosts, the Nylem undermine with dirty tricks. They often select
targets who deserve punishment for some failing or flaw, but
in other circumstances these merry pranksters act with no
moral purpose at all. Most Nylem are profoundly irreligious,
though Cholen and Jastev receive respect. The cultural life
of the bloodline surrounds the roast, and no acquaintance
of a Nylem gnome is spared their caustic wit. The Nylem live
in close proximity to the Withycombe, often traveling by common
tunnelways, but they never live in the same compounds or work
in the same establishments. The bloodmark of the Nylem consists
of a single line radiating outward through eight spiral rotations.
Bloodline Vylem
Historical Summary: A secret cult of Eorgina arises
within the Nylem, their worship of the dark queen at odds
with the neutral trickster-ethos of the bloodline. A brief
but bloody struggle for power ends with the Eorgina faction
separating under the leadership of Hjoka Doru, teenage high
priestess of the goddess. They adopt the mocking nickname
bestowed by their Nylem cousins as a sign of the purity of
their devotion.
Cultural Summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Vylem
are the proudest of their race, and they brook no disrespect
from other gnomes. Worshippers of the Lornon pantheon with
a special devotion to Eorgina, the Vylem are ruled by adolescent
queens whose every whim is law. Vylem men always defer to
Vylem women, who tend to be imperious as a result. Many
Vylem
men chose a life of chastity, for reasons best left unsaid.
Alone among the burghal gnomes, the Vylem are self-sufficient,
believing it demeaning to work for--or even steal from--the
other (inferior) races. The bloodmark of the Vylem consists
of ten small tongues of flame.
Bloodline Angstholm
Historical Summary: A compound of Wendwillow gnomes
established on an island at the confluence of three rivers
in the lake country northwest of Ta’Nalfein is lost
to a rushing deluge. The few survivors who make their way
back upriver vow never to place themselves at the mercy of
more powerful forces again. With the help of some Winedotter
engineers, they fortify their island with a wondrous array
of traps, flood tunnels, and other mechanisms of defense .
. . and then effectively disappear from history. Rarely does
a visitor to the island of Angstholm return to tell a tale,
and when they do they often report having found nothing whatever
but thickly-forested land. It is rumored that Angstholm gnomes
have built fortress compounds on other, similarly located
islands.
Cultural Summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Angstholm
rarely leave their island fortress home, and when they do
they are notoriously private and shy among strangers. They
make acquaintance slowly, and even among their closest friends
they say little about their homeland. Descended from Wendwillow
survivors of a cataclysmic flood, the Angstholm gnomes remain
dedicated to their founders’ pledge to tame the elements
through the study of elemental magic. They have long been
disdainful of the Arkati, whom they hold responsible for the
flood; according to reports, many have turned away from the
Arkati altogether to worship the elements directly. The bloodmark
of the Angstholm consists of two concentric pentagons with
a wavy line representing floodwater coursing over the top.
Bloodline Neimhean
Historical Summary: The Withycombe, as the eldest
of the bloodline has come to be called, dies under mysterious
circumstances. An investigation uncovers a secret society
of gnomish assassins led by Todor Neimhean. Neimhean is put
to death immediately, and the rest of his followers go underground.
While some are captured and killed, it is believed that a
small bloodline survived the purges.
Cultural Summary: The gnomes of Bloodline Neimhean
live in silence and shadow, in and among the larger burghal
bloodlines. A society of assassins and thieves, the Neimhean
mask their identity from all but fellow initiates. The very
name "Neimhean" is anathema to all but the Rosengift
gnomes, who supply the group with poisons. Rarely will a gnome
tolerate the presence of a Neimhean, even one who renounces
membership in the group. So vicious and permanent is the revenge
taken on oathbreakers that one may safely assume that a gnome
who speaks openly about Neimhean cultural practice is a fraud.
The Neimhean wear no bloodmark of their own, but often adopt
those of other bloodlines as part of their subterfuge.
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