Gnomengarde (no-mun-guard)
Gnomengarde is a tunnel network located in the Sword Mountains that is home to a small kingdom of reclusive rock gnomes famous for their magical inventions.
The settlement is carved out of the sheer cliffs on either side of a narrow waterfall. This feeds a pool in which sits two small islands covered in 2‑foot-tall blue, green, and purple mushrooms. The mist and roar of the waterfall blanket and hide the area from outsiders, but also emanates into the Gnomengarde cave network. Gnomes inside the echoing tunnels have to shout to be heard over the noise unless they have a door or barrier between themselves and the waterfall, and most of said doors have rusted likely because of the waterfall's mists. The tunnels themselves are quite spacious for a gnome, averaging 5 feet wide and 7 feet high, and are well-lit by lantern light.
The clan of gnomes who call Gnomengarde home live quite simply, with simple furniture and amenities made of wood. The exception is their kings, whose bedchambers are richly appointed and whose thrones have been crafted from scrap metal. Most of the larger spaces in the tunnel network are dedicated to food and alcohol preparation or to workshop spaces.
Demographics
The population is exclusively gnomes. It is very rare that they have visitors due to the fact the location is hidden.
Government
The tiny kingdom is ruled by two kings King Gnerkli and King Korboz
Defences
Being a hidden kingdom there is not a great need for defences. However there are a number of guards who patrol the tunnels stand watch over key areas.
Facktore a particularly resourceful gnome created a fast fireing balista which is stationed at the main enterance.
Industry & Trade
The residents of Gnomengarde are consummate tinkerers and crafters of magic items, which are the main draw for outsiders looking to do business with the gnomes. Such items included clockwork amulets, hats of wizardry, poles of collapsing, and wands of pyrotechnics, to list but a few.
History
The founders of Gnomengarde imbued the islands in the pool beneath the waterfall with potent magics that caused unique colorful and large mushrooms to grow there, which would serve as the backbone of the settlement's livelihood. Perhaps unintentionally, these magics also created a wild magic zone around the caves.
Around the time of Phandalin's refounding in the late 15th century DR, Gnomengarde was home to twenty-two gnomes. A few years later, a mimic arrived in the settlement and developed a taste for gnome flesh, killing and consuming at least two of the inhabitants and nearly killing King Korboz. The attack shook the king so thoroughly that he went mad, imprisoning his husband and himself inside their bedchamber to wait until the shapechanger either grew bored of eating their subjects or was driven off. Thankfully the newly formered Phandalin and District Shipping Company arrived at Gnomengarde to offer aid and killed the mimic.
Around this time, the Townmaster of Phandalin, Tibor Wester, made overtures to the gnomes for magic items to assist in driving off the white dragon Cryovain.
Natural Resources
The gnomes are largely self-sufficient thanks to the special types of red, green, and purple mushrooms that grow on the islands in the pool beneath their waterfall: the red mushrooms can be processed into fuel for lanterns and mechanical devices using a complex pressing contraption devised by the gnomes, the green mushrooms can be pulverized into a flour which can be kneaded and baked into bread, and the purple mushrooms can be fermented inside barrels to make mushroom wine.
Type
Village
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Additional Rulers/Owners
Characters in Location
Related Reports (Primary)
