Order of Delas
Most gnomes are sedentary and willing to assimilate. gnomes maintain their cultural identity via the Order of Delas (named after the greatest Gnomish hero Delas the Diplomat).
The Order of Delas is made up of iterant gnomes who keep lines of communication between disparate gnomish communities open. The Order of Delas is made up largely of members who operate on fairly predictable circuits. They also have roving bands of adventurers who serve as roving trouble shooters. More common than gnomish adventuring bands, are a network of gnomes amidst multi-racial adventuring parties. The adventuring gnomes of both stripes serve as defenders or at least avengers for gnomes who face violent discrimination.
Since gnomes rarely have to deal with their people being systematically oppressed, the roving Order members do standard problem solving that many other adventurers do. They also act as roving trouble shooters trying to mediate between warring factions of other races. Pretty much every gnome adventurer who makes a name for himself or herself is likely to get an invitation to join the Order of Delas.
There is a small but growing faction with the Order of Delas and their supporters that the gnomes should found a sovereign nation somewhere. While many gnomes are sympathetic to the idea, there is no real consensus on where said nation should be, who will populate it, what their government system should be, or even what their nation would be called.
What about non-gnomes?
Most Order of Delas members care about non-gnomes and will aid non-gnomes when they can. They are generally against all forms of slavery. They are generally for alleviating all forms of poverty and they are generally opponents of wars of aggression. There are some Order of Delas members that care about gnomes and only gnomes, and they sometimes give the Order of Delas a bad name. While the Order of Delas and the Colassian Confederacy helped many gnomes and humans escape from slavery in Kahdisteria, the Order Delas ended up signing a treaty with the dark elves that outlawed gnome slavery but did nothing to help non-gnome slaves.History
During the Red Era, times were rough for basically everyone but especially rough for gnomes. In a time where might makes right, it was problematic to have physically small and weak bodies and gnomes couldn't talk their way out of their problems without some kind of shield of civilization.
A lot of gnomes found themselves enslaved by humans or elves. Sometimes this slavery was blatant and declared. Other times, they were supposedly free but clearly lived as second class citizens.
Gnomes began quietly rebelling. Gnome house servants are practically invisible when they want to be, so they learned many secrets. Warlords and slave owners that treated gnomes badly often found the their darkest secrets being exposed to their peers, rivals, and subjects.
That was just the beginning. As the gnomes became more organized, they were able to sneak more of their own kind out of bondage. They made sure human and elf leaders never had their dirty laundry exposed, and they found their gnome subjects loyal, hard working and wise.
Once the gnomes had established safe places of refuge, they stepped up their efforts against those who oppressed gnomes. Gnomes used cloaks and daggers, arson, poison, and arranged accidents to kill the worst offenders against gnomekind.
Eventually, human and gnome leaders and realized that bad things happen when they oppress gnomes and good things happen when they respect gnomes.
As gnomes got more economic power, they began disproportionately dominated the scholarly and mercantile professions, they were able to use more economic pressure and fewer assassinations but the blacks element of the Order of Delas never completely went away.
Now that gnomes are respected members of their communities, the Order of the Delas does not have to fight against gnome oppression like their used to, but they still serve gnomekind. Gnomes usually feel a broad kinship with their own kind, but they don't have any sizeable gnomish homelands and their population is mostly dispersed among the lands of other races making communication between far flung gnome groups difficult.
The Order of Delas acts as sort of an international messenger service for gnomes. This not only maintains ties of kinship and community but it gives gnome merchants a leg up on their competitors. And if a king or queen does decide it is a good idea to discriminate against gnomes, they can make sure this information makes it to gnomes capable of doing something about it.
Non-gnomes in the Order of Delas
Non-gnomes are occasionally invited into the Order of Delas. To be invited, a candidate has to speak fluent Gnomish and be good friends with a member of the Order of Delas and have helped the Order significantly at least once in the past. Gnomes are a gregarious and accepting lot and tend to treat non-gnomish Order of Delas very well, naturally assuming that any non-gnomes who got that honor must have done something to deserve it.
Type
Political, Faction / Party
Gazetteer
On paper, the Order of Delas officially looks out for the welfare of all gnomes throughout Scarterra. In practice, the Order's reach is strong but hardly everywhere.
In general, the Order of Delas has more influence in human dominated lands than elf or dwarf dominated lands.
The Order of the Delas is effectively a tool to uphold proper gnome society. Gnomes who are outcasts, deviants, and especially criminals are not included under their aegis. Gnomes outside of polite society are often hostile to the Order of the Delas and visa versa.
The Order of Delas have no members among Zegdelian gnomes at all. The Zegedlians are not hostile to civilization, but they do no want to minimize contact with it and the Order of Delas is very much a tool of civilization whether they admit or not.
The Order of Delas has very few members among the forest gnomes. They are not that much more civilized than the Zegdelians and the nation of Codenya doesn't like to mingle in the political affairs of mortals outside their national borders.
The Order of Delas has comparitvely very few members among the East Colassian gnomes and the Order of Delas members in East Colassia rarely broadcast their affiliation. The local humans and elves do not particularly like or trust the Order there.
Currency
Goodwill, secrets and gossip
Location
Official Languages
Related Species
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