The First Avos

A Prosperous Day

The Gnomish people lived for some time with the Dwarves in relative peace. However, the time came when a Dwarven King, wishing to take the land for his people, banished the Gnomes.

Nifi Bada by Jarhed

Led by Nifi Bada, the first Gnomish Grand Duchess, the Gnomes began a long exodus out of Dwarven Territory.
There were few places for them to go, for everyone that they met drove them out of their lands. Be it the Elves of the Elven Forest or the Draconians in their villages, no one would let the Gnomes in to stay.
So they were left only with the Uncharted Desert, an inhospitable land that few had settled in. Only the Emetians, deep within the sandy reaches, could be found, but Nifi Bada only started a settlement on the edges of the desert, which she called Lebalos.
A desert is not a fertile land, nor does it allow for a civilization to blossom.
No crops would grow, and so they sustained themselves off the remnants of their camels as well as the baby sandworms that they could get their hands on. Without a stable food source, they had no one strong enough to hunt down an adult sandworm, so the babies were the best they could do, and they had no need to travel further so the camels had fulfilled their purpose.
In the year -1470, a Korvian named Sainter arrived in Lebalos, seeing the suffering of the Gnomes. Sainter had already helped bestow a miracle onto his people, and wished to share that joy with the Gnomish folks of Lebalos.
Sainter taught the Gnomes how to hunt, use magic, and grow crops of all kinds. From corn to cabbage to onions, the Gnomes learned to grow everything they needed to sustain themselves. Most of all, they learned to grow watermelons and apples, the latter coming from the
apple cactus.
According to legend, the watermelon and apple were the center of the feast, which is why they became particular staples of the holiday.
Sainter made snow appear in the desert using his own ability, solving one of the final crises the Gnomes had been facing: overheating in the hot desert. He showed them that there were still ways to regulate heat and keep themselves cool in a climate like that. Gnomes cried at the snow, a sign of all that Sainter had done for them as well as the prosperity they now could face.

Sainter by Jarhed

The prosperity that Avos represented.
Sainter's gifts were great, but he did not stop there. He finally gave out three barrels of beer to the Gnomes, to which they asked finally to repay him. They believed that, when they were prosperous as he wished for them to be, they could pay him back in kind, but Sainter simply said:

"Repay me? No, that's not what you should do. You grow, you prosper. And when you are prosperous enough that you can give back, do not give to me.
I will not be here. I will be in the hearts of each of you. So share that prosperity among each other. Give gifts of prosperity to your friends, your family, your neighbors and your strangers. Give gifts on this day of Avos!"

— Sainter

Still, the Gnomes persisted, and Sainter said the only gift he would accept was two tankards of beer so he could celebrate a little while longer with the people of Lebalos. A night of festivities that all present that night said felt like a week of merriment and parties.
And Sainter boarded his sleigh, pulled by six camels, and took to the skies, saying to all before him:

"There's Avos for you, now you all have your answer!
Take to the skies now Thanker, now Dancer!
On Gifter, On Prayer,
On Flyer and Neigher!
Shall we meet again, in spirit of the season,
When you give gifts of joy, whatever the reason!"

— Sainter