Tales of the Gnome Village

[KiddoFreak]

Alright, well, this is one of my favorite towns I've made for my Dungeons and Dragons campaign and I felt compelled to write about it's history a little. I'm only going to post a little bit here -- of you want to see the rest when it's finished you can go check out the website:
isadale.proboards62.com

Just a heads-up, this is like -- hardcore fantasy, so if you don't like that stuff you don't need to read this. Uh... I wrote it for my DnD players, but you should be able to understand things with this one bit of knowledge: In DnD, not all gnomes are stubby and red-nosed dorks that wear red hats and sit on your lawn. However, they are generally short - between 2-3.5 feet, I believe. So, yeah... enjoy section 1:

Oric noticed as he ducked his head under the low door way that this village was not meant for human beings. Almost all the inhabiants were gnomes and few of them even made eye contact with Oric as he walked through the town. It had taken him nearly an hour to finally get someone to tell him where the tavern was. Oric was happy the gnomes had at least considered humans, as the ceilings were high enough for him to fit inside. The man hunched himself onto the small seat on the bar and raised his hand to get the attention of the bar tender. The gnome behind the counter appeared to be busy cleaning glasses and wiping the counter.
"Just a minute, sir. I'll, uh, I'll be right with you." With a bit of wonderment, Oric wondered how it was that even gnome tavern keepers had soothing voices. In his own deep and rich voice, Oric reassured the man:
"Don't rush, I'll be fine." The keeper nodded his silent thanks but seemed to hurry up his actions despite this. Oric waited patiently - contented to watch the inhabitants of the beehive of a town. Everyone seemed to move with purpose and direction but none of them seemed downtrodden or worn like the workers in some of the towns Oric had seen. In fact, they all seemed jovial and congenial with each movement they made - easy going beings. That was when Oric decided he liked gnomes. He started when something tapped his shoulder.
Habitually, Oric spun to face the offending person , however, he was able to restrain his urge to grab said person's arm and twist it behind his back. A particularly tall gnome looked the seated Oric in the eye. The gnome sneered and motioned for similarly dressed companions of his to take seats on either side of the human. Leaning in close to his face, the gnome sneered at Oric.
"We don't much like tall-folk 'round these parts. Too untrustworthy. You'd better buy me friends and me a round o'ale before we, uh, need to make you leave." The bar tender interjected:
"Hey, if you and your gang are gonna cause trouble, I'll have you banned from --"
"No, thank you, I'll just buy them a round. No trouble among friends, huh?"
The sinister figure grinned, "Aye, friend. Aye." The bar tender eyed the men skeptically, but served the drinks anyways. Everyone drank in silence -- the noisy room made up for it anyhow. Finally, the gnomes finished and began to leave. The ring leader turned before he left Oric's earshot.
"Feel free to come back any time. Hah."
Once the group left the tavern, the keeper turned back to Oric, looking a little closer at his dark-skinned patron inquiring, "You're stronger than you first appear, stranger. You look like you've seen your fair share of battles. Why didn't you just beat that sneer off his face? Those punks are good-for-nothings anyways."
Oric gave a weary smile to the bar tender, "Because, my friend, I've been fighting for twenty years -- ever since I was a little boy. I'm nearly thirty-four now and I'm tired of it all. Besides, it's not the worst thing in the world to make a new friend or two. No one is good for nothing."
The bar tender looked at the man with eyes full of admiration. "Hey, don't worry about those drinks, they're on the house. If you needed a place to stay, I could rent you a room pretty cheap. I also have someone who can look after animals if you came on horse..."
"Thank you friend, I think I might do just that."
"Great, lemme show you to your room. I only have one for tall-folk and it isnt very clean... I'm sorry I'll get someone to--"
Oric laughed, "It's fine."

[Decieved by the Truth]

[glow=red,2,300]dang, I like it [/glow]

[KiddoFreak]

Second installment:

The stable boy was a little too curious for his own good. It was very late at night by the time the youngster gnome had stopped playing around and finally decided to do his job. He had to sneak into the stable through the inn so that the keeper wouldn't chastise him for being so late. He bet the horse alone would give him enough trouble for being so hungry. On his way to the stables the boy picked up some feed and brought it out to the animal he had heard rumors about that day.
The rumors were quite true, as the boy soon found out. A gnome is normally not very tall when fully grown; the boy was only around two feet tall. The beast stood tall at around six feet -- powerfully built too. The little gnome found it curious that the animal did not seem the least bit peeved that he had not been fed. It simply stood still, staring at him with a quiet intelligence. It's eyes were big and black like moist pearls while his mane was white and brown. It was quite a marvelous specimen, indeed.
Carefully, the small gnome crept to the beast and put the bag around the horse's mouth and wrapped the leather thong around the horse's head. The steed nodded, gaily, and began munching the food it had so long been kept from. The gnome was quite fascinated with the beast, standing back and eying it with admiration. It looked as though it had seen many travels and had grown strong through them. That was when his eyes trailed to the brown leather sacks hanging on the wall.
Instinctively, the gnomes are a very curious lot and without much hesitation, the little one moved towards the bags. Upon trying to lift one, he realized it seemed to be weightless. Attempting to see what was inside the bag, the boy turned the back upside down. Quite a mistake, as the boy soon found out.
A full suit of plate mail along with a chain undershirt, metal boots and greaves toppled from inside seemingly from nowhere. Clattering loudly upon the ground, the startled youth lost his footing and fell back against the horse which whinnied in laughter.
"Oh, do shut up!"
The boy's stomach leapt into his throat as he caught sight of two gleaming eyes in the door way, slowly coming towards him.

[KiddoFreak]

"Reginald! I thought I had told you not to rummage through our guests' things!"
"But father, I was only --"
"No! No more excuses. From now on you shall only practice your magic, like your brother. No more of this frolicking with those "friends" of yours!" The young Reginald sank back in his chair with a grunt. Obviously perturbed about something. When he spoke up a moment later, he did so in a low, defiant tone:
"I would hardly call what Greg does "practicing". He doesnt even need to study his books! If he had to work half as hard as me..."
"Reginald, your brother works three times as hard as you do. You're right, his abilities come more naturally to him than to you, but he still practices much more often than you. You'd do well to learn from him," but the boy wasn't listening anymore, his face black in anger, so the elder gnome turned towards his guest, beard swinging lazily from his chin, "I'm very sorry about my son, he sometimes doesn't think before he acts. Very unbecoming of a would-be wizard."
Oric smiled lazily, "I'm just glad he wasn't hurt. I know he wouldn't run off with any of my things, he's a good boy at heart."
"None the less," raved the elder gnome, "I shall have to talk to the inn keeper about him. Perhaps a week unpaid cleaning the stables would straighten him out," then, turning back to his son, "Reginald, go join your brother at the archives until I summon you again." With a grumble, the small gnome stood up and stormed out of the room. The old man sighed, creases of worry showing in his face for the first time. They cast long shadows over his face in the flickering torchlight. "The young ones have no respect anymore... I truely do fear for this village once we old folk are gone..." The man caughed and motioned for Oric to sit down in one of the chairs of the room, taking a seat himself as soon as his company was comfortable.
"I apologize... Oric, was it? We were never properly introduced. I am Chan, the elder of this little village. The title bears near no meaning anymore, however... I truely am sorry for what trouble my son has caused. Our local smithy will repair anything he damaged, I promise you. I would like to repay you more personally as well. Not only for being so understanding with that son of mine, I also heard that you put up with Arrick's antics at the tavern today -- something many tall-folk have trouble with." Chan coughed once more into his fist, eyes weary, "If you would like, I can offer you lodging for the rest of your stay. Perhaps it shall be a little more comfortable than those at that old bar."
"Thank you, Chan, I would be honored to stay with you for the few days I am planning on spending here. You're hospitality is greatly appreciated."
Chan stood up slowly, setting his glasses further up his nose. "I'm sorry to trouble you, but I fear these old bones could not handle a trek to the archives. If you could please get my boys for me, I would be very thankful," At the young man's agreement, the elder recited the directions to the building as if he had said them a thousand times before, "thank you, sir." With that, Oric stood and left the room with a polite bow. Chan's eyes sparkled in the firelight. "Hmph, a young fighter in my home. What an honor, what an honor."

[KiddoFreak]

Oric took a deep breath of the fresh open air. During the day, the town was almost swarming with workers, each one busier then the last. By nightfall, however, the place was silent, save for the cakling of a few prankster young ones. The old fighter glided indolently about the town towards the archives. Turning back to take a look at he elder's home, Oric realised that the house was built around one of the Sevta stones. It jutted from the middle of the thatch roof like a perverse chimney.
Finally, the man got to the large library of the gnomes. Pushing open the door, Oric finally caught sight of just how big the archives really were. Rows upon rows of books and maps and sketches lined the walls and numerous shelves around the deceptively small room. The only sound that could be heard was that of a scratching quill upon a wooden table. Oric looked into the center of the room and noticed another child gnome, however this one seemed to be much more dedicated than his brother, taking notes and reading tomes so late into the night. Oric had to wonder where Reginald was, Chan said he would be here with Gregory, whom the fighter assumed was the child.
"Hello there young Gergory! Your father has sent me to fetch you and your brother..."
Abruptly, the quill stopped moving -- though the boy still stared at the parchment he was writing on. Slowly, he brought his head around to face the older man with a look of faintly conceiled annoyance. He pushed a pair of glasses up along his nose, much like his father had done, before speaking.
"Well, I should have you know that Reginald stormed off with his friends. They tried getting me to go as well, but I have to finish this spell I've been working on... I will go to my father soon enough, however, I cannot say the same about my brother. Perhaps you'll find him to the north of the town, if you hope to find him. He and his friends enjoy messing about around the caves." Gregory began to turn back to his work, but he caught himself and looked back with a scrunched face -- he appeared slightly embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. You appear to already know me however and I really must finish this before I can sleep. If you don't mind...?"
Oric couldn't help but inwardly frown, children weren't meant to be so studious -- it seemed as though Chan had raised two very different children, neither one had very healthy life habits. "Excuse me young, Gregory but --" The gnome slammed his quill upon the table and all but whirled around in his chair to face Oric, quite obviously feeling antagonized, "but -- shouldn't you be having some fun like the rest of the kids? Even a training wizard such as yourself shouldn't be completely absorbed in his work."
"Actually," stated Gregory, "I disagree. I'll not waste my childhood doing frivolous things like my brother. I should like to be known as powerful one day -- that's something that can't happen if I let certain things -- or people," he narrowed his eyes for a second,"stop me. Please, leave me be. I shall return to my father shortly."
It was obvious to Oric that this youngster would no longer talk to him, he was completely absorbed in his work. He shook his head and turned to leave the building, stopping only to shout: "it was nice to meet you, Gregory!"