One of my players is playing a gnome at this time and the subject of the gnomish homeland has come up again and again. He's asked questions about the Nightwoods as well as the leader, the Theocrat, to help understand while most of the gnomes in this area are the way they are.
So without further ado:
The Nightwoods have been home to gnomes as far back as an record goes. Original records also showed that halflings and elves lived there in roughly equal numbers but elves left many ages ago, and halflings over time filled with wanderlust have been emigrating out.
On good terms with the dwarven and orcish enclaves normally, it was when the Kaizer of the Randari Ympyr started his expansionist push that the Nightwood gnomes were approached to help control the orcish expansion. It was a close vote but the Nightwood gnomes went to war. (almost 130 years ago - gnomes live about 3.5 times the life span of a human)
Gnomes are gregarious creatures - they like to talk and they like the company of other creatures - especially gnomes. An individual gnome would get angry - but a group of them to commit to all out war is almost unheard of.
After 4 years of fighting and the increasing xenophobic and bloodthirsty destruction the Gorokian Mountain Dwarves were displaying was enough for the Nightwood Gnomes to drop out of the combat and instead work for peace. Their removal from the conflict was enough for the Jarlborrin and Reetersbeard dwarves to do the same about a year later and the Gorokian Dwarves continued their shit for another year until every far flung outpost, keep, and orcish stronghold of power and government had been destroyed.
It soured the relationships between Gorok and Nightwoods ever since.
Normally all beliefs are welcome in gnomish society but the atrocities the dwarves exacted on the orcs for 6 years followed by the next 2 decades the gnomes spent on rebuilding, aid, and support for the broken orcish, human, and other races ravaged by the war made the following and belief in Odin, Thor, Sutur, Thrym, and Tyr seriously impacted and diminished in gnomish society. Open displays of worship were looked upon with some disdain and suspicion; warmonger, dwarf lover, and baby killer were bandied about often.
As the years went on the gentler gods were given sway and a greater impact on Nightwood society. Garl Glittergold and other ancestral gnomish figures were always revered but maybe 35 years ago a powerful orator and adherent for Garl rose to the head of the religious order where he espoused his name took only the title of Deacon.
Since then the following of Garl exploded - with public festivals, singing, dancing, shows, public works, and a firm rebuke for those who don't allow his followers their due. In time the following of the other gods also began to wane. Some of the fields began to have less yields, hunts became less fruitful, some trees might have had some sickness upon them.
The followers of Garl Glittergold did not suffer from these issues and offered to lend his help and prayer to those who needed his help - for a small stipend, a tithe - barely 5%. And again, the Deacon and the Garl Glittergold church prospered.
Other shrines were defaced, statues quietly removed, markers taken down. Priests and clerics were publicly ridiculed and chastised. The Deacon was eventually invited to be the High Lord's religious confidant - further expanding his reach and power. Other impacts of the other gods and even races were now being reduced further. Dwarven caravans were turned away at the borders, then other caravans were denied entry. Immigration trickled and the High Lord repurposed the gnomish armed forced to be one of protection - keeping all other races out.
And then the High Lord, always prone to bouts of brainfever, fell into a coma. Not dead, his heirs could not assume the throne - so it was up to the council to rule until he either awoke or passed on. The Deacon consolidated power amidst the council and was elected as the First or head councilor. He took the honorific of Theocrat and said to speak for the High Lord and Garl Glittergold for the betterment of all gnomes and gnomekind.
He tightened his grip on the Nightwoods and some gnomes not liking the way things were going agonized over the decision to leave but eventually did so. And many of them were denied the chance to leave! Turned BACK from the border, they were then taken by the Theocrat's people where they were indoctrinated again into the ways of Garl Glittergold, and taught that they have a purpose in gnomish society and that is to be a member of it - the outside world is not here and is not safe. This is the gnomish ancestral home and has been so as far back as history goes, at least a thousand years, definitely longer. You. Don't. Leave.
Ever.
Adherence to the Nightwoods is inimical to every gnome.
If you love the Nightwoods, then you love its leader, the Theocrat.
If you listen to the Theocrat's teachings and advice, then you show your love for our god, Garl Glittergold.
Gnomish families try to leave and the loudest dissenters sometimes just disappear.
There is a network of underground tunnels and escape ways that various centaurs, fauns, and satyrs help maintain along with a core resistance of gnomish followers of Idun and Frey who don't live in the 5 principle cities; instead make the homes and lives in the wild and try always to avoid capture by the Theocrat's Defenders. They help spirit the various gnomes in and out of the Nightwoods to others beyond the borders to eventually get these gnomes away and to safety. It is long, difficult, and expensive to maintain and do - but until the High Lord dies, Wakes up, or the Theocrat is removed from power - to some gnomes this terrible choice is all that's open to them.
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