Gnome

Biodata

Background / History

Gnomes originated as precision mechanical workers created by the Titans. These early beings were emotionless machines serving their creators. After the Titans departed and their Keepers descended into civil war, the imprisoned Old Gods afflicted the titan-forged with the curse of flesh, gradually transforming them into living organisms 14.

Unlike dwarves and humans, gnomes retained little physical strength after losing their metal bodies. Even kobolds could overpower them, while gnolls and trolls posed overwhelming threats. Drawing on fragments of Titan technology preserved in their bloodlines, early gnomes developed firearms and increasingly powerful machines to survive 14.

Steam tanks, terrain-crossing multi-legged robots, and an alliance with the dwarves eventually made the two peoples dominant in the continent’s central region. Their small populations nevertheless remained a serious weakness when confronted by the mobilized Horde 14.

Appearance & Physiology

• Small stature: Gnomes rarely exceed one meter in height 13.
• Limited physical strength: Their frailty makes them poorly suited to producing capable warriors; technology compensates for this disadvantage 14 34.
• Long lives: Lifespans of several centuries allow gnome spellcasters to study engineering and other technical disciplines alongside magic 12.
• High intelligence: Their race readily produces spellcasters and skilled inventors 12.

Society & Culture

• Underground construction: Gnomes favor subterranean settlements and excavate entire cities beneath the surface. Their vast underground city later withstands repeated Horde assaults 13 40.
• Industrial economy: Gnomes and goblins are the only races described as possessing substantial, complete industrial systems. Their mechanized mining outproduces the combined manual extraction of the other kingdoms, including the dwarven kingdom 15 26.
• Automation: Chronic labor shortages led gnomes to develop automated machinery that replaces considerable manual labor 17.
• Trade: Gnome merchants sell engineering devices, weapons, enchanted toys, and alchemical products. Jindi operates both an aboveground magic shop and a larger underground establishment in Dalaran’s tax-avoiding black market 12 13.
• Secrecy: Their best inventions are carefully concealed, sometimes even from their longstanding dwarven allies 22.
• Attitude toward violence: Gnomes are described as peace-loving, but strongly oppose man-eating trolls. Some helicopter crews lose the stomach to continue firing after witnessing the destructive effects of their cannons 13 18.

Abilities & Skills

Engineering

Gnomish engineering combines apparently old-fashioned machinery with advanced robotics, computing, and remote surveillance 13 17 33.

• Produces weapons, vehicles, automated factory equipment, and mechanical mounts 13 15 17.
• Adapts designs to the intended user: small mortars suit gnomes, while larger-caliber firearms exploit dwarven strength 13.
• Can rapidly develop practical improvements when given a clear research direction, as demonstrated by firearm suppressors 15 17.
• Remains constrained by manufacturing difficulty and design priorities: compact computers require fundamental production changes, while short artillery barrels are favored for ease of manufacture 17 27.

Magic & Technical Crafts

Gnomes have a strong aptitude for spellcasting without abandoning technological development 12 14.

• Their long lives support study across several disciplines, including engineering, enchanting, and alchemy 12 14.
• Jindi combines mage training with enchanting and engineering, though the expense of his research leaves him short of funds 14.
• Magical and mechanical craftsmanship can overlap: the Golden Flute Magic Shop sells a mechanical squirrel enchanted with Glimmer for decorative illumination 12.

Reconnaissance & Infiltration

Small bodies give gnome rogues access to hiding places and infiltration routes unavailable to larger operatives 33.

• Engineering goggles and remote-controlled devices improve scouting and image collection 33.
• Recording equipment allows operatives to gather intelligence without directly engaging enemies 32 33.
• Remote machines reduce personal risk, but remain vulnerable to difficult terrain, guards, and animals 33.

Technology

Story Role / Major Arcs

Partnership with Herad

Herad first seeks out gnomish engineering in Dalaran, where Jindi introduces him to an underground weapons shop. After testing a dwarven rifle and an aircraft cannon, Herad orders one thousand long-barreled guns and decides to recruit gnomes for weapons factories on uninhabited islands off Quel’Thalas. He intends both to arm high elf civilians and to preserve a gnomish force outside its vulnerable homeland 12 13 14.

The offshore factory begins producing firearms and ammunition, using gnomish automation to compensate for shortages of engineers and high elf workers. Its early rifles incorporate suppressors developed from Herad’s instructions 17.

High Elf Military Expansion

Gnomish multi-legged robots provide the structural inspiration for Herad’s six-legged Arcane War Machine. These vehicles are magical constructs rather than gnomish robots, but borrow their stable, terrain-crossing layout and straightforward naming approach 22 23.

Gnomes and goblins make the largest industrial contributions to Quel’Thalas’s preparations against Zul’Aman. After nearly half a year, the Dawnedge Armory has produced five hundred Arcane War Machines, five hundred autocannon-equipped arcane golems, and substantial indirect-fire artillery with support from multiple powers 26.

Gnome craftsmen also assist later construct production. During assembly of the mithril-bodied Arcane Scavenger, a gnome engineer welds its lower cover shut to prevent an enemy from exploiting that access point 32.

Scouting the Orc Invasion

A gnome rogue employed by Herad identifies the unnatural fog over the Black Morass as suspicious. Herad instructs him to install additional recording devices and gather information about the orcs 32.

Stormwind subsequently purchases the rogue’s intelligence and hires him to explore the fog. His mechanical marmot penetrates the area without attracting the orcs’ attention, but terrain and guarded bridges force its withdrawal. Human scouts save the device when a worg pursues it near the fog’s edge 33.

When black-armored orc infantry break the human defensive line, the rogue follows Herad’s contingency instructions and escapes. He warns Orchard Town before traveling to Stormwind and reporting the full-scale invasion to Herad 34 35.

Resistance to the Horde

As the Horde moves north, gnomes and dwarves concentrate on preparing war supplies. Orc troops exploit terrain to evade artillery, close the distance, and launch charges, forcing both races back across the open battlefield 40.

Their fortified settlements prove harder to overcome. Repeated attacks fail against the dwarves’ mountain city and the gnomes’ underground stronghold. Orgrim ultimately leaves nearly half his army behind to contain them while taking the remainder north 40.

Relationships

• Dwarves — Longstanding allies and major users of gnomish weapons. Every dwarven branch remains allied with the gnomes despite the dwarves’ civil war and separation 14 15 42.
• Herad — Customer, industrial partner, and source of new design concepts. His projects connect gnomish manufacturing with high elf magic and military requirements 14 15 17 22.
• High Elves — Partners in offshore factory construction and beneficiaries of gnomish firearms and industrial support 17 25 26.
• Goblins — The other major industrial race. Both provide essential manufacturing support to Herad’s armaments program 26.
• Trolls and gnolls — Predatory enemies whose physical superiority drove early gnomes to develop technological defenses 14.
• Horde — Invaders who overcome gnomish field defenses but fail to breach their underground stronghold 40.

Notable Individuals

• Jindi — Gnome mage, engineer, enchanter, and proprietor of the Golden Flute Magic Shop. He supplies Herad with weapons, uses warship artillery to help defend Stormwind, and later acts as Herad’s envoy to the Wildhammer Dwarves 12 14 36 42.
• Gelbin — Employee at Jindi’s underground shop, tasked with bringing the aircraft cannon to the firing range 13 14.
• Unnamed gnome rogue — Intelligence operative employed by Herad and hired by Stormwind to investigate the Black Morass through remote-controlled reconnaissance 32 33 35.

Trivia

• Chromie is not a gnome: The Bronze Dragon assumes a harmless-looking gnome form when entering the Caverns of Time 25.