Gnomengarde

Gnomengarde was a tunnel network located in the Sword Mountains that was home to a small clan of reclusive rock gnomes.

Description
The settlement was carved out of the sheer cliffs on either side of a narrow waterfall, which fed a pool in which sat two small islands covered in tall blue, green, and purple mushrooms. The mist and roar of the waterfall blanketed and hid the area from outsiders, but also entered into the Gnomengarde cave network. Gnomes inside the echoing tunnels had to shout to be heard over the noise unless they had a door or barrier between themselves and the waterfall, and most of said doors had rusted likely because of the waterfall's mists. The tunnels themselves were quite spacious for a gnome, averaging 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide and 7 feet (2.1 meters) high, and were well-lit by lantern light.

The gnomes lived quite simply, with much of their furniture and amenities made of wood. The exception was their kings, whose bedchamber was richly appointed and whose thrones had been crafted from scrap metal. Most of the larger spaces in the tunnel network were dedicated to food and alcohol preparation or to workshop spaces.

The entire area was a zone of wild magic.

Geography
Gnomengarde was located in the north-facing slopes of the Sword Mountains about 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) southeast of Phandalin.

Government
In the late 15 century DR, Gnomengarde was ruled by King Gnerkli and his husband, King Korboz. The gnomes also looked up to and tended to heed the words of whomever was the best of their inventors.

Trade
The residents of Gnomengarde were consummate tinkerers and crafters of magic items, which were the main draw for outsiders looking to do business with the gnomes. Such items included clockwork amulets, hats of wizardry, poles of collapsing, and wands of pyrotechnics.

The gnomes were largely self-sufficient thanks to the special types of red, green, and purple mushrooms that grew on the islands in the pool beneath their waterfall: the red mushrooms could be processed into fuel for lanterns and mechanical devices using a complex pressing contraption devised by the gnomes, the green mushrooms could be pulverized into a flour which could be kneaded and baked into bread, and the purple mushrooms could be fermented inside barrels to make mushroom wine.

Defenses
Two sentries stood watch on a ledge overlooking the only approach to Gnomengarde. The settlement was naturally defended by the fact that its cave entrances were located 30 feet (9.1 meters) above the ground within sheer cliffs, and the tunnels were difficult to access for anyone unaware of the single narrow footpath on the northeast side of the waterfall. Ascending this path granted access to the kitchen and dining areas, but to go deeper into the caves required getting passed an omnidirectional autoloading crossbow platform operated by the device's mad creator, Facktoré. Any invader would then need to cross a rope bridge above the waterfall and navigate a room containing two large rotating blade traps operated from the opposite side of the room.

In addition to these physical defenses, every member of the community had some training as a wizard. They all studied from the same old spellbook, called Magick of Gnomengarde.

History
The founders of Gnomengarde imbued the islands in the pool beneath the waterfall with potent magics that caused uniquely colorful and large mushrooms to grow there, which would serve as the backbone of the settlement's livelihood. Perhaps unintentionally, these magics also created a wild magic zone around the caves.

Around the time of Phandalin's refounding in the late 15 century DR, Gnomengarde was home to twenty-two gnomes. A few years later, a mimic arrived in the settlement and developed a taste for gnome flesh, killing and consuming at least two of the inhabitants and nearly killing King Korboz. The attack shook the king so thoroughly that he went mad, imprisoning his husband and himself inside their bedchamber to wait until the shapechanger either grew bored of eating their subjects or was driven off.

Inhabitants
In the late 15 century DR, Gnomengarde was home to exactly twenty rock gnomes, all of whom had some training as wizards. They were:


 * King Gnerkli, husband of King Korboz who was imprisoned when Korboz went mad.
 * King Korboz, husband of King Gnerkli, who went mad after being attacked by a mimic disguised as his rug.
 * Fibblestib, one of Gnomengarde's two foremost inventors. His plan to cure King Koboz of his madness was to invent a "sanity ray."
 * Dabbledob, the other of Gnomengarde's two foremost inventors. Her plan to treat King Koboz's madness was to invent a "straightjacket."
 * Facktoré, the deranged inventor and operator of Gnomengarde's autoloading crossbow defense platform.
 * Dimble, responsible for squeezing the red mushrooms to process oil for the gnomes' lanterns and machines.
 * Panana, responsible for rolling and kneading the green mushrooms into bread dough.
 * Uppendown, responsible for shaping and forming the green mushroom dough into bread loaves.
 * Joybell, responsible for the stove on which the green mushroom bread was baked.
 * Tervaround, responsible for fermenting the purple mushrooms to make wine.
 * Ulla, one of Gnomengarde's two sentries who hailed outsiders in Gnomish.
 * Pog, the other of Gnomengarde's two sentries who hailed outsiders in Common.
 * Caramip
 * Jabby
 * Nyx
 * Quippy
 * Anverth
 * Delebean
 * Pallabar
 * Zook

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dragon of Icespire Peak
 * Divine Contention
 * Divine Contention