T
The Borean Tundra was a cold, strange place. The raw, once beautiful landscape was scarred by plague and scourge. It was clear that I was in the midst of great change. On my journey northward, I stopped to help out some more Tuskarr warriors as they warded off an ongoing Kvaldir invasion. I then helped a group of environmentalists thwart the efforts of illegal game hunters. Each place I visited taught me a little more about what I was getting myself into, but it wasn’t until today that I found out where I was coming from.
As my ram stampeded over the old dirt road, I saw a yellow light moving around a strangely shaped building. As we moved closer, I decided that it was unmistakably Gnomish craftsmanship. I can never resist spending time with my people, so we took a short detour, and entered the airstrip. I was greeted by a friendly Gnome named Galpen. She told me that a small group of Gnomes were drilling for oil, but they ended up digging up more than they bargained for. Seeing my interest, she then pointed me in the direction of their leader, Fizzlecrank Fullthrottle for the full story.
I walked over to the nearby inn where Fizzlecrank was said to be working, and took the elevator to the top. The old Gnome didn’t see me come in. He was busy rustling through some paperwork while frantically writing in his journal. Then he looked up and said rather apologetically, “I’ve got my hands full here at the moment, warrior..” I introduced myself and told him I was sent in by Galpen to learn about what they found. With a nod he told me to take a seat.
“I’m not sure what you know already, so I’ll start from the beginning. We were sent from Valience Keep to set up an airbase for Alliance operations. It wasn’t easy with all those nasty beasts, and this rock-hard soil, but we managed, and this airbase is a result. Our next task was to pump up lots of sand and oil for the machinery, and as luck would have it we’re surrounded by lots of shallow pools. We drained the pools and set up our pumps until our main pipe got clogged up!”
He straightened in his seat and continued. “My workers ratcheted up the suction on the pump, and up came pieces of a robot that looked remarkably like one of us! They worked all night putting the machine back together, but when they finished, we lost communication with the station. After a few days we sent a scouting party out to the drill, but they never returned. When this happened a second time, we knew something was very wrong.”
“Armed with newly-crafted weapons, robots and armor, we headed out in full force. When we entered the structure, we couldn’t believe our eyes! My people were nowhere to be seen. In their place was an army of robots! Stranger, they said they’ve been expecting us for some time. We were then taken to the top of the station, where we met their leader.”
“Gearmaster Mechazod is what he called himself, and he’d been transforming our survivors into machines! He explained to us that he was one of the very first gnomes ever to be created by what he calls “The Grand Architect”, a Titan keeper from the halls of Ulduar. He thanked us for pulling him out of the ground. In return, he offered to cure us gnomes of the “Curse of the Flesh”. Hearing enough of this nonsense, we ran away, or tried to anyway. Anyways, there aren’t much of us left here. We need all the help we can get!“ I stood there thinking to myself. Gnomes were once purely mechanical? How could that be? Machines can’t feel.. they can’t think for themselves.. I suppose it would explain our obsession with technology, but.. no, it can’t possibly be true.
Gnomes were once purely mechanical? How could that be?
“Here, take this!” The old gnome gave me a strange looking ray gun. “We developed this tool to transform the Mechagnomes back into their old selves, but nobody’s been able to get close. Those mechagnomes outnumber us ten to one. If you want to help, go to the main station and do your best. Feeling the pressure of a thousand years of gnomish heritage on my back, I simply couldn’t refuse.
