Well howdy folks!  We’re getting to a point now where Merge Dungeon has been out on Kongregate for over a year at this point.  While I’d like to think the mobile release is still on the horizon, there’s a decent amount of work that we need to do as a team to make sure that it is the best experience it can be.  Part of that relies on time, and part of it relies on budget.  But in the meantime, there’s so much Quantum Quest stuff to show over the next “however long” that I’m fairly certain it will take us well into 2023 if I do something like a three week rotation.  So, with that in mind, let’s start our slightly bunchier first couple of weeks, and take a look at some of the adventurers you’ll be fighting in the arena, starting with some non-hero characters.

Let’s actually begin with the tiniest of the goodly races, the gnomes.

You’ll see that we have multiple versions of the same characters.  For the “generic” characters, we wanted to have a few different options for color palettes, because we wanted to be able to give the perception that you’re running into multiple different opponents in the arena as you go along.  We therefore stuck to one class for the generics, and ended up with between three and four color swaps.  In later updates, we even went so far as to get weapon or armor swaps as well, which turned out pretty cool.  Our gnomes were clerics, and you’ll see above we had four different options.

Since we’re making our way up in size, why not go with the dwarves next?  Our dwarves were some of our warriors of the generic sets, so we gave them some shining armor across four color palettes.  You’ll notice that the beard colors also change, so that’s something.

We’ll finish off with our mages of this week’s set.  We opted to make our elves our mages since they seemed the most magical of the bunch.  You can see that Sergei gave us a lot to work with here.  The runic writing changes color, as well as the outfit, the amulet, and the staff.  Lots of stuff going on here!

That’s it for our first little showcase.  I’ll actually have more for you just before Halloween, where we see another sizable set of non-hero characters from the game, spanning some of our more colorful races.  Stay tuned!

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We’ve got some cool characters here, so let’s get right to it and explain how these gnomes get down to business.  As always, we’ve got some pretty interesting tidbits of their backstories, and it’s time to find out what makes them tick.

Eryn Mattix is one of our tiniest heroes across the board.  She’s from a bit further in the future when technology is a little more prevalent in Tellest.  We call her a technomancer, and one of the things that she’s trying to perfect is teleportation.  Unfortunately, it’s not a tried and true method of moving through the dungeon, and sometimes there are problems.

On the other side of the coin, Elden Goshen doesn’t care too much about technology.  He’s a big fan of what he knows works, so he’s got a hefty set of equipment.  He knows that it’s tough to move around, but he’s pretty much a slow-moving tank, so who cares?

Finally, we have Mammon Durthik.  He is all about making sure his friends and allies are comfortable and safe.  A healer above all else, Mammon is definitely a defensive roaming gnome.

That’s it for the gnomes from our first expansion.  We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with a quintet of goblins who are there to bring the pain to the living dungeon!

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You’ve already been shown the dwarves, the elves and the gnolls, and in keeping with our alphabetical order of things, it’s now time to show off the gnomes!

There you’ll see our mighty five.  Just like the previous groups, these gnomish heroes come in different shapes and sizes, and their personalities don’t necessarily match either.

Without further adieu, let’s get a little closer to these folks, and see what makes them tick:

Ana Hilluff is a thief with some kind of Robin Hood-esque qualities. She’s got plenty of good intentions, but she doesn’t care so much about what pains she may bring to others to arrive there.  When you’re as petite and vulnerable as she is, you take extra steps to assure your survival.

Known as the lightbringer among his people, Berras Ames has only grown more fearless in his old age.  When a mysterious dungeon appeared near his home, he knew that he needed to make a pilgrimage into its depths.  He believes that only he can make sense of the dark and dreary place, though he wouldn’t mind some of the treasures that may await below.

Few among the gnomes believe in the tales of Gnoemi, a thief who has mastered the arcane arts as well.  Perhaps that speaks volumes to her talents, as she surely does exist.  She’ll pit all those skills against the dungeon that has appeared in the wilderness.

Luna Aren defies the size of her people, and brings the hurt wherever she goes.  A citizen of Hillheim, she’s accustomed to life among gnomes, dwarves and humans.  She never let her diminished height affect her courage, and she’s comfortable using many different kinds of weapons.

Urrabar Riese doesn’t quite look the part of the thief, but he plays his role well.  More a hunter than anything, he’s used a combination of all his skills to survive the harsh wilderness near the mountains of Daltain.  Some say he’s lucky, and others say the name Urrabar is just passed down from one incredible gnome to the next.

And here’s the whole crew, side by side.  This one might be a little more interesting, in that two of these gnomes may have met before.

Stay tuned for the next set in a few weeks!

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Origination

Gnomes and dwarves are said to have come from the same place of Tellest.  While dwarves came from underground hundreds if not thousands of years before, gnomes have only just recently broken to the surface of the planet, and even then, did not have to compete with the harsh journey that the dwarves did.

The gnomes have colonized all the areas of Tellest that could be linked by the underdepths.

Physical Appearance

Gnomes share similarities to both dwarves and humans.  They are smaller than either, standing between three and three-and-a-half feet tall, but their bodies are not stocky like the dwarves.  By most accounts, they just look like small humans.  The reason for their lack of height has been described in a similar fashion as the dwarves.  As they traveled through the depths of the planet, their bodies were compressed from the pressure, making them appear smaller.  Because of the molten metal that they supposedly were created from, they were not forced to dig or labor to escape the core, thus, they did not build any immense muscle mass like the dwarves.

Gnomes wear their hair and facial hair like humans and dwarves as well.  Their moustaches and beards hold the same proportional length as the dwarves, but they are more meticulously groomed.  Their hair is also neat, more like a human’s than a dwarf’s.  The gnomes’ choice of grooming is a purely aesthetic choice.

A gnome’s skin tone carries over a variety of colors, just like a human.  Some gnomes are said to embody the brightness of winter snows, while others are said to disappear during the night.

In stories, a gnome’s voice is usually high pitched, to the point where it seems awkward.  In reality, a gnome carries the same vocal tones as most humans, although they are usually fraught with a more inquisitive or jovial connotation.

Clothing and Adornment

Because gnomes are small and somewhat weaker, compared to the larger races of Tellest, it is odd to find them wearing anything heavier than cloth or leather.  While it is rare to see a gnome fit to be a warrior, they do exist, and they burden themselves with metal, surprising those they encounter.

Relations to Other Races

Gnomes share similarities with dwarves and humans.  The most notable features that they share with dwarves are their larger noses and ears, and their smaller eyes.  Their shape, though smaller, is more akin to humans.

General Personality

Personal

When the races of Tellest think about gnomes, they generally think of their curiosity first.  Gnomes are inquisitive to a fault, sometimes causing them great harm.  They experiment with things a little too carelessly sometimes, not thinking of all the possible outcomes of their endeavors.

The next most apparent quality of a gnome is their kindness.  It has been said that gnomes cannot feel anger.  This is supposedly a result of their journey from the heated core of Tellest.  As they cooled, anger left their bodies, and they were never able to retrieve it again.

Going hand in hand with their kindness is their compassion.  A gnome will go of their way to help another, even if it means sacrificing something for them.  Many of the strides that the race makes are to try and make life easier for everyone.

Relationship

Gnomes are meant to be a very affectionate race.  The males and the females work cooperatively, neither taking a specific task based on gender.  This fairness helps the partners approach every day activities with more ability, as well as more intelligence.  Males and females are both appreciative of each other, and consider each other equals.

Like the dwarves, gnomes are monogamous.  When a mate passes away, another is never searched out.

Family and Society

Because gnomes are small, space is not usually an issue.  They live together in permanence, never trekking too far from home.  As a family, the gnomes are more powerful than the individual, and they rely on each other for strengths.

Gnomes have large cities underground, and usually follow a council to determine what is best for the race.  The council is constantly changing, the gnomes voting on new members who bring their own strengths to the people.

Behavior toward Other Races

Gnomes rely heavily on humans and dwarves for their foodstuffs, often offering metal compounds or finely crafted jewelry in return.  This trade connection between the three races has fashioned a long lasting friendship as well.  Gnomes generally do not try to bargain for their wares, taking what they are offered at face value.  Over time, this honest relationship helped to make things fair, as the other races felt it was only fair to treat the gnomes with respect and decency.

Gnomes have also made fast friends of the orcs and the minotaur, the benevolent nature of the diminutive race being a pleasant diversion to the races thought to be more aggressive.

The gnomes have been recently been connected to the kobolds as well, offering their services where they are desired.

The only races that the gnomes do not openly deal with are the kaja and the elves, both of which are incredibly difficult to come into contact with under anything other than their own accord.

Language

Speech

Gnomes are able to learn all the languages of Tellest fairly well.  Their intelligence aids them in translation, and they are learned in common, gnomish, dwarvish and elven.

Penmanship

It is difficult to read what a gnome writes, not only because they write small, but also because they jump between so many different languages.

Religion

Personal Beliefs

Gnomes believe in the same gods as the humans, however they only pray to two.  Galvan, the blacksmith of the gods, and Obsam, the god of crafts are revered among the gnomes.  The gnomes also represent Galvan and Obsam as gnomes in all the art and sculptures that feature them.

History

General History

It is said that the gnomes were created from an even deeper place within Tellest than the dwarves, one brimming with molten metal.  The gnomes were engulfed in the liquid metal, which gave them the power to trudge through the earthen tombs around them.  Once they broke free of the inner core of Tellest, they were able to navigate the tunnels that the dwarves had carved out millennia before.  As they walked, they cooled, and their bodies eventually became more organic, like that of their allies.

Myths and Legends

The gnomes have a powerful curiosity of everything.  Exploration is at the forefront of this curiosity.  Despite the small stature of the race, they take large bounds to reach anywhere on Tellest that they can.  They have traveled to the tops of mountains and to the furthest accessible area of the underdepths.  Some have even made mention of gnomes who have tried to reach the bottom of the seas.

Technology

General Technology

Gnomish technology is at the forefront of Tellest’s visible changes.  Though the gnomes have been lax to share in their advances thus far, they do utilize it for their own purposes.  They use metal to brace their carved cities, and have many devices that are operated by steam.  Because their cities can be so big, and they are so undersized, they use carts to travel to and fro.

Their craftsmanship is also said to be uncanny, the race being able to make nearly any compound as tolerable as dwarven mythril.

Magic

Gnomes are as curious with magic as they are with technology.  It is almost impossible to find a school of magic that gnomes have not dabbled in.

The arcane schools of magic are the ones that most gnomes are learned in.  They usually do not apply their spells to combat, but rather to the aid of normal tasks and every day labor.

Gnomes also employ priests, and it is these gnomes who take the extra step in worshiping other gods to help aid their holy magic.  Gnomish paladins were attempted to be trained at one point, but a lack of focus caused that idea to fall through.

Nature magic is something that the gnomes perform as well, but to a much lesser extent.  Shamanism and geomancy are both fundamental types of nature magic that the gnomes employ, but every now and then, a gnomish druid is found as well.

Gnomes are also the only race on Tellest that is not seen as evil when they use dark magics such as necromancy or demonic magics.  It is just their inquisitive nature, and never used for malevolence.

Military/Combat

Military Structure

Gnomes generally do not enter battle.  If they do, it is unexpected, and they will most likely try to escape.  If a gnome is purposely involved in a battle, it is not directly.

Weapons and Tools

Dwarves prefer to handle small weapons, such as undersized clubs and swords.

Gnomes pride themselves in knowing about all kinds of siege machines, and also credit themselves at being the greatest at constructing them.

Wars and Enemies

While gnomes are not at war with anyone specifically, they often find themselves defending themselves from goblins and gremlins.

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