Gnomium
Gnomium is a settlement in eastern Evermore Proper located just beside Giant's Leap. Though not very large, it is famous as an exporter of clockwork technology and the whimsical architecture, drawing in several intellectuals and curiosity chasers each year.
Demographics
The entire population of Gnomium are Gnomes, with the few exceptions of Imperial representatives.
Government
The Mayor of Gnomium makes all decisions and is the voice of all Gnomium to the Empire. However, it is not secret that a magic entity trapped within a cow skull is often consulted, and has been since the town's founding.
Industry & Trade
While the majority of Gnomium's inhabitants are farmers, a thriving community of tinkerers and inventors live near the town center, and the settlement makes a significant fortune by selling clockwork devices to collectors of curios.
Infrastructure
Gnomium's buildings tend to be small, but evenly spaced throughout the town's grid layout. The roads are cobblestone and lined with wooden rails. Public buildings are often equipped with clockwork devices such as lifters and washers, and each intersection is rigged to spin when needed, to move the rails in such a way as to block traffic from getting in the way. The town is built to support wagons and horses, with several public use stables and covered sections to store vehicles, and these have locking platforms to prevent theft. In recent years, some of these storage units have been outfitted with roof platforms for small aircraft such as balloons. The most unusual feature of Gnomium's mechanical infrastructure is the regular placement of automated shops- lockboxes that dispense goods when the correct amount of money is inserted.
Guilds and Factions
The Gear Guild is the inventor's union of Gnomium, comprised of engineers, thinkers, and builders. While not a true Guild under the terms of the Truce, they represent a significant political power in Gnomium thanks to their contributions in improving the town at no charge.
History
In the early 1100s, Gnomes had become recognized as a unique species apart from Halflings, and several settlements were built away from Giant's Leap in an effort to solidify that distinction and create a recognizable Gnome culture. Gnomium was the first of these founded, and was named in jest by the Imperial officials who oversaw the process. It was established as a farming town, but the discovery of an unnamed magical presence in the settlement led to the beginnings of clockwork technology, now what Gnomium is famed for.
Architecture
Buildings in Gnomium are designed for it's inhabitants, which is to say they are small in height and built wide to hold large amounts of Gnomes at any given time. While multilevel buildings are rare, they exist and are defined by the tube slides that go from roof to ground level as a safety precaution. Things are made of stone in Gnomium, highly polished and brightly painted stone.
Founding Date
1108
Type
Town
Population
2200
Inhabitant Demonym
Nomite
Location under
Owning Organization
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