Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dawnstealer Jan 23, 2004 10:33:33	I was just getting ready to start sketching out the hej kin. While reading the description, I was struck by how a lot of the description seemed to align with twisted gnomes (big noses, etc). What is Gallard (aka Nibenay) just corrupted gnomes beyond recognition? Of course, they could just be dwarves warped by the Pristine Tower, but Gnomes are a good bet, too. Thoughts?
#2 zombiegleemax Jan 23, 2004 11:19:13	sounds good... is it ever stated that nibenay ever completed his task (like sacha or wyan did, remember his mindscape... dead pixies everywhere way cool)
#3 dawnstealer Jan 23, 2004 12:12:46	You should see how I define those "pixies" in my Cleansing Wars campaign. They aren't quite the cute "Tinkerbelles" that you might expect.
#4 zombiegleemax Jan 23, 2004 14:09:11	is it ever stated that nibenay ever completed his task like sacha or wyan did? If you read the "official timeline" that you may download from the wizards download section, it states that Nibenay did kill all of the little buggers (160th King's Age, year of Ral's Reverence). Although the Free Year dates are incredibly out of wack, the Kings Age dates seem to work just fine.
#5 zombiegleemax Jan 23, 2004 16:39:10	A few theories off the cuff from a sleep deprived mind (going with the assumption that the hej-kin and gnomes are in fact related or one and the same): First: The gnomes, quickly foreseeing their inevitable genocide at the hands of Galard, attempt to elude the Champion in a way that costs them dearly. At the foot of the Pristine Tower, a clan of gnomes attempts a massive bloodletting ritual, knowing full well the dangers of such. Most of the gnomes are mutated beyond their ability to survive while the few that remain are bonded with the earth in a way that the gnomes had never been. The newly formed race hides from the ever watchful eyes of Galard beneath the earth itself. Two thousand years later, most of the more unique individual mutations have been bred out. Whether or not the hej-kin still possess some of the old lore of the gnome race is up to speculation. Second: The ritual at the Pristine Tower was not an attempt to hide from Rajaat's ever present war machine, but a desperate turn about for the Bane of Gnomes himself. The years of bloody war had worn thin on the 6th Champion, yet the end was in sight none-the-less. The last gnome clan was already in shackles awaiting execution at his hand. Instead of finishing the task, Galard sought to defy his master instead. He gave the gnomes a choice: live another day in a way that would elude the armies of Rajaat, or die here and now and be no more. The gnomes, ever pragmatic, chose to live. They were sent to the Pristine Tower and lacerated, forcing the mutations upon their bodies. Having dabbled in the arts of bio-engineering (in my campaign, Nibenay later creates the half-giant race), he gave them gifts that they would need to escape the Clensing War, at least for a time. Thus were the seeds of rebellion sown in the heart of Galard. It was not mercy that he spared the gnomes, but an act of defiance and deceit, two traits that define the Shadow King even today.
#6 dawnstealer Jan 23, 2004 17:04:55	I like both theories. Gallard always struck me as the most studious of the champions. Okay, maybe Borys, since he actually became the Dragon, but Nibenay was a close second.
#7 nytcrawlr Jan 23, 2004 17:13:41	I like both too, esp the Galard created the HGs thing. He's the most magic minded of all the SMs, so that makes sense.