The City of Klick`Anon (also known as Klik`Anon)
Lying below Redspit Mountain is a valley known as Burnflow, named after the sheets of lava that once poured over the landscape. The valley is only accessible through three narrow passes, making the area easily defensible. A small community of Gnomes, looking to begin a colony on Tunaria, found the valley and immediately began building their new home. It would be called Klick`Anon and would become the greatest gnomish settlement on Tunaria.
First, the three great walls of Andelfoof were raised to hold the passes if they were attacked, named after the engineer that designed and helped build the imposing metal structures.
Next, an existing cavern formed by ancient lava flows was explored and expanded on. This was the beginning of Klick`Anon proper. There are now 9 separate chambers including the central marketplace and a chamber, hidden to the majority of the population, which houses the faithful of Bertoxxulous.
Lastly, the tried and true symbol of gnomish ingenuity, the windmills, were built to power the machines that would run Klick`Anon. In addition, alternate sources of power were sought. The gnomes have always been intrigued by the potential power of steam, and so a lab and workshop were built upon the small lake called Snake's Breath. A stream of lava continually flowing from Redspit's top winds down the mountain and into the water, causing constant gouts of steam that shoots into the air, left to hang over the cool lake.
The valley is kept fairly safe from behind the walls of Andelfoof. The only exception being large predators, like mountain lions and the occasional drake. Outside the wall however, are a great number of dangers, including Dark Elf raiders, savage orcs, pillaging humans, and the mindwhippers. These mindwhippers are small flying creatures of unknown origin. They lair in a hive much like hornets or wasps, but unlike insects, they have tough leathery skin and no visible mouthparts. They are also gifted with the frightening ability to control the minds of intelligent beings, or else attack the mind so viciously that nothing is left but grayish goo.
Drawbridge of Spectacular Impracticality!
Within this chamber is one of Klick`Anon's greatest accomplishments, the Drawbridge of Spectacular Impracticality! The designer, Engineer Grobelbeg, spent months drawing up the plans and sketching out all the supporting devices. He does not appreciate the name its been given. Using the power of steam, two titan engines raise and lower the thick iron bridge, which is supported by two squat towers. None can deny the genius that went into building such an impressive feat of engineering, but for some reason the drawbridge has not performed its duty as well as expected. Despite the awesome spectacle of the impassible bridge, when drawn up, people continue to merely walk around the structure to gain access to the city. This has Grobelbeg and his team of engineers baffled, as any intelligent being would respect the authority of such an imposing device. Still, the engineers continue to develop the drawbridge in hopes of increasing its efficiency.
Central Marketplace
It is here that the Klick`Anon economy moves along, day to day. Many things are found on sale from clothing and jewelry to weapons, armor, and even a small spell component shop for the wandering prestidigitator. Citizens and visitors will also find a banker and spiritmaster handy.
Church of Brell
The followers of Brell believe that to live within the earth is to become closer to their creator. To this end it is preferred in the gnomish clergy to keep their living areas and churches as unrefined as possible. Simple burrowed out tunnels and rooms in preference to the well worked detail in stone employed by their cousins, the dwarves. Klick`Anon's church of Brell is no different. All the rooms are constructed in such a manner, yet they are kept clean and free of debris.
Farm Caverns
It takes a lot of food to feed a city, and considering that gnomes sell much of their surplus between the warring elves, they require large farms. The farms of Klick`Anon are indeed large, making it possible to grow several types of fungus as well as strange mosses. Fertilizer is in big demand, but luckily the city's garbage dump is just over in the next cavern. Organic scraps are reduced to mulch, which is in turn tossed into the fields of mushrooms. In the beginning, one problem kept the farm from operating efficiently. There were large amounts of food but it had to be carried up a long and steep ridge to where the provisioner's shops and inns were. This was a slow process until the genius of Andelfoof devised yet another wondrous contraption. This was the Stupendous Andelfoof Foodstuffs Catapult Delivery System. A large catapult, quite commonly used in gnomish warfare, was modified to fire baskets of vegetables. The foodstuffs fly through the air of the cavern, landing in a specially built pool of water. The food lands, fairly intact, in the pool and gets a good washing as well.
Garbage Heap Cavern
Gnomes generate lots of garbage. Fortunately they're intelligent enough to at least attempt to dispose of it in an efficient manner. The heap is nothing more than a huge pile of discarded refuse. Everything from failed experiments, melon rinds, gnawed bones, old clothes, malfunctioning constructs, and bits of buildings can be found here. Workers and scavengers alike scurry about the discarded wreckage, searching for useful items or carrying them to the lava pool to be incinerated. Less fortunate gnomes make their homes among the garbage, etching out a living amidst the rubbish. A narrow ridge leads up from the floor of the garbage cavern to the marketplace.
To the side of the cavern lie the somewhat secretive guild houses of the rogues. In the eastern end of the cavern one can find the good rogues of Brell, hidden defenders of their people as well as far traveled scouts bringing news of far off lands. In the western portion of the cavern the devious and sadistic rogues of Bertoxxulous make their home. Dedicated to the spread of disease and deadly poison, these gnomes have developed some of the most potent venoms on Tunaria.
Church of Bertoxxulous
By stepping on a particular piece of trash near the lava pool, a block of metal will rise from the depths of the pool to allow crossing over into a secret cavern. This secret cavern holds the gnomish temple of Bertoxxulous, the Lord of Decay. Here, the evil and destructive influences of the Plague King are met with gnomish ingenuity and creativity. The combination is dangerous and deadly. Fortunately the followers of Bertoxxulous are few, for if an army of the faithful could be raised, the fate of Klick`Anon would be sealed.
University of Andelfoof
Covelbun Andelfoof is the most famous engineer on all of Tunaria. He designed and built many pieces of machinery used in Klick`Anon as well as the Great Walls and Foodstuff Catapult. He is now the head engineer at the University named after himself, taking what free time he has to teach young ambitious gnomes the art of machinery. He has gained quite a reputation over the years. Much of the population holds him in high regards and would trust him to be king. Andelfoof does not wish to be king, but he does hold meetings with the other guild masters to decide the direction of their city. The other guildmasters run the university, teaching its students while working on their own projects. The remnants of these many projects can be found in the testing grounds, a field of incomplete parts and unfinished endeavors.
Meckanamagical College of Klick`Anon
Engineering has always been a large part of gnomish society, but just as much attention is spent in the field of magic. The magic of Gnomes works similar to their machines, "parts" of magic interacting with others to create an effect. As with the engineer's guild, the Meckanamagical College teaches young aspiring magicians, wizards, and especially enchanters their trades. Many of the contraptions of Klick`Anon carry magical enchantments with them, engineer and enchanter often working side by side to create a useful tool or device. The college workshop is filled with all manner of strange devices, stacked upon each other on benches and the floor. Many students sleep in the workshop, studying and experimenting nearly every available waking hour.
Klick`Anon Gunnery School
Magic and machines aren't the only arts the gnomes deem worthy of their time. Despite their diminutive size, gnomes do practice the art of self-defense. The guards that defend the city from invasion train at the gunnery school, learning to wield martial weapons and don heavy armor. But more than melee combat, the gunners of Klick`Anon are trained in the use and maintenance of the powerful gnomish blunderbuss, a short barreled firearm. The Blunderbuss is a very powerful weapon, able to reduce an armored foe to cinders, but load times are horrendous, and accurate range is very short.
