The Great Grand Kingdom of Gardonia
The little land the Gnomes call home
The Gardonian Gnomes
The gnomes of the Great, Grand kingdom of Gardonia are generally a happy, well-mannered, simple and carefree race similar to most other gnomes of the world. And like most gnomes they sport long beards and tall pointed hats. They stand about three feet tall, four to the top of their hats. They live long lives, upwards of 1,200 years if allowed to live out their lives naturally. They love gardening, brewing, fishing, dozing in the sun and a good arm-wrestling match. They are fiercely protective of their vegetables, especially carrots.
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Gardonia itself is strange and unique pocket of land nestled in a circle of high mountains, and clearly being magical, the land is one of giant growing vegetation. The Gnomes quickly set to settling and cultivating the wild land, producing by far the largest vegetables they had ever seen. It didn’t take the gnomes long to discover that besides the plants, the bugs and insects and to a lesser degree rodents and birds of Gardonia also grow to rather large and often terrifying sizes.
Testimonial
We look forward to creating something for you to treasure.
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History and settling of the land
The gnomes who now inhabit the land they call Gardonia are the descendants of a group of 1,000 gnomes who originally set off out of the magical fay lands somewhere far to the north –as the tales passed down from generation to generation tell. Why they left is now unclear, but they wandered for over 100 years finding that all the lands where they travelled were already claimed by various races. During their wanderings they lost many of their company to bandit attacks, cold weather, the occasional wild beast and lack of food. They also lost many who grew weary of the seemingly endless trek and chose to settle in the various towns and cities they came across. Eventually through their years of wandering the gnomes learned about a small mountainous region that appeared on all maps they saw, not to be claimed by any kingdom. Rumours abounded, but the region was believed to be either only a harsh desolate mountain range or a dark, haunted place as the old superstitious wives tales told. And so the leader of the gnomish company, a hardy gnome named Grinzverg Vuzlebeeg, led the wandering gnomes to the mountain range to see if there was anywhere they could settle.They spent nearly a month following along the edge of the range looking for a route into the mountains before they finally found a narrow and difficult pass that looked promising. Grimzverg led the gnomes up along the pass which became more and more broken and difficult. Several wagons and a few unfortunate gnomes were lost to the steep cliffs and rugged terrain and many other wagons had to be abandoned.
They spent nearly a month following along the edge of the range looking for a route into the mountains before they finally found a narrow and difficult pass that looked promising. Grimzverg led the gnomes up along the pass which became more and more broken and difficult. Several wagons and a few unfortunate gnomes were lost to the steep cliffs and rugged terrain and many other wagons had to be abandoned. Eventually they came to a high pass and far below they saw what looked to be a green valley beyond another lower ridge of mountains, and so being forced to leave the rest of the wagons behind they began descending down the treacherous track towards what they hoped would be a place to settle.
The descent proved to be more difficult than it looked and when they finally found themselves at the bottom the gnomes realized there would be no going back. As Fortune would have it, once down below, the going became easier and eventually the gnomes emerged from the mountains to find themselves in a lush land of giant vegetation. Upon seeing the wondrous land, Grimzverg Vuzlebeeg claimed it as the gnomish peoples new home and on the first suitable spot they found on the edge of the mountain forest in a small grove of giant mushrooms they pitched their tents and began to build their first settlement. And thus the Village of New Town was founded and the end of long years of travelling.
Whatever caused the plants of the land to grow to unprecedented sizes, the gnomes discovered also caused the insects and to a lesser degree the rodents and birds to grow terrifyingly large as well. The gnomes and their gardens suffered many attacks and threats and soon the land did not seem as inviting as it did at first. Gnomes going off in search of lumber or foraging often disappeared leaving only a boot or a hat to be found. Gardens were attacked by two foot long slugs, big gross grubs, giant bugs, deer and bunnies. The gnomes themselves were preyed upon by coyotes and spiders, bears and other gross insects, even plants were rumoured to attack unexpectedly in the woods and tall grass forests. Life was hard and growth and expansion was slow, most groups looking to expand were never seen or heard from again. The gnomes suffered many population collapses and it took 500 years before their numbers finally reached 1,000 without some catastrophe causing them to fall back below. And so the gnomes began slowly and cautiously expanding east. Another 500 years saw the population reach 15,000. By the year 1,300 of the gnomish calendar gnomes had expanded eastwards as far as a very lush and jungle-like forest that was found to be much less deadly than what they had become accustomed to. This new forest was named The Good Garden and many gnomes settled there enjoying the relative peace and in only a couple hundred years the gnomes population reached 30,000. At the center of the Good Garden was founded a village that would quickly become the hub of the entire country. This new settlement was named New Town and the original New Town was renamed Old Town.
From the Good Garden the gnomes expanded further east and north. In the year 1664 in the north, Northtown was founded, which would eventually become an important bastion against twisted and evil creatures, but that was many years away. In the east along the banks of a great river was founded the town of Cabbageford in 1674. On the east side of the river began a great height of mountains, which became the eastern boundary of the gnomish country. Expansion in the north continued until the Donglemore incident and in 2355 the lands north of Northtown were abandoned. Next the gnomes began exploring and moving south from the Good Garden. A vast and terrifying grass forest and a swamp were discovered and in 2659 South Village was founded, later to become South Fork Village and then Southforkington, and would become the hub for trading with the outside lands via the not yet discovered South Pass. West of South Fork Village a peaceful region known as the Tri-Villages was settled. The land south of South Fork Village was sparsely settled up to the southern range of great mountains which marked the southern boundary of the Kingdom. In 2866 the South Pass through the mountains was found and the outside world and the other races rediscovered nearly 3000 years after entering and claiming their unique valley homeland.
The Gnomes and what they do
Fun Fact
The land of Gardonia, while experiencing all four seasons to some degree, is quite temperate allowing crops to be grown year round.
Vegetable Farming
Farming and gardening is hands down the most common and loved practice amongst gnomes, they take great care and pride in the growing and caring of their vegetables and flowers. While almost every gnome gardens to some degree there are many independent farmsteads throughout the land that grow large quantities of crops mainly to be sold at markets, both at home and abroad. Larger farmsteads require the work of many gnomes to maintain and quite often pay workers in produce. There are a few places in the land, mostly in the east, where there are many large farms close to one another and the landscape is dominated by vast fields. Small hamlets often spring up in these areas as many gnomes enjoy going out and working the land, often adopting to personally care for a particular parcel of land on a farm
Some of the most commonly grown vegetables in the kingdom include: Cabbages, lettuce, turnips, hops, barley, beans, cucumbers, corn, potatoes and of course carrots, but all manner of plant and vegetable can be found throughout the land.
Mushrooms are considered a delicacy and are mainly foraged as they have been found difficult to grow especially since the Great Mushroom Blight of 2581. Only a few successful farms exist and their cultivation methods are well guarded family secrets. The large mushrooms found throughout the land are edible, but rather tough with a woody taste and so not often eaten.
Animal Farming
Gnomes don’t farm or herd many species of animal that one would typically think of when talking of farms. Most animals being much much larger than a gnome makes keeping them under control a rather difficult task. After the south pass was opened a few attempts were made to herd cattle. They all ended with the cows breaking out of their pastures and getting into gardens before eventually moseying off into the wild. There are a number of pygmy goat ranches in the land and many gnomes own a goat or two. The goats are mostly used to pull carts and plows or as pack animals, or for milk and not raised for eating. Quail, growing to a foot and a half in height have taken the role of chickens in Gardonia. A line of wild boars, with great difficulty, was also domesticated, and they are one of the ingredient in the gnome’s world famous sausages.
There are also many bug farms in the land. Ladybugs are cultivated and will be carted to farms that are experiencing problems with aphids or other plant plaguing bugs. A few honey bee farms have been established, though it is a dangerous job as a single sting from a four inch stinger can potentially be deadly and a swarm of angry bees can take out an entire crew of farm hands. There are also several species of beetles raised for their oil and other various ingredients and worms for silk, *though as a whole bug husbandry is in the decline. Many of the materials used from bugs have fallen to the wayside as iron has become available from salvaged Furgol gear and trading and the smaller amounts of bug based materials still in use are easily gathered by the many trappers and hunters from the plentiful numbers of bugs in the wild.*
Tinkering
Tinkering and inventing is another popular practice of the gnomes. Not far from a mug of ale, many inventions of the gnomes end up being over engineered and not all that practical, even though they seem like a good idea at the time. But that is not to say tinkerers haven’t created many impressive things that are used all over the Great Kingdom of Gardonia and by many of the different races in the surrounding lands, if you make enough of anything some of them are bound to be useful. A few notable inventions include the impressive Wheel Ship, the Crank Chopper (coming in five up to twenty blade variations), the Autosythe, the Perpetual Spaghetti machine, the Yarn-detangler, the Oblongozphere, the Sheep Peeler 200/automatic mutton roaster (originally designed as a wool shearing device), the Gizmotronic Scarecrow (with flamespitting option available), the ever popular Crongket, the Zoggelgear, the rivet (or so they claim), the Diggerator, the Tinkrit (now in XL for humans), the Periscope hat and The Super Comfy Pillow. A larger mattress version is in the works but there have been delays due to firmness issues vs breathability.
Gnomes also seem to have a knack for making very precisely crafted and reliable small mechanisms and intricate gear systems, and they are often sought after by people abroad. For example, replacing one’s crossbow trigger mechanism with a gnomish variant seems to make for smoother operation and fewer misfires.
Brewing
Being particularly fond of beer, half of the Golden Valley region and a good number of other fields have been devoted to growing barley and hops for brewing. Many gnome brewers excel at the craft and master brewers are some of the most respected gnomes in the land.
Being natural tinkers and meddlers there was a dark time in brewing history when there were countless upstarts using questionable new additives and brewing methods in an attempt to make the ultimate drink that stood above all others, often meeting with disastrous and deadly effects. The high council finally put a stop to brewing and banned it outright for a time when the death toll reached into the hundreds. Now with strict rules for brewing, especially for exported beer, the trade is thriving once again and the mortality rate is back to acceptable levels.
Beer is Gardonia’s most popular export known the world over and the second most exported commodity after vegetables.
Sausage Making
Master Sausageers of the gnomish sausage industry are held in as high esteem as Master Brewers. The sausage industry really took off after the south trade routes were opened up and the surrounding peoples went crazy for the gnomes’ delicious links. Sausages are the gnome’s third largest export. To keep up with demand, meat is the second largest import for the gnomes.
Trapping/Hunting/Foraging
There are many strange–and not so strange–plants and bugs growing and living in the land of Gardonia that are not easily cultivated or farmed that have been found to have many useful parts and properties or are just darn tasty. Resins, glues, dyes, decorations, medical ingredients, greases, oils and food additives to name a few have been made from various critters and vegetation living and growing throughout the land. There are a few gnomes who make their livelihood wandering off the beaten path, foraging, hunting and trapping. In the South Carrot Mires the accidentally introduced Bellow Toads who have grown to monstrous sizes within a few short generations have taken over the swamp lands and are hunted and trapped for their skins and giant delicious legs, which are mostly exported. Now with iron becoming more readily available, many materials made from plants and critters are less in demand and the trade is not what it once was.
Mining and Blacksmithing
Unlike their distant cousins the Gnomes of Gardonia don’t love mining. In the year 2,706, the gnomes exploring in the mountains beyond the eastern bounds of their kingdom came across a small human mining colony. The miners had ceased to venture further west of their settlement as early prospectors had witnessed strange events and encountered giant bugs and swarms of little, clammy creatures that issued out of the caves and they had decided the land was not for them. The gnomes began trading with the mining colony, exchanging metal items for vegetables and beer, even though the mountain path was narrow and dangerous. Some of the miners visiting the gnome kingdom by way of the east mountain paths had noted a few mountains that they thought could hold ore and were given permission to mine them. They made an arrangement that the miners would mine and smelt any ore found and in exchange they could keep the majority of gems and precious stones they found as well as a portion of the ore. A handful of gnomes were taught to forge and work metal and men from the colony helped the gnomes set up smithies where they make various tools, nails, and smaller items as well as gears and random shaped metal things that tinkerers and inventors request. The forge in Kingstown is the largest gnome forge and makes many of the weapons and helmets used by the Mushroom Knights, though if a knight wants an item of higher quality or particular design they will generally have it made by smiths outside of the kingdom.
Various Trades
As with any people group there are many other trades that make up a well rounded civilization. Bakers, stone masons, leather workers, tailors, wood workers, cooks and tavern keeps to name a few, though most gnomes are capable of the basics and many simple household items and clothing are home made. There was an attempt to start a gnomish fashion industry, but most gnomes prefer practical working clothes and gnomish design never took off with the other races around Gardonia
Wise Gnomes
Living within hollowed out rooms carved into the Great Carrot itself and huts on its top is a community of really smart gnomes-the Wise Gnomes. The Wise Gnomes spend their days studying the Great Carrot and the mysteries of the universe. The Wise Gnomes are highly respected within gnomish society though they are seldom seen far from the Great Carrot, or their smaller community in the far east of the kingdom. Gnomes found to have an aptitude for science and intrigue are brought to the Great Carrot to apprentice under the Wise Gnomes becoming Wise Gnomes themselves after their apprenticeship is completed.
Mushroom Knights
Greatly admired by all, the guardians of garden and gnome of the Kingdom of Gardonia, the career of the Mushroom Knight is a noble one indeed. But there is a whole page on them…
Geography of the Land
Gardonia is a very vegetated land surrounded on all sides by tall mountains. Nestled within its ring of mountains the land is much like any other land with some hilly regions, some flatish regions, some valleys, some hills, some grasslands, some rivers, a lake, a swamp and a desert. Forests of deciduous trees cover much of the terrain, however unlike most other lands, it also has many tall grass forests, where the grass, flowers and other plants grow upwards of twenty feet in height, there are also numerous regions of giant mushroom forests some growing up to thirty feet tall. In the north is a barren, desolate rocky valley called Donglemore that the gnomes prefer not to talk about. Nothing grows around Donglemore other than thorns, briars and hardy broom. See the section on Greensmore Valley/Donglemore for more. At the centre of the land is a very dense, lush forest, perhaps better described as a jungle, named The Good Garden and within it lies the gnomish capital city of Kingstown.
The Good Garden
During the gnomes initial expansion eastward they came upon a very dense, jungly forest. This forest region had an enchanted feel to it and was found to be comparatively free from the large insects and pests that plagued the gnomes in the rest of the land they had thus far settled. This forest they named The Good Garden. When a small tranquil lake was discovered deep in the forest a settlement was built and named New Town and the former town of New Town was renamed Old Town. Many gnomes moved to The Good Garden where it was relatively safe and pleasant, but the forest was left as pristine as possible. Asides from small backyard gardens, the land outside The Good Garden was relied upon to grow crops for feeding the population. New Town became a hub for trading and markets and soon grew quite large. Eventually the king moved to New Town making it the new capitol and renamed it Kingstown. Besides Kingstown, there are three larger settlements within The Good Garden. A cluster of very tall trees is home to the village of Wood Heart, in a particularly vibrant colony of giant fungi lies the village of Mushroom Deeps and the Village of Fernally is named for the grove of mammoth ferns into which it is nestled. A mysterious yet well preserved building was also discovered within The Good Garden which the gnomes believed to be an old, overgrown brewery. The gnomes got to work restoring the facility aptly naming it the Ancient Brewery and a small village of brewery workers has sprung up around it. While the Good Garden is a relatively safe place for gnomes to live, it does grow quickly and it takes many gnomes constant work to keep the roads and communities from becoming overgrown.
The Great Carrot
The Great Carrot is a very large carrot. It’s depth has not been measured, but the diameter of the top is 587 feet. The carrot was discovered in the year 1,822 in the mountains north of what was at that time called New Town. The gnome who discovered it, Dr. Hestrige Tupplemonger was investigating what he believed to be a very large fern bush at the top of a hill. As he was going back down the hill the moss under foot came loose and he slid to the bottom. When he looked back up there was a patch of orange where the moss had come clean of the surface where he had slid. Upon closer examination and after clearing away a larger section of moss, he believed himself to be onto something and went and reported his find in New Town. The top was cleared off and twenty feet of the carrot were eventually excavated and cleaned. The discovery is a large part of why the king moved to New Town making it the new capitol, which was then named Kingstown. The Carrot became a symbol of the kingdom of Gardonia and is held in an almost reverent type of way. Today it has its own special company of highly trained and experienced Knights, called The Carrot Guard, who are devoted solely to the protection of the Great Carrot.
The Great Grass Forrest
In Gardonia there are many regions of tall growing grass referred to as grass forests. As the gnomes expanded south from Kingstown they came upon a very vast grass forest to the south west of the Good Garden. Naming it The Great Grass Forest, this particular over sized lawn stretched for miles upon miles. Gnomes venturing into it found it to be quite dangerous and terrifying and many never returned. Those that did told of spiders ten feet tall, centipedes twenty yards in length and all sorts of larger than large specimens of various bugs and critters. They also told tales of carnivorous plants and unseen things that stalked them through the tall blades but also of great bounties of berries, tender mushrooms and other delicacies as well as all sorts of useful plants and harvestable materials from the various bugs. Still for the most part gnomes don’t venture into the Great Grass Forest and those that do make their livelihood foraging there are considered very brave or not quite right in the head, depending on who you ask. Fortunately the creatures of the forest seldom venture out, however, there was one incident where an especially nasty and hungry plant plagued travellers along the stretch of road between Grand Caps and Hazelmere. The terror it brought resulted in a 200 yard wide buffer area being trimmed back along the entire stretch of road. Most of those gnomes involved in the undertaking moved far away from the area once the task was complete having been deeply shaken by creatures and events they witnessed the deeper into the forest they cleared.
The Great Grass Forest also acts as a natural barrier against marauding Furols in the east as raiding parties of the hairy creatures seldom enter it and those that do have never been seen again.
The Old Road
Between the northern border of The Great Grass Forest and the south west edge of The Good Garden was found an old broken and overgrown road running east west. The Great Grass Forest stops roughly 100 yards south of this road. Similarly The Good Garden stops roughly 100 yards north of the road and the area in between is known as Green Gap. Heading east, the road was found to pass south of the hamlet of Hazelmere running along the southern border of The Good Garden for many miles before it veered north and was lost in the dense forest. Westward from Green Gap the road led to a wide plane where the soil was shallow and rocky and the area became known as the Pebbly Plane. At the end of the road upon a tall hill was the ruin of an old fortress which the Mushroom Knights repaired and manned despite it being remote and strategically irrelevant, naming it Lettuce Berg.
The Pebbly Plain
The Pebbly Plain begins at the Green Gap and runs west to the mountains that mark the edge of the Kingdom of Gardonia. Its eastern border ends at the Great Grass Forest and its north and south boundaries are marked by lower mountains spurring east from the larger western mountains. In Spite of the difficulty of growing vegetables in the shallow soil, farms and a few settlements popped up in the Pebbly Plane to work the land until such a time as the Furgols were discovered. Since the awakening of the Furgols the region has been ravaged many times and its settlements all but destroyed and abandoned. The fortress of Lettuce Berg has also been restored to its former ruined and abandoned state, though the building of a better situated replacement fortress is underway and is the beginning of the latest initiative to take back the region. There is also a small fortress located in Green Gap to act as a last line of defence to keep Furgols from rampaging out into the kingdom.
The Taterlands
The central western region of Gardonia, the area in which the gnomes first settled, from New Old Town east to the Good Garden is known as the Taterlands. After the gnomes began expanding and found that certain vegetables grew more abundantly in certain areas, it was noted that potatoes and other nightshades grew better there than other plants and so the region was named for the potato and many potato farms have sprung up since. The Taterlands having been settled long ago and cleared of most major threats, provide a moderately peaceful environment to live in.
The Leafy Green Flats
The Leafy Green flats are a flattish region in the mid east of the Gardonia where much of the land has been cleared and larger farms established. Much lettuce, cabbage, spinach, Chard and the like are grown in this region of the kingdom. There are many issues with deer, bunnies and slugs nibbling away at the beloved produce and the Cabbageford garrison has its work cut out keeping the region’s fields and gardens safe. The clearing of such large tracts of land has given rise to the very serious threat of Dire Bunny frenzies and rampages as they are drawn together by the delicious greens. The Great Mollusks, giant slugs and snails, have also been an issue in the region, though thankfully they are not common.
The Golden Valley
Just north of the Good Garden and named for the many golden fields of grains grown in the area, this small region of the kingdom grows much of the barley and hops for making beer, as well as wheat for bread and more beer. Several Master Brewers live in the region and the local inns and taverns always have an exceptional selection of brew on tap.
The Cornlands
The Cornlands is a region of gently rolling hills, dotted with short mushroom groves and pockets of sparse, stunted trees in the north west of Gardonia that grows a whole lot of corn. Crop stealing Cobbies are a big problem in the region, often raiding fields and gardens for corn cobs and all manner of produce they can get their clammy, little hands on. Because they cause strange irrational behaviour in Cobbies, similar to gold fever in humans, turnips, while not forbidden, are not recommended to be grown in the region. The Cornlands boasts the largest number of Vegetable Holds per capita in the entire kingdom.
The Tangled Plateau
The Tangled Plateau in the north east is not really a plateau, though it has the highest elevation of any farming region in Gardonia. Vine plants grow particularly well in this region and there are many beanyards in the plateau. Peas, cucumbers and squash are also grown in abundance. Deer are the biggest nuisance for the farms of the area though being near to Donglemore the area is sometimes plagued by terrifying monsters that slip past the Mushroom Knights keeping watch over the evil pit. It takes a bold and hardy gnome to live in the Tangled Plateau so close to Donglemore and most of the towns and villages have palisade walls around them. In the Tangled Plateau can also be found most of the mining that is done in Gardonia, Northsouth Town being the chief mining town in the kingdom.
The South Carrot Mires
The South Carrot Mires are a swampy region in the east central part of Gardonia, bordering on the west side of the Blueish Lake. The swamps were home to all manner of pesky insects, long legged birds and a few water loving rodents. Discovered in the mires were a reclusive yet intelligent swamp people, called the Bogwits. Weary at first some of the Bogwits eventually befriended the gnomes, but long ago they withdrew deeper into the swamps and are all but forgotten now. The accidental introduction of Bellow Toads into the swamp saw the creatures’ successive offspring grow to enormous size and take over the mires in very short order, decimating the native creatures populations. A handful of gnomes live in the South Carrot Mires in stilted mushroom huts, foraging the various plants and hunting Bellow Toads for their meat and skins, which have become popular export commodities.
The Bluish Lake
Located in the east of Gardonia, the Bluish Lake is the largest lake in the land. A few fishing villages and a popular vacationing town were settled along the lake’s northern shores, but for the most part the lake is wild and untouched. Shortly after the lake was discovered, the king at the time, King Wilcog, decided to visit the lake for himself where he took a rowboat out into the lake, wanting to be the first gnome to row across. To the great dismay of the onlookers on shore, when the king and his boat were far out in the distance, a giant fish popped up and swallowed them whole. Since then no gnome in a row boat has dared to venture into deeper waters.
The Tri-Villages
The Tri-Village area is a small pocket of land in the south west that is quite flat, centered around three main villages. Short grassy fields predominate the landscape dotted with tall mushroom groves. Herbs grow quite well in this part of the kingdom and are grown in abundance. Besides the smaller, non aggressive species of bunnies and a few deer, not much bothers the gardens of the Tri-Village region.
Creatures of Gardonia
The Gnomish homeland is filled with all manner of beasts and critters. From things you have seen to things you have only thought about in nightmares which really do want to eat you, Gardonia has it all!
Crop Nibblers
While there are many creatures in Gardonia that often make lunch of a gnomes garden, the term crop nibbler generally refers only to mammal types.
Deer
Deer are one of the few animals in the land of Gardonia that don’t grow larger than one would find in the surrounding world. That being said they stand up to twice as tall as a gnome and aren’t much bothered by a lone gnomish farmer yelling and stamping its feet at them. A lone deer can do more than enough damage, but when a herd wanders through they can leave a garden in a sorry state.
Bunnies
There are two primary types of bunnies that live in the land that plague crops, a smaller brownish type and a much larger white kind. The smaller brown bunnies are plentiful throughout the land and love to find their way into gardens and cultivated fields. They are non combative for the most part and can usually be chased off without the need for Mushroom Knight assistance.
Dire Bunnies
The larger species of bunnies have come to be known as Dire Bunnies. They measure approximately one and a half feet in height to the shoulder and also love to get into gardens. Though stubborn, one or two Dire Bunnies can be driven off by a farmer and their family, but when Dire Bunnies start to congregate they become driven into frenzied swarms. The swarms will eat everything in their path, plant, animal, gnome and each other. The swarm will rampage for miles and miles destroying all in it’s path until they have finally eaten themselves down to a handful of bunnies at which point they calm down and go their separate ways leaving a trail of carnage in their wake. Before the gnomes began clearing large areas of land for farms and villages Dire Bunnies very seldom gathered in numbers large enough to insight a frenzy, but it has now become a more common occurrence especially in the Leafy Green Flats, where vast tracts of land have been turned into fields. When dire bunnies start to gather the Mushroom Knights must be summoned quickly.
Mollusks
The slimy crop fiend
Slugs and Snails
The slugs and snails in Gardonia range in size from one foot to two feet in length, and snails with shells upwards of a foot and a half in diameter are not an uncommon sight. While not fast moving they have large appetites and can ruin a garden if they manage to slip in. Though dispatched without great difficulty they leave a gross slimy mess behind and their carcases are sticky and unpleasant to remove from one’s garden.
The Great Mollusks
The Great Mollusks are slugs and snails that typically range from six to twelve feet in length with snails whose shells can reach six feet in height. Though not too commonly seen in the land they occasionally appear in the eastern reaches of the kingdom. They have been known to devour whole gardens in less than an hour. The Great Mollusks have a defensive ability to make their slime extremely sticky making it difficult to strike them with weapons more than once, as the weapons (or shields or gnomes) will stick to their side and be carried along with it. The Great Mollusks appear to be opportunistic carnivores and have been known to eat livestock in their pens and even unlucky gnomes.
Garden Pests
Pack Moles
Commonly referred to just as moles, they are the largest mole species living in Gardonia and the only one to be a nuisance. The variety found in the gnomish land have developed a palate for earthy root vegetables namely turnips, beets, onions and parsnips instead of the typical fare of worms, grubs and bugs that moles normally eat. Pack moles tend to burrow under gardens and will take whole plants back to caches where they have a fascinating yet gross way of preserving them for future use.
Aphids, Grubs, Catapillars
As with any garden anywhere, other bugs and grubs and worm type creatures enjoy eating the plants that grow in gnomish gardens, with the exception that they are generally much larger than those found elsewhere in the world. While not dangerous to gnomes they can be extremely dangerous to their beloved gardens.
Spiders, Centipedes and Other Gross, Creepy Things
The typical variety of creepy insects and arachnids found throughout the world are also found in the land of Gardonia ranging in sizes from two times to hundreds of times larger than those found elsewhere. Centipedes, many types of beetles, termites, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, annoyingly loud crickets, earwigs and spiders to name a few. Though not typically dangerous or aggressive, a spider that is a foot across is rather unnerving. Still if accidentally disturbed a bite from many of these things can really hurt or even be fatal if the species in question is venomous. As with most everything in the land of Gardonia, occasionally unusually large versions of these creatures appear that regard gnomes as lower on the food chain, most of these however live deep in woods or the tall grass forests throughout the land.
Plants
Throughout the many tall grass forests of Gardonia can be found mischievous or downright hostile plants. While most of them are more frightening than deadly to a gnome, there are the occasional specimens that can be quite dangerous or even down right predatory.
Unfriendly Plants
The Mad Slapper Plant
The Slapper plant fends off would be predators by lashing out and slapping at anything that comes too near with bulbs that have whip-like vines. They range in height from four to eight feet and have left many an unwary gnome with nasty bruises or cuts.
The Sneaky Trip Vine
Sneaky trip vines are more a nuisance than anything. Laying about the ground they will dart out and curl themselves around low moving things like feet and legs, then go ridged. They are responsible for many bruised knees and spilled foraging baskets.
The Red Jumper
Red Jumpers have nice pretty red flowers the size of a small dinner plate. When the flowers have been pollinated the plant will launch the pretty red flower at nearby moving creatures. The flowers have barbed stamen which emit a powerful paralyzing toxin that sticks into the host causing permanent paralysis. The parazlyed host remains alive until the seeds mature and drop out of the flower, latching onto the host where they begin germinating and using the unfortunate host as food eventually killing it. It is apparently an unpleasant death. A few poor souls wishing to get a sniff of the pretty red flower have gotten much more than they bargained for.
Carnivorous Plants
The tall grass forests are home to a number of carnivorous plant species. Though most are not large enough to eat a gnome, deep in the grass forests some giant specimens have been discovered that were all too capable of the feat. There have even been tales from foragers who claim to have seen terrifying plants walking about or even stalking them.
The Green Gobbler
The tale of the Green Gobbler is one of a mysterious plant creature who stalked the stretch of road between Grand Caps and Hazelmere for several years, attacking and abducting many gnome travellers before finally being hunted down. However no living gnome ever saw it as all who did, including the Mushroom Knight patrol credited with its demise were eaten. The Green Gobbler apparently choked to death on the knight’s metal armour and weapons and when it was found it had shriveled into an unidentifiable husk. It is suspected that Green Gobbler type plants are responsible for the disappearance of many a gnome wandering off the beaten path.
Gardonian Rat Trap
Similar to the venus fly trap, the Gardonian Rat Trap is a carnivorous plant capable of eating the very large rodents of Gardonia. Activated by movement they often will bite a gnome who ventures too near. Bites can be painful, but not usually deadly depending on the size of the Trap. Deeper into the tall grass forests grow some larger plants that a gnome will fit nicely inside of.
The Hatnapper Vine
The Droppy Gobbler is a viney plant with a large bulb head found deep in deciduous forests. They wind their way up trees and out along branches where they hang waiting for something to walk underneath. When they sense movement the bulb opens into a wide sticky mouth and drops down onto whatever may be below before retracting back up to the branch. Several gnomes have lost hats to Droppy Gobblers and some have had the terrifying experience of their whole head being engulfed. A few unfortunate enough to walk under a large specimen have been swallowed whole.
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