Sancrist

Article written by Kranar Drogin

Sancrist is a gnome nation that is located on the northeastern part of Sancrist Isle. The land of the gnomes is almost entirely mountainous with a scattering of valleys located in the various mountain ranges of the Gargath Mountains, the Sun Range, the Skinfisher Range, Caves of Pyrothraxus, Numbered Mountains, and the Majestic Mountains.

The gnomes that live there are part of many various clans and guilds. At last count there were over 200 clans and 50 guilds in Sancrist. An elected body of gnomes from those clans and guilds run the government from Mount Nevermind. After their decisions and proclamations are finalized, they will be written down and stored in the vault making sure there will always be a precedence for everything.

The guilds govern themselves and are for specific tasks, such as the Guild of Hydrodynamic Masters and Journeymen. The committee of said guild would review all new inventions and petitions and deem whether they were good enough or not. Usually this involves a lot of bribing of the committee.

Age of Dreams

The nation of Sancrist was founded, or as some seem to think stumbled upon, by gnomes who were chasing the Graygem across Ansalon. Founded in 3050 PC, those that were following the Graygem and came to Sancrist Isle, decided that Mount Nevermind suited their ideas of a perfect citadel for the testing they wished to conduct.

The mountain wasn't at first called Mount Nevermind, but had a longer, gnomish name. Only when an Ergothian General tried to pronounce the gnomish name, and gave up by just saying 'Mount...ah...nevermind', did the name stick. The gnomes in 2500 PC became a fiefdom of the Empire of Ergoth for the next 750 years. This didn't bother the gnomes at all because they were still able to continue with their experiments unhindered. A History of Sancrist Isle is a book detailing the history prior to 2424 PC.

When the Rose Rebellion took place in the Empire of Ergoth in 1799 PC, Ergothian forces left Sancrist to assist in the defense of their homeland against the invading forces of Vinas Solamnus. By the year 1750 PC, the gnomes decided that since the Ergothians weren't coming back, they would declare their independence.

Age of Might

When the Kingpriest of Istar made his demands to the gods and the gods punished the people of Krynn, Sancrist was greatly affected. The gnomes saw their mountain range grow ten-fold in size compared to what it was before.

Age of Despair

Not much is known about the time following the Cataclysm. Even during the War of the Lance, the gnomes of Sancrist were unaware of the Dark Queen's presence on Ansalon. They continued to tinker with their gadgets, and create their destructive toasters.

Age of Mortals

Following the Chaos War, the lands of Sancrist saw significant changes. A minor Dragon Overlord named Pyrothraxus invaded and took control of the top of Mount Nevermind when the gnomes blew off the top of their mountain capital to try and stop Pyrothraxus.

After he took over, things really didn't change much around their lands. The gnomes have to pay him tribute and hound him endlessly with questions as they research him. Pyrothraxus does kill off some of the gnomes every now and then, but the gnomes think these are acceptable losses in their stuff of the dragon.

Cities

Mount Nevermind - Capital
Arnisson
Ker-Stuart
Xenos

References

The Atlas of the Dragonlance World, p. xii
Darkness and Light, p. 47
Dragonlance Campaign Setting, p. 168-169
Tasslehoff's Map Pouch, "The Continent of Krynn" map
War of the Lance, p. 127-130

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This article has been viewed 2,339 times. It was added on July 18, 2005, and was last modified on October 19, 2005.

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