Kupfer Keep

Kupfer Keep
Keep
Nickname(s): The Realm of Copper
Motto(s): WIP
Anthem: WIP
Kingdom	Maereltsyn-Aakhan
Settled	14 AC
Founded by	Oskar Zickle-Woggle
Seat	Cultural, Political
Government
• Type	Monarchy
• Body	Royal Court
• High-King (founder)	Oskar Zickle-Woggle
• High-King (current)	Oskar Zickle-Woggle
Population
• Total	33

Kupfer Keep is the Capital of the Gnomish kingdom of Gnibelhaym, located in central Adelaar, and a regional member of Sundorboren.

History

Oskar Zickle-Woggle has seen a lot of change throughout his long life of over four centuries. He has tasted the fruits of victory but also the bitter brew of defeat, whilst seeing entire Kingdoms and Empires rise and crumble around him. He has also seen his own home of Gnibelhaym, the original Kingdom of the Gnomes in the North of Adellar, fall into ruin along with what little remained of his people scattered to the wind. Despite all that fate has thrown at him over the years, he endures, and he is determined to endure for however long it takes to see his people thrive once more.

This determination has seen him through trials and tribulations that eventually led his path towards becoming the High-King of the Gnomish Kingdom of Kupfer Keep, the “Realm of Copper”. Many of the remaining Gnomes that were in hiding from the Rhuumish diaspora converged on Kupfer Keep and with them came a new and brighter future for the Gnomes, one that saw a mighty mountain home being built. Grand halls were carved from the very earth itself, along with great mines and farms. Forges were built, and the fires of industry were alit with inspiration once more. The walls and great stone columns were adorned with Copper, a plentiful resource that held a religious prestige amongst Gnomes for its connection to their creator, Grandfather Kyria. Great buildings on the surface were also built, to showcase both Gnomish engineering skill and their willingness to no longer be as secretive and detached as their ancestors once were. 

From what was once an abandoned Mountain now was becoming a bustling metropolitan powerhouse upon the continent of Adellar. The High-King personally helped build and designed many of the great projects and buildings that dotted Kupferian Lands, driven by a burning ambition still inside of him to call upon for any challenge that might cross his way. Even in old age and seeing all this great success, Oskar was determined to continue on to see his people move themselves into a new Golden Age.

Keep in mind, that some important background is needed to set the scene for Oskar's appearance onto the world stage. You see, Gnomes were traditionally well regarded by the other races on the planet to be jovial and friendly creatures with a good sense of honor. Nowadays, Gnomes have a rather rough reputation when it comes to past events in the last century that have left a stain on their race for many years to come. However, before we get to all that, we must examine what is in a name. What is a "ZickleWoggle"? Other than it being a curious name, and a rare one at that. It is actually a surname! One that came about due to the union of two Gnome families many centuries ago. The Noble Zickles, and the Commoner family of Woggles, both united in a story of forbidden love between members Albus Zickle and Katarin Woggle. These two houses were able to put aside their differences for the sake of the love between their kin and thus the new "Zickle-Woggle" family was born, which unbenknownst to them was fated to play an important role in shaping the very future of the Gnomish race on Adelaar.

Flash-forward in time to a few generations later, and we have their great-great Grandson, Oskar, who was born underground in the Capital city of a rising Gnomish Kingdom. Until recently the Gnomes exclusively lived underground, but many decided to brave the "surface world" seeking new life and opportunity and soon built settlements on the surface. This facilitated trade and communication with other races and began to make the Gnomes develop into less of an isolationist society and more into an open and inviting one. Some Gnomes were against these "fast changes" and they wished to go back to the way things were. However, some other Gnomes began to take to their expansion on the surface to be a sort of "Gnome-ifest Destiny" to settle and colonize the lands above for themselves, much to the dismay of other local civilizations and races. This particular faction of Gnomes were once known to be extremists, but unfortunately, as time went on their numbers and ideologies of hate spread amongst the populace by playing into their fears and providing quick and easy answers to their problems. Through this, Leaders of this new faction eventually rose to the highest levels of Government and installed essentially an absolute monarch at the top that served as a figure head to lead the Gnomes in their attempted conquest of the continent. Many young "Gnomlings", such as Oskar, were swept up in this movement because the new government gave them a sense of new-found purpose in their lives. Oskar and his friends joined with their Kingdom's military and were soon sent off to fight in the coming conflicts of their nation. With War of Conquest in full swing, Oskar quickly rose through the ranks and after fighting several battles was to eventually rise to the rank of Colonel and even lead his own small regiment. But with this promotion also came problems, Oskar began to grow weary of warfare and fighting and he started to develop a strong distate over his people's regime for the amount of suffering they were inflicting upon the other nearby races, leading him to eventually develop a bad habit of turning to strong alcoholic-brews to help him cope with it all. However, things would take a turn for the worse as their successful campaigns on the surface began to come at a heavy price, their already limited numbers were squeezed dry due to prolonged warfare and overextension. Soon, Oskar and his people were driven back with heavy losses, as the other peoples of Adelaar fought back with a vengeance and managed to push the Gnomes back into their underground strongholds. With the threat pacified, the people on the surface went back to their homes, being fully unaware of the carnage they caused underground due to their action. You see, this great defeat turned into civil strife in the Gnome-ish lands and this led to a decades long Civil War between Gnomish factions that resulted in their already dwindling numbers being at a critical point and their people being scattered and lost to the wind. With their once great Kingdom in ruins, the remaining few Gnomes on the continent of Adelaar simply "vanished" and went into hiding. Being so rare that the surface dwellers thought them extinct.

However, during the ensuing chaos, Oskar and several of his family were able to escape and went into hiding. They decided to remain further underground because they believed that if any of the surface dwellers saw them they'd be captured or killed for revenge over their people's Wars of Conquest. The proceeding years were harsh, with Oskar and his band barely living off of nothing but mushrooms and cave moss and having to fight with the ever-roaming bands of Goblins and Undead that roamed the tunnels underneath. Eventually, they began to dwindle in numbers, and soon all that were left of the original seven that ventured were reduced to a mere three. The three that remained were Oskar, his brother Woskar, and their Cousin Juneberry. All three buried their recent dead and made the decision to venture to the surface and take their chances there rather than die forgotten underneath. It took several weeks for the group to find their way to the surface, eventually finding an ancient abandoned mine-shaft leading upwards, they finally saw natural sunlight for the first time in over a decade and were overwhelmed with joy. They then camped their first night within the entrance to the mine and would soon set off the next morning in an attempt to locate food and get the lay of the land. During the night, Oskar had a dream that would change his life forever... In this dream, he heard a voice call out to him, a voice that instead of driving him to fear actually gave him comfort and filled him with a sense of euphoria that he hasnt felt in years. The voice said gently: "Oskar. Our people have strayed from the light and embraced the darkness, I have chosen you to be my Champion and to set things right once again, for the betterment of all". Oskar was bewildered and overwhelmed, having a hard time taking in what was said to him. "Is this a hallucination?", Oskar said curiously. "No, Oskar. I have long been absent from our people's affairs and they have forgotten my call and embrace. I need you to help me in my endeavor to save our people before it is too late.", the voice said as it began to fade. Oskar answered, his voice uncertain, "But why, why me?". "All will be revealed in time, for now, you must journey to the abandoned settlement of Cathalos and from there you will see a nearby mountain that shall be your shield. I have spoken.", the voice answered as it began to sound like it was going further and further away. Before Oskar allowed the voice to escape into the void, he asked it one last question : "Wait! Wait! Who...Who are you?", and suddenly the voice answered back in kind - "You may call me Grandfather".

Jolting awake, Oskar woke up his sleeping Brother and Cousin and told them of what he had just experienced. At first they thought Oskar had finally gone mad, but they saw how determined he was to get to this "Cathalos", and so were supportive of him considering they had no other plan anyway. So it was decided, after a short breakfast of mushroom and eggs they took from a local bird nest, the ventured forth from the mine and started to look for a road of some sort, becoming incredibly lucky,they found one a few hours later with a sign-post that said "Cathalos- 3 Miles", pointing them into the right direction. A direction to perhaps their deaths...or perhaps to a new future.

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