The Gnomes (
Background
Before the Great Collapse, the Gnomes, at that time called the Kinship of the Earth, received the Lost Zem from the Goddess. Under its watchful protection, the society flourised, until one day they came in conflict with the inheritors of the Arc Rouge.
Following the great battle that ensued, the Arc Rouge and Lost Zem fused to form the Great One. Realizing that this power was too great for humans to control, the Kinships of Blaze and Earth worked together to seal the Great One away, with the Kinship of the Blaze splitting the power into seven, and the kinship of Earth crafting seven vessels for the power. Following this, the kinship renamed themselves to the Gnomes.
In the Dark Ages, during the incident of the Dark Dragon, the chief of the Gnomes persuaded the elder of the Hexen Clan to guide Emperor Hector I to become the Awakener of the Deus-Excellion Testa-Rossa. The elder of the Hexen clan reluctantly agreed, and Zoro-Agruga was slain, however there were many casualties in this incident, including the Emperor and the Hexen Elder, and both Testa-Rossa and the Holy Beast of Earth were inflicted with the curse.
Following this, the chief of the Gnomes approached the new Hexen Elder, Roselia, as well as the Emperor, and spoke to them about a Prophecy of the World's End, before formally cutting off contact.
For the next 700 years, the Gnomes were never seen, however it is said by Roselia that they were secretly behind many of the incidents that plagued the Empire since.
Black Workshop
The Black Workshop is one of the Thirteen Factories.
It was first mentioned in Trails of Cold Steel II. Despite efforts of the Imperial Army's Intelligence Division's efforts to locate the Workshop, its current whereabouts are unknown. Chancellor Giliath Osborne is known to have done business with the Black Workshop through the Intelligence Division, but connections were shut down around the end of S.1203.
Trails of Cold Steel III reveals the true identity of the Black Workshop as the Gnomes. After the corruption of their Holy Beast of Earth, the Gnomes vanished from Erebonian history in the fourth century after the Great Collapse. They resurfaced several centuries later under the alias of the Black Workshop in preparation of their Great Twilight in collaboration with Giliath Osborne.
Constructions
The Gnomes are responsible for building Spirit Shrines across Erebonia. Built on top of septium veins, they were constructed to encourage the formation of massive Zemurian Ore crystals. These crystals were in turn used to create the Deus-Excellion.
One of the Deus-Excellion, Valimar, confirmed that the Old Schoolhouse behind Thors Military Academy was also built by the gnomes. It demonstrates the incredible technology the gnomes worked with, such as large-scale phase space, the expansion of flexible materials as well the development of the trial system Class VII faced in Trails of Cold Steel.
The artificial creation of the Originator Zero units Millium and Altina Orion. Cultivated in tubes, the girls were adjusted to link with combat shells, for which the Black Workshop is also responsible, and afterwards sold to customers. Millium gained consciousness in the care of Chancellor Giliath Osborne in S.1199 and the Ironbloods whereas Altina was ultimately "loaned" to the Noble Alliance during the Erebonian Civil War. This was ultimately revealed to be a ruse however, as Osborne had managed to secretly subvert control of the Black Workshop away from the rest of the Thirteen Factories by S.1204 and had Altina dispatched to aid the Ironbloods primary member Rufus Albarea in his mission to weaken the Noble Alliance from within.
It is thought that the weapon used by C to fake his own death and assassinate Chancellor Osborne was also developed in the Black Workshop. It is also believed that the Gospel, the Black Orbment from Trails in the Sky FC, and the combat shells that accompanied Georg Weissmann in Trails in the Sky SC have also been manufactured by the Black Workshop.
List of Gnomes
Leader
- Black Alberich, also known as Alberich of the Black Demise.
Members
- George Nome, also known as Georg of Copper.
