Spriggan

Spriggan -noun-Old Gnomish meaning "Large, Big, Pile of Heavy Rocks, Strong, Hill, Bore, Churlish,Greedy,Crass, Uncouth. Loud. Fearless.Giant”

Spriggan also refers to two groups of Gnomes.

City Spriggans A slang term for a sub/counter culture made up mostly of the now late adolescent/ young adult/Adult offspring of Free Gnome refugees resettled in the Hakan city area after the Gnomish Civil War. Originally used as a pejorative insult, it was embraced as a means of removing the word’s negative social power. Effort was moderately successful.

Known to be an iconoclastic, deviant, youth characterized by long dyed red hair and dyed mustaches and cosmetically augmented copper/reddish/clay skin tones, outrageous forms of dress,Large hats, loud dissonant music and the performative mocking of the majority of traditional Hakoni social conventions attacking them as “Dwarffish” and “Mentally Vassalized.

They are also militantly insulted by the term “Wild Gnomes' ' as they strive to increase the growing consensus around the term to consider it to be an offensive Dwarvish term of condescension and reflective of inherit Dwarven supremacist attitudes.

They are stereotypically, pronouncedly cynical of the political process seeing the entirety of Gnomish society woefully tainted by the Dwarven cultural influence and must be cleansed by a full rejection of all Dwarven norms and for full Gnomish reconciliation with all three “families" of the Gnomish race including the so called Breaker Gnomes.

Individually they may be consumed with Sprigg The Shrewd lore or may simply wear the fashion and engage as an affectation or means to an end to gain a platform. It’s ultimately secondary to them.

And

CLAN SPRIGGAN

The chosen name of a large extended clan of self proclaimed Gnomish lords, mercenaries who historically have lived in the Scar region of Gildenhome since before the Gnomish Vassalage. With a reputation for being cantankerous, greedy, crass and boorish but also stalwart allies and formidable fighters and knowledgeable in the ways of the runic arts, the source of their magical ability to grow over "three gnomes tall!"

This is a reputation carefully cultivated by the Clan over the centuries but it has become seemingly much more pronounced in the decades following the Gnomish Civil War. These self proclaimed “lords of the Scar” claim a large swath of territory in the Scar lands, geographically these holdings are a huge portion of territory in comparison to the other clans of free Gnomes who lived in the region but most of these were far from prime hunting lands but instead rough and hard territory even in the Scar, undesired by other other clans…. Thought by some to be haunted and to the superstitious the old lands of the near mythical Duergar,

History . The members of Clan Spriggan boast that they can trace their bloodline back to their Clan’s founding in the time of the Demi Pantheon. They trace this directly from the legendary folk hero Sprigg the Shrewd in the centuries before even the Gnomish insurrection via kinship with the heroes’ mortal mother Gretnannah Nurue.

It is via this connection that they claim their identity as the clanmates of Sprigg but also Alandradar of the Demi-Pantheon and this forms the basis for their boasts as “Lords of The Scar.” Thus while Sprigg is a folklore hero to all Gnomes the members of Clan Spriggan claim a direct kinship and de facto inheritance. Suffice it to say how much stock and how literally this is taken varies with Clan Spriggan taking the most militant of stances as to its veracity while other Gnomes take them much more and more figuratively if at all.

In the Clan Spriggan’s telling of their origins Gretnannah Nurue seduced the Demi-God while he was in disguise as one of her hostages from a recent raid. A common ploy he allegedly used too often in his dalliances with mortals. However, according to the story Nurue knew the truth of Alandradar’s identity and purposefully saved his seed so that she might via deceit conceive the child of a Demigod for her own purposes.

Clan Activities

The Spriggan’s primarily and historically have survived and even thrived in the Scar via hunting and trapping and gathering, formerly specializing in exotic beasts but in recent centuries they have earned quite a reputation and significant earnings via serving as mercenaries. Most frequently in the service of Gildenhome as proxy forces against organized servitor tribes along the Gilden-Scar border areas, this also included allegations of slave trading in servitors, this is categorically denied by Clan Spriggan however who firmly assert that the collection of bounties of those labeled criminals and rebels does not amount to slave trading.

In general, every 25 years a cohort is called from each of the families to send two of their young people coming of “earning age” to come and put in their work for the clan. These young Gnomes are organized either into large units of 20-50 or more often small bands of 4-6 among their cousins to ply their trade as mercenaries and adventurers for hire or to in some way be “enterprising” for the Clan. They specialize in countering servitor encroachments along frontier areas as well as hostage recovery, standard bodyguarding, witch finding, bounty hunting, regulating banditry inside of the law, to extortion, protagonism and brigandry outside of the law and all manner of activities in between. These cohorts operate for about 25 years however those highly profitable can earn their tour early. These bands of gnomes are expected to put aside one third of their total earnings for the Clan’s coffers, which has been a profitable enterprise but it only a cover for the true driver of the Clan’s fortunes, which is their focus on expeditions into underground caverns or mines, seeking the ruins of the ancient Dwarven Mountainhome in fact reports of underground ruins of any kind.

They have a chief interest in any strange reports about unusual sights, activities, encounters or locations underground and while such expeditions actually finding something is rare and the perils are pronounced such expeditions are incredibly profitable for the Clan on a man power basis. They are relentless in their pursuit of more knowledge of Rune Magic and lore of the ancient past of the Scar.

Clan Spriggan was one of the most vocal among the Free Gnome delegations against the arming and training of servitors as proxy soldiers against the Dwarves. As many of these tribes had been at war with Clan Spriggan for generations and Clan Spriggan made significant earnings in the service of the Dwarves fighting against the Servitors, they both financially and on a personal and emotional level saw this as a malicious act against them directly. As such, with all major Gnome conflicts, Clan Spriggan was in the thick of battle using their power of size and runecraft to frightening effect on the field of battle. However they like others felt that ultimately the mass banishment of the so called Breaker Gnomes was perhaps too extreme of a sanction at the wars end and withdrew in protest and returned home to the Scar. War time, however gave them a greater taste for the comforts of city life and it’s temptations and libations.

More and more of the Clan divide their time between their homes and the cities of their cousins the Hakani.

TO BE EDITED