Amertod

The ancient gnomish city of Amertod is thought to be the origin of modern philosophy, civilisation, and thought. It is here that are held most interspeciel concils, such as the Interspeciel Council of civilised life-forms, the Interspeciel Council of Nations and Cities, and the Interspeciel Court.

History
The city of Amertod has a long and tumultuous history, and it has undergone many changes throughout its existence. Writing a full history is actually impossible, and even what we know would take centuries, so under here are only the most important stages in its long history.

Founding
Amertod was founded in about 6000 BA, and all we know about the founders is that they were most likely gnomes. It was not the first gnomish settlement, but it is the oldest surviving one.

Gnomes were, being relatively small and thus needing to spend less time on such primordial matters as food and building, at the time and still today the most intellectually advanced civilisation, at least by their standards. They went so far as discovering magic there before 3000 BA, and immediately declared that only species which had discovered it (which was at that time limited to gnomes) could be considered civilised.

Destruction
In 0 AA, Amertod was destroyed by an immense blast caused by an alchemical experiment gone awry. The explosion knocked the city to the ground and many people died, including, of course, the perpetrator of the experiment (who never found out whether it had succeeded). A huge crater was created, centered around the city, and it quickly filled up with seawater and became the gulf now known as Amertod’s Grave.

The start of a new era was agreed upon by the surviving gnomic scholars (the ones who had been abroad during the explosion) and the city was rebuilt on the shores of Amertod’s grave. Millenia of research and knowledge were lost, and it significantly slowed the progress of gnomic learning, especially as most of the books were unique to Amertod because the other species were not deemed worthy of owning a copy.

The cataclysm surely evened the gap between gnomes and other species, and it is incredible now to behold the splendor and advancement of Gnomic technology and to think that it is still not as grand or advanced as it was even three thousand years before the event.

Forming of the first Interspeciel council
The first interspeciel council to be formed in Amertod (and the whole of the Peninsula) was the Interspeciel Council of Civilised Life-forms. Over four centuries ago in 1098 AA, the gnomish central city of Amertod was simultaneously visited by ‘ambassadors’ from the dwarven Havenpleck, the elven civilisations of Vrenitë and the twin Varae, and several dozen Human city-states. They argued that they had built cities, empires, and writing systems and had sophisticated modes of transport, but according to the gnomic system, they were not civilised.

The elder gnomic scholars agreed that, yes, the other species of the Abar-Nerodic peninsula did seem moderately tame, and that, yes, they would look into a new system. They were quite embarrassed at their misunderstanding, as the gnomic definition of civilisation was severely outdated, and the vast majority of the gnomic race had never given a thought to this system that had been put in place so long ago.

So was formed the Interspeciel Council of Civilised Life-forms, which at the time of its creation included the gnomes, the elves, the humans (but not the Khyagete), and the dwarves. All species belonging to the Interspeciel Council were taught the use and understanding of magic, in order to promote equality and fairness between species. However, certain species are innately more skilled at the arcane manipulation of the six magical essences, and so most supremely skilled mages are gnomes or elves. But every species is more or less capable of magic.