Carrying on with our personal stories, told by the gnomes who experienced the fall of Gnomeregan themselves, this time it is the story of Wizzlesprigg Fortimus Crossington Endeltire. If you have not read the two previous articles in this series, then I’d recommend doing so.
Disclaimer warning is warranted here, I think. This article deals with loss, deaths, maiming, personal horror, and related topics. If this sounds like something you don't need more of in your life, then please stop reading now, and if you are generally struggling with mental health then please seek help, whether that is in the form of talking to friends, family or a spiritual counsellor.
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"The name is Wizzlesprigg Fortimus Crossington Endeltire. Son of Endeltire Sr, one of four. "
Hardhy Lester: "Quite a mouthful"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I've always felt it lacked for a gnome personally. A few more middle names would've spiced it right up."
I'll have to disagree, I don't think his name needs more middle names to appear gnomish, I think it is quite clearly gnomish as it is.
Hardhy Lester: "You were in Gnomeregan when High Tinkerer Mekkatorque decided to flood the lower levels with radiation?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I was indeed there on that day. Not directly on the lower levels of course, but at the time I resided in Gnomeregan nonetheless."
Hardhy Lester: "Can you tell me what you were doing that evening when the alarm went off and the evacuation started?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Well, there I was cooking up another fantastic meal for the family, of course I AM the best cook in our family, even if my sister would say otherwise. Smooth Roasted Boar, with a side of tubers. You never forget these kinds of things, you see. So there I was, applying the lavender infused spice rub on the boar, and that’s when it hits, straight to the senses. The Blasting of Sirens. Now, is that an immediate reason to panic? Maybe for some people the blasting of the danger sirens would cause them to rush and stampede away. No, we took it in good stride, after all sometimes these sirens may go off for minor explosions in a district, factory fires, rogue machines. You know everyday occurrences."
I was starting to think this would be quite a different story than the first, the man seemed calm, collected, even to the point of displaying a sort of sarcastic distance to it all. But oh boy was I wrong.
Hardhy Lester: "So how long time passed before you realized it was serious?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Well, I put the boar back to keep it warm, and that’s when my Father, Wizzius Scumbletorp Trinker Endeltire Sr thought to go out and see why the sirens and alarms where blaring. Get some insight from the neighbours. Now, father goes out to see what the commotion is, talks to the nice old lady next door. And then comes back with a face of dread."
Hardhy Lester: "This is when you realized it was serious?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Well, far am I to question my father, he came in and directed me to assemble my siblings. "
Hardhy Lester: "Mhm. Big family?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I'm one of four Oldest of the family."
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"So I go and find my sister, Sprigglewizz. And one of the twins, Thimbobizzle. The other of the twins was out on duty you see, part of the local guard force. And that’s when he hits us with the news, never seen his moustache stand so still. "
Hardhy Lester: "And then you let the boar be and evacuated?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"'The radiation pressure valves have been released' He said, cold as stone. 'Gather what we need and leave'. "
Considering how calmly he was retelling the story I can say for a fact this man resembles his father in this regard.
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Of course I had to leave the boar, I can’t carry a hot tray in an emergency. Fortunately, being used to minor gas leaks and such from all the usual activity, we had basic packs prepared. The only problem was we had no way to find the other of the twins who was on guard duty. We trusted him to find his own way out, he was always the most responsible of the two."
This felt a bit like foreshadowing, and I was already dreading how this would end.
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Now I don’t know if you've ever seen pictures or the such of Gnomeregan in its prime. But boy can the streets get busy."Article continues after the ad.
Hardhy Lester: "I'll take your word for it"
I have actually not been able to find any material portraying the city in its heyday’s - I assume archives and everything where lost.
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Of course, this is a time where you have some panicking and hurrying to get out. At some parts of our journey to the outside we witnessed things no gnome should ever want to see again. I talk of course about the selfishness of a person. Deep down I know there is a primal instinct of self-preservation, that will manifest in varying degrees in these situations in people. But to see gnomekind clambering and trampling over others in a desperate bid to flee? "
The way he said this had a big impact on me, you could almost feel the disappointment, the sheer despair, the way he had been shook to his bones. How he had this naive idea that gnomes where somehow better people who always put others before themselves, and how that fantasy had been forever broken and torn away from him that day horrible day.
Hardhy Lester: "Cannot have been a pretty sight"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I suppose I thought better of us."
Hardhy Lester: "As you say, primal self preservation"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I saw a lady with her two younglings, pushed aside from the streets by a maniac in his newest arachno-transport. Who thinks to bring their heavy-duty machinery into a crowded street?! Looting of houses and shops, riots in some districts. I suppose it's still better then what happened to those below at the very least."
Hardhy Lester: "In a way. Did all of you make it out?"
I think I almost held my breath while waiting for the answer, worried what I would be told. As I mentioned in the last article, the interview with Glinda Greensprocket, then nearly 83% of all gnomes died that day. An unbelievable number, and there is no statistical chance that anyone made it out without losing a lot of people they cared about.
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Well, those of us that left at the time all travelled as one and made it out, taken in by a nice Dwarven family. We never had any news of the younger twin though."
Hardhy Lester: "I'm sorry to hear that. My condolences."
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"He could still be down there, fighting back the lepers and troggs. Hopefully one day we'll retake the city and be able to log all the casualties and missing."
Yeah. We all saw that coming unfortunately, and while I admire his hopes of one day seeing his lost brother than I don't find it likely.
Hardhy Lester: "Does it impact your day to day life much these days?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"I've heard recently they've made breakthrough with the blight situation in Lordaeron and of course know from the incident of the soldiers at the Wrath Gate, that dragons can counter extreme disease. Maybe one day we'll find a method to clear out the radiation. Honestly, as sad as it is, it doesn't. Would I love to return to Gnomeregan? Of course, but in a way if not for the incident I may not have travelled the world and found out as much as I have. "
Hardhy Lester: "You take part in the reclaiming effort at all? donate money? time?"
Wizzlesprigg Endeltire:"Hmm the reclaiming, my family still lives in the Dun Morogh area so have helped how they can. But me? I'm merely a chef. I’m not really suited to the combat life of combatting the lepers or Troggs. I’m certainly not as good of an engineer as my father, although im still not shabby. My sister did learn of the Light from the dwarven family that housed us, and she offers healing services to those who need it."
It may have started out as a sombre interview, with mostly stating facts and a bit of entertainment in his description of what was going on at the time, but it quickly took a turn, and even if the foreshadowing was there than it still hit me to see the reflection of loss, pain, and desperation in his eyes towards the end. A story which shows not only the loss of his sibling, but also the loss of something more, a belief in what gnomanity is, or was, in his eyes. All shattered that day.
As with Glinda's story, then there is more to this interview, but we will revisit that in a later article, for now we move on to the next article and the story of Bruce Medcog.