Gnomish Vassalage

The original inhabitants of Old Hakan, the Gnomes and the Halflings, each handled its annexation around 2570 BI in different ways. As the Halflings began their diaspora (which continues into the present age), the Gnomes remained to fight bitterly for their homes in an insurrection that lasted for centuries. Aided by the Dwarves, the Gnomes were a constant thorn in their occupiers' sides, and though they were fiercely and even brutally punished on a regular basis, the Gnomes never fully submitted their homeland to the Empire.

Things continued this way for some three-hundred years, until the Peace of Three Nations was signed in 2112 BI. Among other things, this treaty specified that, rather than giving aid to the Gnomes, the Dwarves would take them on as vassals in their own kingdom. Old Hakan was dissolved, and the Gnomes were forced to integrate into Dwarven culture. As before, Gnomish stubbornness never allowed them to fully submit, and although they lived peaceably enough with the Dwarves, the Gnomes clung fiercely to their heritage, and would always remember how they got to where they were.

After the creation of the new Hakan following Alexandria's Crusade, many Gnomes found their long wait and bitter memories vindicated, and as a result, Gnomish culture is deeply marked by overwhelming--almost fanatically so--national pride.