There is not much known about the Gnomes ancient history, though due to their close relationship to dwarves referring to each other as cousins as well as appearance, size, and global distribution, it is possible that they are a cultural offshoot of the dwarves, presumptively dividing off sometime before the war of three hammers.

The first known point in their history is when they served in the second war aboard flying machines and submarines. After the second war, the gnomes taught the dwarves to build gyrocopters and firearms. The gnomes served the alliance well during the second war, but oddly, they withheld to send any personnel to help their allies throughout the burning legions invasion in the third war. Though their inventions assisted to turn the tables against the legion, the dwarves and humans were startled by the gnomes decision to withhold their courageous troops and pilots. Eventually it became known that during the outbreak of the third war, a swarm of troggs had attacked the city of gnomeregan and the gnomes were struggling to survive.

The conflict for gnomeregan lasted throughout most of the third war until the high tinker of gnomeregan, gelbin mekkatorque, was persuaded by his chief advisor, mekgineer sicco thermaplugg, to use the radiation generated by many gnome machines against the troggs by way of pumping the fumes through the air vents. Unluckily, many gnomes were trapped in the city and killed or destroyed by this scheme, eliminating nearly half of the gnomish race and turning almost all of the survivors who had remained in the city into crazed lepers. The weapon had little effect on the troggs, who simply absorbed the radiation, becoming even more dangerous. Thermaplugg was revealed to have gone insane and had planned this all along in a power-mad bid to rule all of gnomeregan, and according to the warcraft lore it's said that thermaplugg had the aid of the troggs.

The ragged gnomes that made it escaped to the safety of the dwarven stronghold of ironforge, where they try to rebuild their civilization. There, the high tinker started a plan to construct a giant tram between ironforge and the city stormwind. This tram ran through an underground river called the deeprun, and adopted that name. It was completed three years after the defeat of the burning legion on kalimdor. Thermaplugg's betrayal and the pain of the gnomes weighs heavily upon mekkatorque's shoulders.

Committed once again to the alliance's cause, the gnomes spend their time devising strategies and weapons that will help them retake their ravaged city and build a brighter future for their people. They start out at anvilmar and dun morogh and their home city is ironforge. They bring their cunning into battle with 4 classes to choose from namely; warlock, warrior, mage and rogue. They could mount mechanostriders and gryphons.

They all have the following racial traits:

Escape artist: activate to break out of a root or snare effect. 1.5 sec cast. 1 min cool-down

Expansive mind: +5% to intelligence.

Arcane Resistance: +10 to Arcane Resistance.

Engineering Specialist: 15 skill bonus to Engineering