| Category | Races |
| Type | Gnome sub-race |
| Alias | Forest Gnome |
| Creation | 9 Bliss 8750 DE |
| Language | Gnim |
| Native | Bal-Kriav |
Forest gnomes, or Forstneblin in Gnim, are one of three gnome races created by Callarduran. Their civilization originated on the continent of Hezmort within the world of Bal-Kriav. During the Demon Spawn War ( 89 GE - 269 GE ) , this continent was invaded by the demon lord Jurusalax. The gnomes, who were then a single people, were greatly threatened, prompting their Creator, Callarduran, to directly intervene and fight in the battles. While Hezmort was significant, it was not deemed essential to the Covenant's overarching strategic objectives. Commanders such as Ares, Athena, and Naraz-Nâru recognized that they could not save every land, and some would have to be sacrificed.
The enemy's numbers overwhelm us by a ratio of one hundred to one. We cannot be present in, nor defend, every sector - some must be forsaken for the sake of ultimate triumph.
Ares, an excerpt from the Thuaxor Keozhal - "Strategem 11"
Ares dispatched his brilliant commander Asmodeus to Hezmort, ordering all angelic forces to withdraw. Callarduran, the first great leader of the Gnomes, refused to abandon his creations, the only soldiers fighting the demons pouring through the Núlananya Rift. Two camps emerged under Callarduran: around 5,000 gnomes stayed and fought, hoping for victory, while others adhered to the Covenant's order to pull out of Hezmort. The first group, who would become known as the Gimrune, endured the lash of their new demon masters. The retreating group split, with one faction of around 4,000 fleeing into the Krephus Sink and becoming the Svirfneblin, the deep gnomes. The last group, terrified of an underground existence, were transported by Covenant dirigible airships to Brucrumus and other areas, becoming known as the Forstneblin.
After departing the shores of Hezmort, the Forstneblin were dispersed on the winds. They descended across the Brucrumus mainland. It is due to this "Scattering," as they refer to it, that Forstneblin civilizations remain so diminutive. Isolated from one another, they also exhibit vastly divergent cultures - some amicable, some xenophobic, and some as malevolent as the typical goblin.
The Forstneblins maintain a deep connection with nature Some even integrate with the surrounding natural energy, achieving a state of transcendence.