The Wonderhome
Realm of Gond
Location: Outlands / Ringlands
Now the Wonderhome, the realm of Gond the Wonderbringer—here’s a place as unique as a two-headed coin. Picture a citadel where the gears of imagination never stop turning, where every clank and whirr is a hymn to invention, a place that would make even the most jaded Sigilite lift an eyebrow.
Stepping into Wonderhome is like walking into a grand inventor’s workshop, but on the scale of a city. The air buzzes with energy, the kind that makes the hair on your head stand up and your brain-box tingle. Everywhere you look, there’s movement: gears turning, steam hissing, levers clanking. The sky itself is a kaleidoscope of flying machines, some flapping like birds, others whirring with spinning blades.
The streets of Wonderhome are lined with buildings that seem to be part workshop, part living creature. Pipes twist and turn along the walls like vines, and windows blink open and shut with mechanical eyelids. You’ll hear the constant rhythm of hammers on anvils, the sizzle of welding torches, and the occasional boom of a new invention being tested—or exploding, as the case may be.
The air is thick with the smells of oil, burning coal, and hot metal, mixed with the occasional whiff of some alchemical concoction bubbling away in a pot. It’s a heady aroma that speaks of hard work and relentless creativity. A cutter walking through the wrong, or the right, cloud of coloured gas escaping from a laboratory might find themselves affected as if they’d drunk a random potion. It’s not uncommon to find yourself doubled in size, moving at incredible speeds, healed or unexpectedly levitating… all in the space of an hour.
In Wonderhome, cutting edge inventions take on a fantastical twist. Imagine a “horseless carriage” – here called a gondroller – powered by a fire elemental trapped in a metal cage, its heat turning the gears and wheels. Or an “internal combustion engine” that’s actually a complex system of magical runes and enchanted pistons, fuelled by bottled lightning. Gond is famous for his flying machines; mechanical devices powered by whirling spiral sails rather than magic, which of course means they still function in the magic-dead areas of the Spire.
The crown jewel of Wonderhome is the High House of Wonders, a grand temple that doubles as an exhibition hall. Here, Gond’s most legendary creations are displayed: clocks that predict the weather, self-writing quills, boots that let you walk on walls and ceilings, and so much more. It’s a place where the line between magic and mechanics blurs into insignificance, and a beacon to all who believe that the world can always be improved, piece by piece, idea by idea.
To visit Wonderhome is to step into a world where the impossible becomes possible, where every new invention opens a door to a dozen more ideas. It’s a place that fills a body with awe and wonder, but also a bit of trepidation—because in Wonderhome, the next great invention could be marvellous or monstrous, and sometimes both.
Canonical Sources:
- Dragon Magazine #333 [3e] p50 (wondrous item: pouch of black essence)
- On Hallowed Ground [2e] p181 (mentioned in a table)
Source: Jon Winter-Holt
