Conquest of the Horde

We know that Gallywix is one of the most reviled racial leaders and he's considered one of the most cunning, cutthroat goblins out there. Despite that I did find that:

His father was a failure:

Quote:My pop saw the lack of taxes as a fringe benefit. I saw the muddy street and the irradiated garbage. Even the rats were moving out. My pop thought he was gonna make it big someday with a world-shaking invention. I knew it was only a matter of time before he blew us up, and I had decided the night before to run away and become a pirate like my ma.

And despite that, he still cared for his father when he was successful:

Quote:By the time Pop’s deadline rolled around, half of the businesses on the block had joined my Copper Street Conglomerate. I’d moved out by then, but I sent him three crates of dynamite, a blast suit, and a bonus.
Yeah, you’re right. That was a little soft. But remember, I was ten, genius. I made my first million macaroons right around the time that you caught the sklaz from swimming through the toxic oil slick around Garzak Oatburner’s Healthy Foods factory.
Besides, he was my pop. And I take care of things that are mine.

Gallywix does encourage the reader to sell out their family and friends, however.

Gallywix experienced love at first sight

Quote:I’d never met the trade prince’s daughter, Nessa. My researcher had said she’d bought a blue dress and a diamond dragonfly hairclip for the party. He’d added that she looked “stunning". I’d fired him, naturally. But when I saw Nessa from across the party, I realized that for the first time in my life, I owed someone an apology.
She was so beautiful that you’d believe she was getting paid overtime for it. Skin the color of the deep green sea, eyes as dark as midnight in an emerald mine. The shine of her coiled hair made the diamond clip look cheap.
An invisible hand pulled me by the lungs through the crowd to her. I couldn’t be stopped. I knew that I had to get control back here; Plan A depended on my getting her away from the party and into the hands of the kidnap squad so that Maldy would surrender without a fight.
“Wanna dance?” I said, tossing Plan A out the window.
“Why not?” she replied. I realized she’d watched me come over the whole way. Outstanding. “Nandirx here is boring the life out of me.”
I spun her away from the devastated little banker towards the middle of the dance floor. We chatted as we danced, but I couldn’t tell you about what. I felt drunk. My ambitions were in big trouble. If I moved against her father, I’d lose my chance at her, and let me tell you, her beauty was even more staggering up close. I had to play it cool.
“Marry me,” I blurted.

Though the romance was one-sided, and very short lived.

Vol'jin's entire story shown that the loa gave him visions of the future, including joining the Horde, and Cairne's death to Garrosh. I also feel it is an insightful narrative to some of the trollish ways, especially becoming a shadow hunter.

One of the quotes actually gave a good explanation on why Zul'jin could not grow his arm back and explains trollish regeneration well.

Quote:He wanted to scream to the stars above, but he bit his lips till they bled, rocking back and forth. He made no sound. The thumb would grow back cleanly. All trolls were blessed by the loa with some regeneration. They could regrow fingers and toes, even if more complex parts like limbs and organs were beyond their abilities. It would take some time, but he would be whole again.

From this we can deduce that minor parts like digits and teeth could likely regeneration but anything complex like a limb or organ can not.

Unfortunately the story starts off pretty slapstick and still holds some of the vibe that "gnomes are a joke race." There are some pretty serious things though if you can ignore the bits of jokes they pepper in. I'm still reading through this one but I thought these were interesting to share.

Dwarves could have perhaps influenced some of the gnomish psyche over the years:

Quote:Perhaps the dwarves were rubbing off on him. Or maybe being home again, finally out from under the eyes of pitying benefactors and worrying citizens, he felt as if the curtains were drawn and he didn't have to be high tinker. Here, finally, he could be Gelbin. And Gelbin could feel sad; Gelbin could feel betrayed; and Gelbin could feel furious and heartbroken about the damnable injustice of it all.
He growled and swung at the wall again, relishing the blunt pain in his knuckles and the satisfying clang that reverberated through the iron hallways around him. If nothing else, spending time with the dwarves had made his people stronger, more comfortable with their physical prowess than ever before in the gnomes' scholarly history. The dwarves had mastered the indelicate art of melee combat in a world made up of beings who were often more than double their stature, while the gnomes had generally focused on escaping and avoiding such conflict. But these years of hardship and survival amongst their burlier allies had, for better or for worse, given the gnomes a combatant edge. Gelbin saw more gnomes wielding swords, donning armor, and talking back to Tall Folk than ever before.
"Well," he mumbled, "the talking back hasn't helped our already shrinking numbers."

The idea of a "traitorous" gnome is nearly inconceivable:

Quote:A Gnomeregan gnome who acted against his kind was an impossibility, a fluke, an inconceivable aberration. Unlike the dwarves, the gnomes had no previous history of internecine violence. Theirs had been a past free of warlords and violent factions. Generally speaking, gnomes simply didn't fight gnomes. In a world of lions, tigers, furbolgs, and Tall Folk, his people had to rely on each other. It went without saying. That was why gnomes didn't need the primitive primogeniture that had caused so much bloodshed amongst other races of Azeroth, and had shifted away from monarchy centuries ago. Gnomes elected their leaders by common consent, based on the merits of their work. Merit that was entirely quantifiable in its benefits to the race. To act in a way harmful to one's kind, to lust after power in spite of the cost to one's people—that was something a dwarf would do, or an orc. It was undoubtedly human. But how could a gnome bring about the near extinction of the gnomes?

I also thought it was interesting when faced with grief and mental hardship, Gelbin thought about prime numbers. It may seem like a joke but I do find numbers can be relaxing and entertaining to think about depending on your mindset.