Cliff Gnomes are Gnomes that live near cliffs on the island of Nimscodd and in the Gnomish pass area, having been considered their own offshoot culture since the time of the Hierarchy. They posses a strong cultural identity dating back to the time of the nomadic Hill Gnomes. In the days of the old Hierarchy Cliff Gnomes were often marginalized for this perceived connection to 'primitive' Hill Gnomes, and strictures forbidding contact led to many of them being isolated in remote places such as Nimscodd - an isolation that ultimately saved them during the collapse of the old Hierarchy.
The Cliff Gnomes of Nimscodd were spared from the fall of the old Hierarchy civilization during the Dragonwake because the kobolds didn't know how to build a fleet, only recently emerging from the dark caverns of the Dragonheights. After refugees of the old Hierarchy came to Nimscodd they pleaded to reconquer their old homes on the mainland, meanwhile the intermixing of Gnomish cultures from the mainland and Nimscodd began to loosen and when they finally returned home they all saw themselves as Cliff Gnomes