Gnome
A gnome is a member of the smallest and oldest race of Humanoid creatures, created by the god Gnotan during the Age of Tranquility.
According to legend, Gnotan carved his gnomes directly from the land, sculpting wood and stone into people before breathing life into them. Thus, gnomes are typically divided into "forest gnomes" and "rock gnomes," with some physical and cultural differences between the two, though both populations are generally friendly with each other and often intermingle.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Though gnomes appear similar to other humanoids, their internal workings are much more similar to a large flightless bird.
Biological Traits
Gnomes range from roughly two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half feet tall. Unusually for humanoids, female gnomes tend to be slightly taller than male gnomes on average. Their build is thinner and longer-limbed than the other familiar short humanoid species, the halfling (gnomes and halflings are often lumped together by outside groups but are both biologically and culturally unrelated). Rock gnomes tend to be stronger and much more dense than forest gnomes, and a rock gnome may weigh five to ten pounds more than a forest gnome with a visually similar build.
The average lifespan for a gnome is 400 years, though the oldest known gnomes have lived past 600. Gnomes seem to live somewhat longer in environments that match their original heritage; rock gnomes age noticeably faster in wet climates, for instance.
Genetics and Reproduction
Gnome children tend to take almost entirely after one parent or the other, as if made of the same material. Which parent the baby will resemble is speculated upon far more than its sex, which does not develop until four to six years into the child's life.
Growth Rate & Stages
Gnomes mature relatively quickly, given their long lifespan. Forest gnomes reach full maturity in their late teens and rock gnomes reach full maturity in their early twenties.
Most gnomes find that their personality and preferences change suddenly after several decades, in an event known in Gnomish as the re-gnäissansce. They are often seized with a strong urge to cut many social ties, move elsewhere, or even change religions or professions. It is commonplace in Gnomish culture to hold quasi-funerals at these events in memory of the old version of the gnome, though these are slightly happier events than a true funeral and are usually organized by the "deceased" themselves.
In the last twenty to fifty years of a gnome's life, they will slowly begin to resemble the element they are made of. Rock gnomes turn craggy and are prone to crumbling, while forest gnomes grow barklike skin and begin to resemble old, gnarled trees. Most gnomes who die of old age are fully or nearly rigid and immobile by their deaths.
Average Height
2.5-3.5 ft.
Average Weight
25-50 lbs.
Related Organizations
Related Ethnicities
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