Ore Gnome
Gnomes who had to make do without Emain's Gem Baetylus, which is a required component of gnomish reproduction, give rise to generations of "ore gnomes" that lack a central crystal in their body. Instead, their flesh resembles ore. Gnomes, both crystal and ore, have mixed opinions on ore gnomes.
Basic Information
Anatomy
In contrast to the individual gem on a crystal gnome's body, ore gnomes are a mix of flesh and stone throughout, as the rock bound to them from before their birth grows with them.
Various types of ocular heterochromia are common among ore gnomes. Like crystal gnomes, their eye color is connected to the color of their seed crystal. Unlike crystal gnomes, an ore gnome's "seed crystal" frequently contains traces of a handful of different gemstones, as the powdered stones were effectively interchangeable and ended up mixed together as a consequence.
Genetics and Reproduction
Ore gnomes arise when gnomish communities settle in Droswal and fail to secure a steady supply of seed crystals from Emain. When the demand outstrips the supply on hand, it's been found that grinding down seed crystals into dust and incorporating the dust into ordinary sedimentary rock can artificially increase the number of usable seed "crystals" for the community to distribute. Whether these are effective is a matter of split opinion, as the magic that gnomes are born with is diminished through the use of these dust-derived stones.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Like all humanoids, ore gnomes can be used as a source of spirit filaments. This is illegal.
Ore gnomes are also theoretically usable as a source of various types of stone, but that's about as inefficient as it is illegal.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The first ore gnomes arose in the Unterwelt when a band of settlers were stranded there, deep underground. Once the process was discovered and some ore gnomes returned to the surface with the news, it became common knowledge among gnomes, but not common practice where and when the alternative was available.
Civilization and Culture
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Some of the views gnomes have of ore gnomes, from an insider's or outsider's perspective, are as follows: Ore gnomes are pitied for their lack of fae magic; Ore gnomes are seen as an impoverished population; Ore gnomes are a necessary adaptation to the scarcity of seed crystals; Ore gnomes are an innovation befitting of gnomish ingenuity in the face of adversity.
The most common response among non-gnomes to the presence of an ore gnome is to not know the difference. The second most common response, by a distant margin, is to mistake them for a dwarf.
