Gnome

Ingenious and full of energy, gnomes are considered to be distant cousins of the dwarven race. Even shorter than the dwarves and not equally bulky, this small-framed race compensates for the lack of muscle with ever-working brains and a great aptitude for invention. Even though their inventions have a bad habit of blowing up, no one can stay mad at a gnome. Their cheerful attitude, curiosity, and humor puts the gomes among the most likely to have a good feast or a carefree dance.
Apart from their joyful side, they have created some of the most impressive mechanical wonders of Etharis. Cannons, automatons, flintlocks, and explosives are all reputed to be the results of gnomish brilliance. If you are looking for a gnome in a populated city, you just have to wait for the explosion to guide your steps.
During the Era of Expansion, gnome settlements outside the shelter of mountains were annihilated by human warlords, forcing them to seek shelter in the neighboring dwarven city of Stehlenwald. There they shared the fate of their dwarven cousins as countless human armies besieged the tall stone walls of the city.
The surviving gnomes pushed the dwarven thane to dig deeper, in a last attempt to find new metals or an escape route beneath the mountains. As the dwarves were gazing upon the newfound adamantine, the gnomes were staring at the other veins of the mountain, their ingenious minds hatching a plan to win the war.
The gnomish alchemists worked day and night, mixing the gifts of the mountain until they invented a new weapon: explosives. As the dwarves charged in their impenetrable shining adamantine armors, they were backed up by the sound of explosions as the gnomes hurled cannonballs and dynamite at the enemy. The humans quickly scattered; the effects of the explosives had struck fear into their hearts. The battle was won but the losses for both gnomes and dwarves were great. The gnomish race followed the dwarves in the Stehlenwald kingdom into their centuries-long isolation. When the dwarven king voluntarily joined the Bürach empire, the gnomes followed. Today, with trade reaching all across the empire, the gnomes can lay hands on even more exotic and volatile materials, pushing (or blowing) their science to new heights each passing day.

Lifespan

350 to almost 500 years

Average Height

3 - 4 feet