Gnome

Gnomes are a carnivorous race of fey who, due to being the shortest of all sentient races on Etheria, coming in at an average of 2'6" to 3' in height, are sometimes referred to as "little-folk" or "slight-folk." Appearing quite like Humans save for their sharp, rending teeth, pointed ears, and prehensile tufted tails, gnomes are strictly carnivorous and can appear in the same range of skin, hair, and eye colors as humanoids, leading many to mistakenly believe they are themselves cousins to Dwarfs, humans, and Giantkin.
Gnomish cultural philosophy is that, as carnivorous hunters, staying in one spot year-round would thin out the numbers of prey animals unsustainably, so they spend their lives on the move, leaving for warmer places the moment they suspect winter is on the horizon. Many individuals who live in areas along gnomish migratory routes believe it is good luck to leave meats out in the late autumn for migrating gnomes as the gnomes will occasionally leave valuable gifts on doorsteps and windowsills as payment. This act also serves as a form of bribery to get the gnomes to stay in town for the winter instead of migrating as they are excellent hunters and leatherworkers and any town would stand to benefit from their expertise. Some gnomes make a living through the winter by taking on non-gnome apprentices in such communities seeking to bribe them to stay during the winter.
Slow in all matters, deliberate, and hardy, gnomes are renowned for their patience and typically unflappable dispositions. Because their culture values both quick-thinking and patience, they are also given to being witty, cunning, and mischievous pranksters whose tricks are often so uproariously funny, well-planned, and generally non-malicious that even those made to be the butt of their jokes find them funny and endearing. Gnomes also utilize intricately decorated and embellished caps to distinguish their professions, clans, age, marital status, and socioeconomic status. It is said that if a gnome were to lose their cap, they would, in effect, enter a catatonic state or hysteria as it would be tantamount to losing their very identities.
Interestingly, when the sick and the old sense that they are nearing death they undergo a pilgrimage south to the colder climes of Etheria where the ailing gnomes slowly turn to stone, joining the thousands of other moss covered statues of their kin across the southern shores of Etheria. That is, of course, until a highwayman long ago stumbled upon the stretches of moss-covered statues and stole every last one, selling them to hapless peasants throughout the land with the promise that the stone figures would watch over their gardens and ward off evil spirits, and that's exactly what they did. For a time. But the anger and outrage the spirits of the gnomes felt for being disturbed from their deaths seeped in to the stone and gave birth to twisted, impish, Demons and Devils that exploded out of the stone and began terrorizing the southern shores of Etheria. Forming primitive roaming tribes that ambush and slaughter weary travelers, the savage creatures delight in using the blood of their victims to stain their caps a deep crimson, thus earning them the name of Redcaps.

Redcap Raiders