Forest Gnome
Forest gnomes were among the least commonly seen gnomes on Toril, far shyer than even their deep gnome cousins. Small and reclusive, forest gnomes were so unknown to most non-gnomes that they had repeatedly been "discovered" by wandering outsiders who happened into their villages. Timid to an extreme, forest gnomes almost never left their hidden homes.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Compared with other gnomes, forest gnomes were even more diminutive than their cousins, rarely growing taller than 2.5 feet (0.76 meters) in height or weighing in over 30 pounds (14 kilograms). Typically, males were slightly larger than females, at the most by four inches or five pounds. Forest gnome skin was an earthy color and looked, in many ways, like wood, although it was not particularly tough. Forest gnome hair was brown or black, though it grayed with age, sometimes to a pure white. Like other gnomes, forest gnomes generally lived for centuries, although their life expectancy was a bit longer than was the case for either rock or deep gnomes; 400 was the average life expectancy of a forest gnome.
Behaviour
Forest gnomes were painfully shy creatures who neither felt the need nor desire to interact with other races. For the most part, forest gnomes would simply like to be ignored as they had been for millennia. Unlike deep gnomes, this came less out of a general mistrust of outsiders and more out of an extreme sense of privacy and affinity for the natural world, combined with a general ambivalence about things that were outside of their experience. Among their own kind, forest gnomes were quite friendly, if not particularly lively.
Like deep gnomes, forest gnomes rarely left their remote homes. As a general rule, forest gnomes lacked the curiosity typical of most gnomes and would only leave their homelands under intense pressure, such as a threat that they alone could not overcome. For the most part, forest gnomes preferred to stick to what they knew—caring for the woods around them.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Forest gnomes were a rare sight, but they were not particularly uncommon. In addition to inhabiting their ancestral homelands in the Feywild, forest gnomes could be found in Aglarond, the Great Dale and the Spiderhaunt Wood. Wherever they lived, they were well-hidden and so often unnoticed, sometimes for centuries, by their neighbors.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Unlike other gnomes, forest gnomes generally grew their hair long and free, feeling neither the need nor desire to shave or trim their hair much, though males often took careful care of their beards, trimming them to a fine point or curling them into hornlike spikes.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Forest gnomes lived in an extreme state of primitivism, though their lives were generally comfortable and idyllic. Forest gnomes are largely hunter-gatherers, harvesting their food from wild fruits, nuts, and berries, and supplementing their diet with a little meat. Forest gnome villages were usually composed of less than a hundred members, who were often all a part of an extended family. Forest gnome homes were generally small, reclusive, and so well-hidden that a human might well walk within a few feet of a gnome home and not even realize it. Part of this was because of the unique manner in which forest gnomes constructed their homes, which were typically located within trees.
Forest gnomes spent the majority of their day tending to the forest and gathering food to feed the rest of the village, although a few, like their rock- and deep-gnome kin, searched underground for gems in a manner unusual for most hunter-gatherers. Forest gnome children who were too young to contribute were generally allowed to do as they liked, although they were prevented from wandering far from their protective parents. The children learned how to behave primarily by example, watching their elders, and acquired a reverence for the forest and appreciation for their society only gradually. Forest gnomes were generally organized in a loose gerontocracy, with the eldest member of the community serving an advisory role to the rest of the community, who generally only came to decisions by a consensus. Outside of their homes, this ideal carried on, although they rarely gathered in groups of more than two or three, when beyond their secluded villages.
Forest gnome society, like that of most hunter-gatherers, was a curious mix of luxury and hard work. Forest gnomes spent most of their days working for the benefit of their community but after returning home from the forest, they would usually spend their time in a relaxed lifestyle with few causes of stress. During these times of leasure, forest gnomes devoted themselves to a variety of humble but impressive artistic practices. Among these were gem-cutting and jewelry-making, which forest gnomes, unlike the similarly primitive wild elves, had a deep fondness for. Typically these beautiful designs would reflect the natural world in a way most uncommon to other more civilized peoples. They also forged a wide variety of tools but had a notable taboo against axes, due to their use in woodcutting by other races.
Forest gnome architecture were quite unique. Like many of the Tel-quessir, forest gnomes made their homes in such a way as to disturb the local environment as little as possible. However, unlike elves, who often live in the branches of trees, weaving their architecture into the surrounding structures, forest gnomes would build their homes within trees, carving them in a careful manner devised by druids as to do as little harm to the living plant as possible. Each tree hovel would usually be a few hundred feet away from the others, allowing each family the privacy that nearly all forest gnomes craved. The homes themselves were usually made of several tiny rooms stacked on top of one another, with trapdoors and ladders connecting them. Each room was about 4 ft (1.2 m) tall and lined with windows as to let in the sunlight.
Because of their hunter-gatherer lifestyle forest gnomes neither kept neither livestock nor pets. However, forest gnomes were quite fond of wild animals and would sometimes forge bonds with these. Of the forest's wildlife, forest gnomes mostly prefered the company of creatures close to their own size, such as foxes and squirrels.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Although forest gnomes were a shy and reclusive people they were not particularly resentful or untrusting of outsiders. Usually, it was more the case of the forest gnomes simply not caring about other races, but when they did meet outsiders they would often act in a friendly, if painfully timid manner. Given the chance, forest gnomes could become close and loyal friends of those who treated them with respect.
Of the other humanoid races, forest gnomes were most fond of rock gnomes, elves, and halflings of all types, with ghostwise halflings preferred among the latter. Forest gnomes got along particularly well with elves and ghostwise, due to both other races sharing similar homes as the forest gnomes. In regards to other races, forest gnomes usually did not care about them, though an exception was made for orcs, kobolds, and lizardfolk, whose harsh treatment of the woodlands marked them as natural enemies of the forest gnomes. Forest gnomes had a similar, but more amicable opinion of humans, due to the loggers, trappers, and hunters who all were part of most human civilizations.
2 ft
25 lbs
- Skin: Bark or Earth colored
- Hair: Black or brown
- Eyes: Blue or brown
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