Nunnehi

Religions in Nurna tell you that everything comes from the Great Spirit: the rocks, the air, the people and the gods. But the nunnehi, whom many call gnomes, are a special case: they weren't born in Nurna, in the mortal realm, but in the The Great Dream, the land of magic and secrets beyond the sensible world. Their special origin makes them mysterious creatures: they seem to understand dreams and the world in a special way, sometimes creepy. For them, dreams ("the Dreaming World") and the world (the "Awaken World") are not different, thus they act just as weird as dreams are. You can talk to a nunnehi to find that they're not listening to you, because it is lost in some kind of daydreaming, but later find that this same nunnehi is answering your questions, one hour later or so. And, sometimes, they don't answer the questions you asked, but those you wanted to ask, or those that you maybe will. For them, the world is just a moment, and it can be a moment ago, or a moment later.
Their villages, isolated deep insde the nature, are often surrounded by illusions from the Great Dream, which they protect their secrets. It's really hard to enter in a nunnehi village: what looks like a simple forest, or a glittering cave, can easily bee the streets and gardens of the nunnehi, and they can be passing by your side, walking with you, without being noticed by your senses.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Nunnehi language (the Nujaliktsina) is a soft spoken, music-like tongue. Names in this language sound like spells of powerful magic. It shouldn't be hard to understand why nunnehi try to keep their names secret. They usually use "translations" or "nicknames" instead, which often refer to innanimate nature elements like the clouds, the sky or the rocks.
Nunnehi clan names are also kept secret, but they will tell you the name in Nujaliktsina of their clan of origin if asked. For the nunnehi, clans are like a family you can always count on. There are only a few clans of nunnehi in the entire Ronurna, and not a single clan of nunnehi in the Lanurna. Each clan is closely related to one of the four nunnehi tribes, so it's not hard to trace the lineage of a nunnehi by his or her clan name.
Sample male nunnehi names: Breeze, Grove, Hearth, Icicle, Mist, Rain, Rainfall, Rock, Snow, Storm, Sun, Thunder
Sample female nunnehi names: Cave, Cloud, Home, Mountain, Mineral, North Wind, Plain, Rainbow, River, Stone, Swamp, Waterfall
Nunnehi clan names (by Tribe): (Northern Tribe) Bukwu, Giwakwa, Inua, Pu'gwi (Eastern Tribe) Canotila, Canotili, Nanehi, Tunghat, Puk-Wudjie, Yehasuri, Yumwi Amai'yine'hi (Southern Tribe) Fastachee, Kachina, Surem (Western Tribe) Dena'ina, Kushtaka, Ircinraq, May-May-Gway-Shi, Nümüzo'ho

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

THOU SHALT NOT TRESPASS THE LIMITS OF A GROVE OR CAVE WITHOUT SHOWING YOURSELF TO ITS INHABITANTS
Nunnehi not only forbid other People to enter their groves and caves: they are also very reluctant to let nunnehi from other groves and caves to enter their territories.
Racial Tradition rules: each time a nunnehi character enters a forest or cave he will try to find out if there are nunnehi living there (by means of information gathering like Investigation, Perception or Nature or via spells). If so, the character will try to make contact with them and will ask permission to enter (through Charisma-based checks). If the local nunnehi deny him to step inside their borders he should avoid the place, or risk being attacked. Not doing any of these prerrogatives will be considered a violation of the Tradition, and the character will risk become Tainted.

Nunnehi Traits (Gnome Traits D&D 5)
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by 2.
Age: Nunnehi mature at a slower rate than humans do, and most are expected to settle down into an adult life by around age 40. They can live from 350 to almost 500 years.
Alignment: Nunnehi are most often good. Those who tend toward law are sages and warriors of the tribe. Those who tend toward chaos are minstrels, tricksters or wanderers. Nunnehi are good-hearted, and even the tricksters among them are more playful than vicious.
Size: Nunnehi are between 3 and 4 feet tall and average about 40 pounds. Your size is Small.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Darkvision: Accustomed to life inside eerie caves and grooves, you have superior vision in dark and dim Conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in Darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in Darkness, only shades of gray.
Nunnehi Wisdom: You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Aztlani (Common) and you can speak Nujaliktsina and Sign Language (Gnomish). Nunnehi often speak only by gestures, or by the masks they wear. It's truly a hard language to learn.
Tribes (Subraces): Nunnehi are divided since times of old into four great tribes: one in the North, one in the East, one in the South and one in the West. Choose one of them.

Related Ethnicities

• The Eastern Tribe
• The Northern Tribe
• The Southern Tribe
• The Western Tribe