Gnomes: Foul Mouthed Knaves One and All

It was the strangest thing, the gnomes held together in between the cracks and crags of the mountains like cockroaches fleeing from the light. What they were doing was beyond my understanding bu the pieces slowly started to fall together as the hard earth-shaking clods of a troll walking along the rocky mountain path. It was like a horde of buzzards descending upon rotting carrion, the gnomes flowed forth from their hidden holes. With frightening speed and efficiency brought the troll, a creature perhaps 10 times their size, to its knees with braided ropes and trickery they then quickly and almost effortlessly ended it feeble life. It was a sight to behold for this was my first encounter with the roguish race of gnomes and it instilled a truth within my mind. That while small and unsuspecting these small folk will give no quarter to those that intrude upon their homes.

— Mamori Kanua, A Fools Journey traveling through Raga's Fury

Small in Stature but not in Spirit

Gnomes are perhaps the most secluded of all Kindred, more so than the bashful dwarves or the isolationist elves, not because of cultural differences or some ancient guilt but because they are so hard to find. Unlike dwarves who are known for carving remarkable kingdoms out of the vast mountain ranges of Baile or in the hills of the Heartlands gnomes tunnel deep beneath the soil. Adept miners and cave explorers they are often thought to be some strange breed of dwarf a rumor that many gnomes resent greatly, in truth they are a strange Kindred thought to be created when not by Svenna but by Gavnir the Idiot. When he stole Svenna's tears and mixed it with his blood he spread it across the waking realm creating these strange small folk.

Kaniving and inventive the gnomes have made works of ingenuity that border or witchcraft and quackery their forte, alas you must have a niche in a world that would trample you for being smaller than runtling pig and the gnomes have made their's invention. Hidden under the earth gnomes mine away creating large interconnecting hovels that serve as their "kingdom" if you can call it that but with mining so deep into the ground they come across a vast array of ores and minerals which is hungrily fed into their workshops. Gnomes also have made steps in the more questionable aspects of arcane power but this is a largely secretive part of gnomish culture all that is known is that these black cabals of magicks are often called "Paratorums".

Big Mouths on Little Folk

Gnomes are often talkative fellows not charismatic or suave mind you, they just cannot seem to find the time to close their yappers in-between spilling out obscenities and tall-tales. If you let a gnome do so they will talk your ears from your head, not in ill will of course but it seems as if their culture revolves solely around the word of mouth with very little of gnomish history being recorded in tomes and books instead they strictly rely on accurate oral retellings of their past trial and tribulations. This seems to be part that the gnomes are far too fidgety and energetic of a people to write down anything and they believe themselves to have an impeccable memory something that cannot be denied. Gnomes seem to be able to remember even the smallest detail about a game of dice poker they played some odd 200 years age like it was yesterday, you tell a gnome a secret, which is ill-advised against because they have the curse of the gab, they will remember while they lie dying on their death bed; A very strange feat of the small folk indeed.

Gnomes are not immediately pleasant to look at, while not inherently "ugly" they are apt to let themselves accumulate dirt and grim in staggering amounts, their hair tends to matte and dread without them showing much concern maybe a gnome with some sense of appearance would adorn their bird's nest of a head with small gemstone baubles or even one intricate braid. Though perhaps the most outlandish thing at least to other Kindred, other than the rumors that gnomes have small prehensile tails or seem to brood in families called "Rabbles" that can reach up to 10-25 members and that's just counting two parents in their many children, is that they are completely intersexual while some gnomes are perhaps born looking more masculine or feminine they can function as any role within their society, a society that puts very little thought into gender. This has led them to refer to other gnomes and Kindred by their names and themselves in the third-person which gives way to an almost fractured speech pattern that made those who first encountered the gnomes to think that they were simple-minded folk.

Not at all Then Suddenly all at Once

Gnomes age very strangely, stranger even then the seemingly immortal elves. Gnomes while incredibly long-lived often do not seem to age at all past a certain point around what one would consider the middle of their adult lives. But, as if by some sort of magick they will become grey and wrinkly over the course of a couple days near the end of the lives. This is thought to tie into some pact that was made long ago by a gnomish ancestor.

By Zelulae

Rabble Rousers

Gnomes, unlike all other Kindred, do not have a centralized or organized government instead, their often large families of hundreds of members typically govern themselves with a council of 10 or more elders that advise their families on how to operate. This can include what type of inventions they should focus on, what they should export out onto the surface, or if they should make negotiations with other rabbles. With such a divided people often gnome rabbles end up accidentally working towards the same sort of development which one with think they would work together to better such contraptions but these often devolve into family rivalries that drive both families ragged to complete their grand work. This usually ends in multiple amazing constructions, though the fervent working often brings injuries and death. On the other hand, it is most likely that they burn themselves out working on increasingly impossible contrivances until either a family's den explodes in a hellish wave of green wytchfire or works themselves half to death, literally, for some petty competition. Regardless the gnomes are fantastic tinkers but they have another secret perhaps more chaotic passion.

It's Not Heresy if it's Underground

Deep within the gnomish tunnel systems are sects of gnome families that have practiced the arcane arts since even before the discovery of wytchstone. Their first great art, gnomes believed magick to be a gift from one of their patron gods The Smartest Gnome or who the humans and other kindred refer to as Bodrick the Literate. The Smartest Gnome gifted a gnome with arcane knowledge, magick both great and vile, powerful incantations that could shape the future of the gnomish people. These magical practices have continued for generations within the holds of gnomish folk, dark rituals passed down from parent to child and the Paratorums operate out of sight of the God Empress and her Inquisition practicing their magicks without being hounded by witch hunters and holy men.

Wytchstone?

Perhaps one of the first races to gain a grasp upon the sheer power and subsequent danger of this volatile material. Wytchstone has become the center of many gnomish inventors from apparatuses that spray wytchfire scorching those within their deadly range or great war machines powered solely by the potent green crystals. They have a knack for using and finding the stuff but are as susceptible to its corrupting effects as any other creature, it is not uncommon for entire rabbles to turn into chaos mutants, prompting the Inquisition to come and cull the putrid fiends from the gnomish homeland though more often than not the gnomes fearful of the big folks wrath will simply seal off tunnels leading to the corrupted rabble hoping that they never breach.

Age of Hatred

During the War of Fools the gnomes were scarce to say the less. Whether they could sense incoming conflict or conveniently decided to all "go off the grid" is unknown what is known though is that their lack of presence during the 100 Years of Bloodshed was felt. Ragged war machines fell apart and wytchstone contraptions left unattended and without proper maintenance erupted in devastating green infernos. However, the gnomes had their own set of difficulties during the War of Fools, the bloodshed had once again roused the forces of chaos and while the Skzzark proved to be a threat it was the seeping of chaos that would turn their once shaky control over magick into a ticking demon-fueled bomb. What the gnomes have called "The Horror of the Holes" was a period of 50 years during the War of Fools where demons poured ceaselessly from deep within the gnomish tunnels.

What caused the Horror of the Holes is unknown by even the eldest gnomes, some say 4 great gnomish rabbles got into a competition and in an attempt to see which of them could successfully combine arcane knowledge and wytchstone technology unwittingly tore a hole between the Waking Realm and the Hollowed Halls, though this is highly polarizing theory one that is still being debated to this day in the gnomish holes. Whatever the cause, the gnomes were unprepared for the sheer ferocity of the demons. They tore through the gnomish tunnels leaving a trail of devastation in their wake and it put a sizeable dent in the gnomish population something that is hard to do for certain.

It was thanks to the efforts of one ingenious gnome elder Mama Lola that the demon hordes were repelled. It was their quick thinking in covering a particularly cavernous tunnel with banishing runes and then collapsing send tunnel that saved the gnomes. But it wasn't the end of there hardships the demons had taken their homes from them and undoubtedly more of them would be coming. The homeland was unsafe and as such, they fled to find a new home. The gnomes now live in the Sea of Leaves a large imposing forest, they have been seen to build homes into the trunks of the massive trees that they then hollow out to use as tunnels down underneath the earth, old habits die hard as always.

Lifespan

Gnomes as considered mature around the age of 15, but can be considered adults by their communities for outstanding discoveries. Gnomes can live an average of 300 years.

Average Height

3'5"- 4" ft