Gnomes
A.K.A. "Khaxen"
"With enough gnomes standing on each other's shoulders, we could see farther than the giants." - Gnomish proverb
"If ye haven't lost a few fingers tryin ta make somethin' new, ye haven't tried hard enough." - Dgrqcjyuwisdf5 "Fingerless Deqr", the inventor of gunpowder.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Gnomes are small creatures which bear a passing resemblance to humans. This similarity is mostly superficial as the Khaxen possess a skin which is a gelatinous, shape-changing, substance. Gnomes may use this to change their appearance slightly, although most are capable of only appearing as a single form; usually the humanoid one. Most gnomes also are able to incorporate certain materials into their skin to form a pseudo-natural armor. This seems to be limited to either raw metal ore or wood, depending on the type of gnome.
Genetics and Reproduction
Mating is done in an analogous manner to humans. Multiple gnomes (at least two, but more may be involved) combine some of themselves through their gelatinous skin and is hosted inside one of the females. The gestation takes a minimum of six months but will take a few months longer with every additional parent.
Ecology and Habitats
Certain types of gnomes live underground, deeper than where even the dwarves , while many choose to live on the surface in densly forested areas. These groups of gnomes are called "rock" gnomes and "forest" gnomes respectively. An offshoot of the rock gnomes lives even farther beneath the surface, living in the deepest reaches of the Underdark. They are simply called "deep" gnomes.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Gnomes have very limited forms of government or social structures. Most communities live in a manner very similar to a tribe or simply a group of individuals who are able to live with one another. But while the basic structure simple, almost all communities of gnomes number in the hundreds or thousands. Somehow, the gnomes have made a social structure which is usually only applied to small groups work for a group many times that size.
Average Intelligence
Moderately more intelligent than humans, on average
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Gnomes perceive the world in a very similar way to humans, although they do possess what they call a 'stone sense' ability. This enables them to know general information (usually density, size, weight, type, and value) about a rocky substance. Some Khaxen are even able to 'see' through stone if they are talented enough and are given enough time.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Khaxen usually only have a single, long name. They have no generational or family names, as they have multiple parents and do not have a hierarchical structure of family. To almost all other races, the names of each gnome appears to be a long series of random letters (and sometimes even numbers), but they hold a complicated meaning to the gnomes. Often when interacting with members of other races, gnomes adopt a shorter version of their name or simply accept a nickname in order to ease social interactions.
An example of a gnomish name may be: Hdaputtiogtx9y. When interacting with other gnomes, Hdaputtiogtx9y would be called by his full name. However, if he is in a non-gnomish town where there are members of other races nearby, Hdaputtiogtx9y would likely refer to himself as Hedaputt or something similar. Even if he is only speaking to members of his own race, it is considered common courtesy to adopt a simpler name when someone may overhear you.
Average Technological Level
Gnomes are very secretive of their technology and inventions. While this is likely because they hoard information, it probably also has to do with the inherent danger associated with all gnomish inventions. While not as bad as anything Kobolds might create, gnomish inventions have a tendency to explode or wreak havoc and may usually only be seen outside of gnomish hands after the dwarves have adopted, refined, and distributed the technology themselves.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The most common language of gnomes is Ludzuhk, commonly referred to as 'Gnomish'.
History
Gnomes hold that they are the oldest, modern sentient species to appear on Vallonde. They came into existence deep within the caves of mountains of Northern Rimor. They lived in small clans but were very similar to each other. Seeking to learn about the world they lived in, they ventured out to the surface and began to research anything they came across.
They found many things. First they found the dying giant empire. They met and conversed, and the giants knew that their successors had come. While the gnomes were learning the secrets and knowledge of the giants, another group of gnomes left in search of something else. They found the last of the dragons who were alive during the Dragon-Giant War. The dragons, knowing that their empire had crumbled, sought to find a successor. They chose the gnomes on the condition they rejected the giants and their knowledge and share none of what they learned with anyone else. Curious to a fault, the gnomes accepted. When the gnomes reunited, they realized there was a separation between the gnomes of the giants and the gnomes of the dragons. A war broke out.
Like the dragons and giants before them, the gnomes killed each other. The gnomes of the giants had the upper hand, as the giants helped them. The gnomes of the dragons, although they wielded powerful natural magic, were crushed by their opponents. But rather than completely extinguish the dragon gnomes, the giant gnomes made a deal with them. The dragon gnomes would be granted small sections of land within the forest to live, but they were to never return to the true gnomes of the giants. Thus, the Alithin, the gnomes of the giants, and the Prodoten, the dragon gnomes, were created.
The Prodoten were sent to their forests, forced to live their lives in relative peace and tranquility, a terrible fate for a gnome. Meanwhile, the Alithin returned to their mountains and began experimenting with their new magic. They began with an ambitious project: immortality. They designed the perfect form for themselves. A creature which would be larger, more powerful, magically attuned, and immortal. They spent years working and inventing, and they eventually carved the dwarves from the stone around them. The dwarves, although everything they imagined, were imperfect. They lacked the same temperament of the gnomes and were much calmer rather than eclectic and curious. They also had no desire to become immortal. The body of the dwarves would become stone again, through an incredibly painful process which lasted their entire lives. And in their immortality, the dwarves would become golems; unfeeling and uncaring statues which could barely be considered living. The dwarves wanted a cure and believed the gnomes could give it to them. The gnomes fought the dwarves and lost, separating from their creations who were no closer to being cured.
With the dwarves gone in search of a cure, the gnomes sought to complete their immortality project. They struck upon the idea of refining a mechanical, enchanted body which would host their souls. They created the mrtvaxen, the warforged. The process which created these beings is lost to time, and many debated whether the warforged host the souls of the gnomes or only their intelligence. The result was the same either way. Proud gnomes wanted to become immortal and transformed into warforged. They were invaluable. They stored the knowledge of years passed and never died. In wars, they were nearly invincible, and their value was noted. Peasants and soldiers were converted en masse into warforged against their will to fight for the gnomes.
In time, the warforged desired their freedom from the gnomes. Rather than through conflict, as the dwarves had done before them, the warforged negotiated for their freedom. The production of warforged was halted, and its means would be given to the now freed warforged. In return, the mrtvaxen would fight for the gnomes in any war they fought.
Without the immortality they sought, the gnomes turned to other endeavors. They invented and researched, and continue to do so even today.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Despite their rocky origins, gnomes have a fairly decent working relationship with dwarves. Rock gnomes tend to have a good relationship with warforged, while forest gnomes have the same with beastfolk. Relations with humans and other mortals are very distant, due to both the dissimilarities between the groups as well as the amount of contact between them.
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