Gnome

While the elves can be considered the most mysterious of the demihumans, the gnomes are perhaps the most poorly understood and bizarre. They are the only demihumans to not be native to the Material Sphere, which seems paradoxical at first glance that they can be of the same cohort as the others. They are from the Feywild’s reflection of the First World, that primordial blueprint, who traveled into ours only after the giants were banished by the dragons. Though they are no longer truly fey in nature, they share some of the nature of that place. Indeed, while culturally diverse and difficult to pin down, gnomes have a different way of thinking than most demihumans, able to keep multiple trains of thought going at once, which often manifests in annoyance for their demihuman cousins as they attempt to multitask or hold multiple conversations at once. Even more than quicklings, gnomes seem perpetually in motion, always striving to expand their understanding of the world and seek out new experiences. They have an innate joy that is at once infectious and pestering.

Gnomes, while not as small as halffoots, are still quite small in stature, averaging in between three and four feet tall. They share the elfin, pointed ears of the elves (though not quite as long), and are often unnervingly slender. Most remarkable are the extremely unusual colors their hair and eyes can manifest, with extremely saturated and garish hues. Their eyebrows are long and spindly, and men lack the ability to grow facial hair (again like elves) but their nosehairs grow long enough to become remarkable mustaches. Indeed, gnomes take pride in their hair nearly as much as dwarves do, but are prone to quite wild stylings to fit their nature. They are one of the shortest lived of the demihumans, living to about 120 on average, though they also curiously are one of the slowest to mature, only leaving adolescence in their 30s and living a very extended childhood. The truth is they would be nearly as long-lived as the elves if not for the Bleaching: a gnome who begins to fall into ennui and boredom due to lack of new and exciting experiences will begin to lose their color and age more rapidly. Unfortunately, this is somewhat inevitable and irreversible, though there are legends of gnomes who have lived for centuries through their pursuit of new experiences.

The Skarrian gnomes are legendary for their fierce hearts in Talingarde, but they are well represented in other cultures as well, especially in Gebroan and Helveylyn. Indeed, it is very common for a gnome to leave their home culture merely to experience a new one, and intermarriage with other races is highly sought out by this race. The Cazzeri of Ornassus better resemble the “tinker gnome” stereotype, being one of the most technologically advanced cultures in the Sixth World, while the gnomes of the various Kadinka tribes of Zafara are some of the greatest masters of primal magic ever seen. Gnomes and goblins have a natural enmity that seems almost irrational to outsiders, tied to beliefs that goblins are an illbred distaff of gnomes that recent scholarship has cast much doubt upon. In fact, gnomes and goblins, if they can get past this initial prejudice on both sides, find a lot of commonality, and because of their shared fey nature can intermingle, producing children much more in tune with their fey nature called svirfneblin. The true illbred gnomes are the dero, which like the duergar are dismissed by most as a story told to scare children, of a wicked race who steals away other demihumans to torture and mangle with the same joy and curiosity of their cousins. Gnomish clans are patrilineal like the dwarves, and have names that sound like nonsense to others. Gnomes collect nicknames over their lifetime and cherish them, and introductions between gnomes can go on for several minutes as they recount the various names they have earned through deeds and experiences. Importantly, these names are meant to be bestowed upon them by others, though plenty of gnomes slip in a few of their own personal appellations if they feel they can get away with it.