Overview
Gnomes are a people of short stature, usually known to have dressed up everything except their faces. Underneath the clothes, their bodies appear like a void of shadow, which can visibly exude from their body like a shadowy gas. As an unusual looking people, many ancestries and cultures have superstitions about gnomes. Gnomes therefore tend to remain either isolated in small groups of gnomes, or to go on their lonesome as lone gnomes that attempt to earn the trust and love of non-gnome settlements. The archetype of a successful city gnome is usually that of a burgher - usually as a somewhat shy but eccentric merchant, tinkerer, artist or even performer. Gnomes can be found in somewhat greater quantities in Ferweth and Canath.
Traditional gnome culture spells their names without any vowels, though more and more gnomes have began to write their names with them to integrate better with other ancestries.
The gnomes Zcaldon (or ZCLDN, left) and Raskiff (or RSKFF, right).
Due to their ephemeral state, vast majority of them wear plenty of clothing and have most of their body obscured, safe for their eyes and face. The rare times they are without their clothing is to “air out” anything trapped underneath, often paired together with washing their clothes. Both done together is colloquially called “airbathing”.
It is however possible for Gnomes to control their form, still appearing as figures of pure shadow but no longer having their bodies escape into the space around them. Explained as “folding in on themselves,” gnomes that hone their body can force their ephemeral state to become more solid. One of the giveaways of such form control is a noticeable rim across their bodies, akin to a distant horizon as their form is bent back into their bodies. Particularly boastful gnomes may also wear less and more revealing clothing to signify their control.
Many gnomes tell of learning to control their form, or finding the shape in which they prefer to keep it, as an important journey of their lives. Perhaps due to gnomes being identified with fairy tales, theatre and other arts - many gnomes take on forms and personalities that are comparable to characters from stories. It is perhaps from here gnomes have a reputation of being eccentric and particular in their ways.
Gnomes have a natural inclination towards shadow and dream magic, contributing further to the theory they originate from the Feydark and/or the Deep Gray. If a gnome has a connection to a kind of magic, their bodies often have markings or traits related to that magic, such as particularly strong flame- or fog-like emanations, their bodies being star-spangled, or their body drip down rather than exude outwards.
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If homebrew is pulled from somewhere, credit it.
— Ilija