This page is dedicated to the all-but-dead Gnomes and their crafts and lore. The Chosen of the God Alfric, they were a small and simple people, but they thought very big. Humans and Dwarves were never fully aware of how many of their core beliefs came from the simple wisdom of the Gnomes. Gnomes were not leaders like humans, or productive like the stout Dwarves. Gnomes were idealists and inventors. Why get down to the hard job of work like their cousins when a moment’s more sitting and contemplating could provide an easier and better way of doing things?
The gnomes were short and childlike in their looks, often looking like nothing more than a smaller-proportioned human. They wore floppy, conical hats of bright colors and simple, warm clothing – regardless of weather. Gnomes always seemed to be cold, no matter the weather. They are always fresh faced and female gnomes almost always have light freckles on their cheeks.
Gnomes are boisterous and friendly, typically, and are given to the telling of many a story of great Gnomes. The concept of hospitality is also very important to Gnomish culture, and it is uncommon to see Gnomes lavishing attention upon guests to their communities. To be counted the friend of a Gnome is a permanent thing – Gnome culture prizes life-long friendships and even a cursory meeting with a Gnome may lead to many correspondences and invitations.
Gnomes always live slightly removed from Human and Dwarf villages, but have never built a swelling that was not connected to an existing community built by one of their cousins. Their houses are always built with their taller cousins in mind, even if there is no human village for days in any direction, chairs and such will be made to accommodate their comfort. This is considered very odd to many sages, as Gnomes have been doing these things for many centuries before humans became common in the islands. When asked about this tendency, Gnomes would merely say that Alfric is human-sized. This usually ends the discussion, but does not satisfy the skeptical scholars.
Gnome cities often have very experimental features added to them from plumbing to mass transit. Gnomish communities also have a very large shrine to Alfric in the center of the main square. These shrines typically include a statue of Alfric frolicking with two male Gnome sand two female Gnomes – all of varied ages. Alfric is portrayed as a metallic golem with a large Gnomish cap and a musical instrument of some sort (this instrument varies by shrine). These statues are typically made to play music on Holy Days. Gnomish religious practice is typically concerned with rings, circles, and dances. One Gnomish festival requires the whole city to form a dancing ring around the Shrine and frolic as Gnomes were said to have done in long past days. Strangers are always invited to participate, but never forced to do so.
Gnomish cities typically contribute as they can to the economy of the neighboring village and buy most goods from them as well. Gnomes do not mint their own coin, nor do they seem to trade with one another. Gnomish trade with other Gnomes seems to be settled as a barter arrangement that Gnomes seems to keep a very loose record of. Gnome “moochers” are usually swiftly dealt with by their families and pulled back in line, but a Gnome in true need will find his brothers ready to aid him in an unobtrusive manner. Most Gnomish charity occurs well outside the awareness of its beneficiary, so that they do not know who performed the good deed for them. This minimizes the obligation to a certain Gnome that an aided party feels, and increases the obligation that Gnome feels to aid others once they are back in the black.
Gnomes are not known for having durable craftsmanship, but innovation is their sterling promise. Gnome devices are astounding and even magical in their capabilities. Gnome Tinkers are special inventors and craftsmen who are “Touched by Alfric”, that is to say that they have visions and insights about devices that they can later not fully explain. They simply have moments where they “see” the solution to some problem or some improvement that could be made to a system. These insights are believed to be gifts from Alfric to his chosen and Gnome communities and investors will make sure that each idea sees at least one prototype.
Prototype seems to be where most Gnome devices end. Few of them contain principals that can be derived to allow mass production of them. A few devices are blueprinted before creation and these blueprints can be used to make many of a device that is beyond current explanation, but these are rare exceptions to the rule. Dwarves in particular love to study Tinker crafts to see if they can unravel the basic concepts underlying the device that they can then use to blueprint the device or, better yet, replicate it with better materials and craftsmanship.
Some Gnomish devices are magical in nature, but the Tinkers who build them have no clue about the nature of magic and are not greater or more focus worshipers of Alfric than their brothers and sisters. Scholars of both Arcane and Divine Magic are confused by this and have come to regard Tinkers as another class of mage altogether. Gnomes just grin and shake their heads. “The magic is Alfric’s,” they claim.
Gnomes have a very simple legal document that sets up a very loosely formed government with very strictly defined purpose and powers. They have an electoral process for choosing their Chiefs, and these chiefs are elected on a regular basis. The specifics of these documents vary from on city-state to another, but the idea is always the same. Gnomes prefer Liberty to remain in the hands of the individual so too with the responsibility that entails.
Gnomes are somewhat manipulative in this way with their cousins. They have always served as advisory voices to their cousins, and always that voice has advised against large governments like the Elven Empire. They have always managed to make sure that governments in the islands have never gotten larger than a formal alliance between City-States. This makes sure that someone far away is not making choices for your community that you cannot question, debate, or object to.
Gnomes do not tax anything and have no taxes. Their government is composed of volunteers and even their army and police are formed of citizen volunteers supported by donated equipment. Wherever possible, government process is automated. Government service is not mandatory, but most Gnomes will pitch in to help in some way during their lifetimes. Gnome cities are also small enough that infrastructure and such are fairly small concerns.
Among the oddest examples of the art of war is the gnomish slingshot. Basically, a Gnomish slingshot is a large fork that is charged so that it suspends any object tossed between the tines of the fork until the trigger on the grip is pressed. Once activated, it tosses the object at a speed faster than any bowshot. Indeed, the device can toss arrows, rocks, shuriken, and a host of other ammunition. The most commonly used load by Gnomish Special Forces is the caltrop. These flying barbs do massive damage when shot at the speed and power the slingshot carries.
The devices often come with targeting gems, small rubies that emit a red beam that illuminates the target of the slingshot to allow precise aiming. Another popular feature is the “hopper” – a device that feeds a new round into the field when the trigger is pressed to release the current round. The Gnomish Sniper Vandeen Xorch uses a slingshot named “Widowmaker” that features a targeting gem, a spyglass for long-range shots, as well as a hopper that actually conjured new flint needles to fire.
This is the only device that Gnome Tinkers seem to be able to duplicate at will, but no Dwarf or Human smith has yet to understand the base principles that make them function. It is thought that if they are ever mass-produced, the Art of War will be forever changed.