Gnome recruitment guide

[Le_Psit 280]

*notes would be found posted on various settlement notice boards*

[1]

Greetings my fellow Gnomes, you may not know me, I am called by many names but you may call me Merwin the Fool. I am but a humble Gnome who lives off the land, recently as I disembarked and explored the new lands of Aevos, I found myself within the company of our fellow Weefolk cousins; the Halflings! After much talk with a fellow Gnome named Tulip and the Halfling Mayor Mimosa, we have come to an agreement for our kind to be able to settle within The Shire! With that I call out to all of you, Gnomes hidden throughout the land, we have a new home for our kind. Come now and let's build a better future for us Gnomes in The Halfling Shire. 

 

OOC: So, Gnomes am I right? Why should someone be bothered, they're just Halflings with a different name right? not quite. Gnomes in general folklore, suffer from the "Small peoples" curse, which makes them a blank canvas that's painted differently depending on the story. In other words, whether you call something a gnome, goblin, brownie or smurf, they are all the same small peoples.  

  

But that's where the story and modern medieval fantasy come in to differentiate them. So what is a gnome in medieval fantasy? A gnome is a small humanoid creature, often associated with fairies and woodland animals that hides away from anything bigger than itself.  

  

So how are gnomes portrayed in LotC? Gnomes, like their Halfling cousins have common ancestors that diverged into different groups. With the first proto-gnomes, being culturally different from Halflings, they diverged a second time to the two gnome groups we have now; Haesseni gnomes (aka your Forest gnomes) [2] and Oblazeki gnomes (aka your Rock gnomes) [3]. With Haesseni gnomes being similar to cultures like Halflings, Wood Elves and Forest Dwarves, having close ties to nature. Whereas Oblazeki gnomes are similar to Mountain Dwarves, preferring to work on various crafts and make technological advancements. Of course that's just an oversimplification, links to their respective culture posts will be given. 

  

In more detail:  

- Gnomes are a bit shorter than Halflings, maxing out at 2ft 

- Gnomes are more spread out in the world, so they don't have a close knit community (though that could change thanks to you!) 

- The gnomish religions are two at the moment: the first one being centered around nature worship and its spirits, the second is about The Creator and its avatars 

- The lack of properness, meaning that Gnomes don't necessarily abide to these traditions/rules 

- Smaller families 

- Strong drinking culture with emphasis on brewing various kinds of drinks 

All in all, more nature driven and secretive than Halflings or Dwarves

[1] https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/229158-the-gnomish-script/

 

[2] https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/205392-culture-haeseni-gnomes-dunnfolk/

 

[3] https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/206836-oblazeki-gnomes-sons-of-the-hidden-city/?tab=comments#comment-1873762