Gnomes

Gnomes are a peculiar race, often mistaken for halflings or goblins. Gnomes share a similar facial structure to goblins with their large, pointed noses and comically oversized ears. There are many scholars of the world who believe goblins are simply corrupted versions of gnomes from darker days. Gnomes are as short as halflings, coming in around 3 to 3 and a half feet.
A major difference between halflings and gnomes is ambition. Most halflings are content to live simply, indulging in the creature comforts of everyday life. Gnomes however have an intense curiosity about anything and everything and as such spend much of their lives studying. Due to generations of study, gnomes have developed a keen sense for magic. It is rare to find a gnome that doesn't have some capability with the arcane. This love of study led to the opening of the Elbedos Academy in Dwale by Orcorin Elbedos, a gnome wizard of legendary repute. Many gnomes study at the Academy during their younger years and some even stay on as professors and teachers.
Gnomes have an intense personality and may seem eccentric to the other races but the reason for that is gnomes have a shorter life span than most others, averaging only sixty odd years. They have a tendency to ramble, changing subjects rapidly as they voice aloud their thought processes. Due to this short lived nature though, gnomes are not ones to waste time, ensuring all their time is spent in the pursuit of their goals and the rarely have little patience for the slower, bumbling big folk.
Gnomes are uncommon in Ereth and as such there are no established gnome settlements large enough to warrant notice. There are a few small villages in the Amber Hills but they are communities no larger than fifty or sixty. Due to the proximity, gnomes have developed a keen liking for the hill dwarves of the Amber Hills. The hill dwarves constant dedication to improving technology and desigining lines up nicely with the gnomes curious nature and as such have been able to work collaboratively to design some of the most impressive inventions in not just Ereth, but the world.
Gnomes do not follow a religion, preferring to put their dedication and time into knowledge and growth, something that many gnome believes is negatively impacted by the practice of divine worship.