Gnome

Ingenious and full of energy, gnomes are considered distant cousins of the dwarven race. Even shorter than the dwarves and not equally bulky, this small-framed race compensates for the lack of muscle with ever-working brains and a great aptitude for invention. Even though their inventions have a bad habit of blowing up, no one can stay mad at a gnome. Their cheerful attitude, curiosity, and humor puts gnomes among the most likely to have a good feast or a carefree dance.

Apart from their joyful side, they have created some of the most impressive mechanical wonders of Etharis. Cannons, automatons (referred to as Warforged by other races), flintlocks, steam power, and explosives, are all reputed to be results of gnomish brilliance. If you are looking for a gnome in a populated city, you just have to wait for the explosion to guide your steps.

During the Era of Expansion, gnome settlements outside the shelter of the mountains were annihilated by human warlords, forcing them to seek shelter in the neighboring dwarven city of Stehlenwald. There they shared the fate of their dwarven cousins as countless human armies besieged the tall stone walls of the city.

The surviving gnomes pushed the dwarven thane to dig deeper into the mountain, in a last attempt to find new metals or an escape route beneath the mountains. As the dwarves were gazing upon their newfound adamantine, the gnomes were staring at the other veins of the mountain, their ingenious minds hatching a plan to win the war.

The gnomish alchemists worked day and night, mixing the gifts of the mountain until they invented a new weapon: explosives. As the dwarves charged in their impenetrable adamantine amours, they were backed up by the sound of explosions and gnomes launched cannonballs and dynamite at the enemy. The humans quickly scattered; the effects of the explosives had struck fear into their hearts. The battle was won but the losses for both gnomes and dwarves were great.

The gnomish race followed the dwarves in the Stehlenwald kingdom into their centuries-long isolation. When the dwarven king voluntarily joined the Burach Empire, the gnomes gladly followed. Today, with trade reaching across the empire, the gnomes can lay hands on even more exotic and volatile materials, pushing (or blowing) their science to new heights each passing day.

Subraces

• Forest Gnome: Most of this gnomish subrace was nearly exterminated by humans at the same time as the hill dwarves in the Era of Expansion. Centuries later, their numbers have started to return but sightings of them en mass are still a rare sight.
• Rock Gnome: The most common gnomish subrace on Etharis, these gnomes retreated into the mountains alongside the mountain dwarves and are the ingenious minds behind the advent of gunpowder as well as combustion and steam engines.