Gnome

Curiosity Killed the Cat

The love of discovery is the force that drives the life of a gnome. Questions about the world fill a gnomes mind -- they have a keen interest in mechanical devices, the natural world, and magical pursuits.
A gnome is rarely bored and tries to savor every minute. Gnomes are born with a fascination for learning funneled by an irrepressible curiosity. While most individual gnomes settle on a specialized area of study, gnomes aren't overly goal oriented. To them, the journey and the destination are one and the same. Even though failure, disappointment, and dead ends are recurring obstacles on the path to discovery, gnomes revel in the search. They savor the acquisition of new knowledge, realizing it might come at a cost.

Underfoot with the Empire

More so than any other race, gnomes sort of just tagged along with the Empire and inserted themselves at opportune moments to satisfy their own curiosity and pursuits. A famous folk tale tells of an early Rachinian tactician who repeatedly woke to find notes on his plans that were not written in his own hand. The notes offered new insights into how to manage the Empire’s holdings, and it was ultimately discovered that they were left by a rock gnome who worked as a caretaker at the tactician’s estate.
Similarly, gnomes have been largely unperturbed by the fall of the Empire. Many gnomes see it as an opportunity to try new things and sniff out new solutions to the world’s problems.