The Wandering Gnomes

The Wandering Gnomes are a small tribe of Gnomes found at the fringes of western Europe. They wander around the edges of the empires of others, trading odd-jobs, trinkets and secrets to others..... all for a price of course. Most societies tolerate them at best and pushed away by others. Rumours persist that they have contact with other travellers & wanderers from far away places.
Made up of a branch of Tinker Gnomes, the Wandering Gnomes love to travel. This wanderlust drives them forward to find new items in which to experiment on, and sell later. They have a tendency of getting into all manner of scrapes involving wind up toys & devices that have unintended side effects. Exploding versions are the most common, and as this shows other Gnomes in such bad light at times, they are regularly driven off or harassed by their settled cousins. The small sizes of their communities make them easy targets by Goblins too, who take a great delight in tormenting them for days.
One thing that follows in their wake is stories of their wandering caravans being havens of knowledge of the 'Little Folk' and hidden things. This has led many smaller communities fear them and feel unwelcome. Any of these that have suffered at the hands of a Fey are quick to blame them for bringing the Fey into their settlement. This is usually unfounded and both the Gnomes & the Fey are quite put out about this. No actual link has ever been established.
The Gnomes seem to have contact with other outsider travellers, and are known to interact with a group known as the Vistani. The connection between them has never been fully established. Both seem to be well-acquainted and travel together if they meet and going to the same destination. They seem to swap stories and general information whenever they do.