The Ciar - Kob, Fae, and Gnomes

This group of people is all genetically linked but they vary greatly culturally. The Kob were the natural denizens of the hills and mountains who first encountered the Vergar cities and enclaves as they were already acting as workers, emissaries, and traders between the Eldar in different parts of the world. Their chief concern with trade is not the generation of wealth but the passing of information. These swarthy people are slightly smaller than the Fae and gnomes and generally have darker skin tones and hair to match the hills, vales, and mountains they occupy. Currently, the kob work as librarians, traders, accountants, couriers, and other secondary figures in the Vergar empire although they may also be found in other parts of the world accruing knowledge. In disputes, the kob are known for being arbitrators without bias. Little is known about their homes as they ask many questions, but are furtive when asked about their own lives. Kob may have wings or they may have clipped them before joining other societies. Even when they have wings they are not known to fly, but rarely have they been seen gliding among cliffs near the areas where their homes are thought to be hidden.
Fae are the most common of the three little people. Like the Kob, they are employed in positions where they are usually seen but not heard from. Artisans are more likely to employ fae for their ingenuity in developing, writing, and crafting. In addition, many bakeries, inns, clothiers, and cobblers employ fae. The ubiquitous presence of fae can be accounted for by their willingness to listen to almost anyone and to work with quickness and skill. They are also the quickest of the three cultures to laugh or share a rhyme. While they are still secretive about their origins and homelands, they will make their homes easily among other races. Some of the best wines and beers are brewed with fae assistance. Although many are fair skinned, there are also fae with darker skin and eyes. Inevitably, there will also be some fae who work in the hospitals of humans. Their wings are never clipped, and they are known to fly at need. When given the choice, most fae will choose to live and work in cities and communities near rivers or the coast. It is unknown if they have a homeland or have always been wanderers.
Gnomes are the consummate tinkerers and inventors of the world. They can be found around shipyards, blacksmiths, the building of trains and airships, and in the university labs as assistants and catalogers. Like the other cultures, they love to learn about other races. Unlike the other cultures, they are known for showing their disdain for what they take to be bad ideas - whether political, moral, or scientific. They still do not share personal details, but it will quickly become clear where an individual gnome stands on a certain topic if asked. Gnomes are pragmatists and do not care about what other races may deem as moral. For a gnome, they will ask if the position accomplishes what the person holding it means for it to accomplish. This is their only definition of good. It is unknown whether they have wings or whether they clip them at a young age because gnomes are very secretive about their bodies and will always dress like the races they work with each day. Their historical homes are known to be in the deepest forests.
All three of the groups are risk averse and do not want to get involved in the squabbles of others. Knowledge is their currency and they will easily spend a human lifetime mastering a single skill. Although their age isn’t known, they may decide to spend several generations working for the same family, firm, or institution. Vergar banks have been known to leave their workings directly to the kob in their employ for millennia with the priest-clerics only showing up to expedite the process of transfers. This is where the term kobkin (sounding like gob-kin in the southern regions) comes from as the small, tightly knit bands of kobs are hard to tell apart for outsiders as they do their jobs for nearly ages.
The secret to all three groups is that they make use of magic in near bening ways. Their encyclopedic view of the world is a transaction that they make with themselves. They are born with imbued magic that give back to the world as caretakers of new information. Any of these groups that are not learning will grow old and fade from the world.
General appearance: 1m to 1.4m; the fae are the main exception to this rule as some will grow taller while remaining slim and blend in with human populations Magic relates to being able to recall, remember, and store vast amounts of knowledge. They all also are able to do basic hiding, transfiguration, and prestidigitation spells without most other people catching on. They can also slightly change their personal appearance to deceive others. Although the Vergar suspect the Ciar of having magic, they do not bother them as they have been loyal servants. Generally look like smaller humans but with more pronounced features. Some fae are historically known to have been the muses of artists because of their unerring beauty. None of the Ciar are known to have died from natural causes, but they will succumb to illness easier than the Eldar. However, it may not be that they are immortal and it is rather that when they are close to death they return to their people and share their knowledge before dying. Because of their similar appearance to one another, their long lives, the taking of the same name, and their secretive nature many outsiders cannot tell the Ciar apart unless they wish to be distinguished. This is an intentional feature of the race.