Gnome

Gnomish Cultural Notes

Gnomes are much like men of the Renaissance – well-educated in a number of different fields. For example, the foremost clockwork expert is also a well-respected religious scholar.

Equal value is placed on material and spiritual progress, and the city’s children are well-educated by current standards. Literacy rates are higher in Ferrodyne than in any other region of Crescent.

Gnomish Language

Gnomish is an extremely exact language, but at the expense of brevity – so much so that getting a single word answer from a gnome is basically impossible. Their brains simply don’t work that way. Consequently, gnomes tend to talk very very very fast, even in other languages.

Gnomish is the language of engineering and technology. However, there are some abstract concepts it is simply impossible to express in Gnomish, so most educated gnomes also speak Celestial or Elven.

Gnomish Religion

The gnomish approach to religion is somewhat predictable, given gnomish character. They embrace and revere the overlap and contrast of the material and the spiritual. Unlike many scholars, most gnomish clerics do not automatically see night as a time of spiritual darkness. Indeed, many of the go so far as to explore the idea that night is when mortal’s spirits shine most brightly.

Their approach to religion is about finding relations between contrasts – as all living creatures are beings of both the four physical elements, and the spiritual spark of life, so does a study of the similarities and contrasts between the elements and the spirit lay bare the truth of mortal existence.

The gnomish scholars are also frequently the only ones to doubt the literalness of the Librera. They tend to see it as a collection of poetry, parable and prophecy, rather than divinely recorded absolute history. For example, a common part of a gnomish sermon takes a passage from the scripture and debates the moral lesson to be found – and often the priest delivering the sermon doesn’t have an answer. Religious services are very open, with lots of questions and answers, and are frequently only nominally led by the attending clergy.

This open approach to scriptural interpretation often puts them at odds with the established, very literal view of the Church, which is largely headed by the Order of the Sword of Malicean.

Gnomish Views Regarding Sorcery

No one in Ferrodyne has ever publicly suggested that the Church was wrong in pursuing the Scarlet War. However, they have been known to challenge the Church on other grounds before. Whether any of the clergy, or anyone at all, believes in their heart that sorcery and arcane magic should not be outlawed is open to speculation.

Naming Conventions

Elves, Dwarves and Gnomes all follow a similar pattern for their family names. It's very frequently AdjectiveNoun, but what types of Nouns are used differ.

Gnomes are, predictably, a little more random. Their nouns are usually items or other random stuff, and sometimes their Adjectives are, too. Thimblethumbs, Whistlestop, Copperpot, and Draftyburrow are good examples. Unlike dwarves and elves, they do not capitalize the second word.

Gnomes also typically have multiple first and middle names, and often don't put spaces in between. Gnome women usually add their husband's family name into theirs, right before their own family name. Children take both family names, usually using the father's as the last of their names, with the mother's somewhere in the middle. Gnomish record-keeping is a calling, not a job, but it's possible to trace a gnome's lineage back a couple generations just by getting their full name.

Character Notes

Gnomes are available as listed in the Player's Handbook, with the addition that Craft (Tinker) is a class skill for all gnomes.