Gnomes

Gnomes are small humanoids endemic to the Feywild. 
== Lifespan ==
Gnomes can live to around 350 years. 
== History ==
=== Early Years ===
The gnomes emerged as a small and free-spirited people around a mountain range in the Feywild, they formed a small hunter-gatherer society on their home mountains. Some of the gnomes became friends with the stone spirits of the mountains, and became stonesingers, able to shape stone with ease. This came in handy when two factions of giants began warring at the base of the mountains, driving the gnomes to hide on the slopes and peaks of the mountains, when the factions of smaller giants lost the war they to retreated up the mountains. This forced the gnomes to hide within the mountain, using their stonesingers to carve out cave systems for them to live in. After some time, a stonesinger discovered a spot where the she could tunnel down below the 8 foot deep floor of the Fey mountain, she had discovered the spot that corresponded with one of the dwarfholds in the fadelands. Most of the gnomes stayed near the surface, but a few made regular expeditions down into the shapeable stone, this continued for some time until one of the stonesingers discovered Gogah, the vengeful first beholder and creation of Muradin. Gogah slaughtered the explorers who lived in the deep tunnels under the mountain. Gogah would have killed all the gnomes above and below the depth limit if not for its curiosity being caught by the wonder of the parallel dwarven city. The gnomes, now aware of this extremely powerful threat, made the decision to leave their mountain homes. 
=== The Exodus ===
The gnomes left the mountains to find a new home, losing their stonesingers' connection to the stone spirits of the mountains. The gnomes traveled from place to place, mostly staying in one group, and settled from time to time. Everywhere they settled, they were forced out by malice or natural disasters after a short time, causing many gnomes to be lost. The gnomes wondered south-east, eventually crossing the Blossoming Sea, landing in Telaras, where they eventually came upon the Gnihon, a beautiful area of river valleys that produced fertile ground and bountiful hunting game. For the gnomes, this was paradise, a beautiful and safe land they could call their own. They made a connection with the stone spirits of these new mountains, and they carved homes into the mountain tops with their renewed stone shaping. They also found river spirits in the valleys, which they made friends with as well. They called this new settlement Dilmun, and they lived there for centuries peace. 
=== Diaspora ===
The gnomes first heard of the incoming disaster from the river spirits, a massive meteor came down from the endless fey sky, impacting in the seas south of the Dilmun, and a massive tidal wave was heading toward the Gnihon. The gnomes got to shelter in time before a massive wave washed out the lower portion of the valleys, corrupting the river spirits and poisoning the local wildlife. Soon after came hostile ocean spirits and the Yuan-Ti, the snake people drove out the gnomes from their rocky homes, forcing them to once again wonder the lands in search of a home. There was a split in the community between the gnomes that believed that their race should stick together for the sake of their survival, and the group that believed the gnomes should split up, spreading their race over all the worlds they could. The latter of these came to be called the whisper gnomes. The whisper gnomes split off from the main group in 2's and 3's and scattered themselves across the continent known as the middle kingdom in all 3 of the planes. The main group journeyed northward to find a new home, their modern-day whereabouts are a closely guarded secret, but their main objective is to found Duratania, the greatest of all gnomish cities that will keep the gnomes safe and prosperous for eons into the future.
== Notable Gnomes ==
* Angel
* Thiswell
* Rivona
== Further Information ==
* Basics: The Gnomes
Category:Races