Gnomes

Life is a story to gnomes. The pacifism forced upon Akronia by the dragons has lead to many communities becoming vulnerable to outside forces, or the whim of the great winged beasts. Fearing that their race would be easily de-stroyed, but at the same time not wanting to anger the dragons (as the gnomes were very few in number at this time), the gnomes came up with their own way to quickly progress their race: stories.

From a young age, cautionary tales are shared, teaching the basics of life and what to avoid. They are taught that no-one is purely bad, and that those who are deemed bad should never be killed, for then they cannot learn and be good again. By their mid teens, they are introduced to the Mask.

   The Mask is a cultural item that all gnomes receive from the leader of their community once they have learnt the ba-sics of life. Since they had no foe on Akronia, they had no-one to test them. The Mask represents the concept of the Villain, the evil doer, the one who is not purely bad but is a challenge to overcome. All gnomes aim to fulfil all aspects of stories in their lifetime, and the Villain cannot be overlooked. Whilst wearing the Mask, the gnome agrees to take on this role, to set riddles and tasks and challenges, to fight but not to kill, to damage but not to break. No gnome will kill another wearing a mask, for they understand that this role is vital, and they are performing it to help the entire community. However, wearing the Mask must be limited, for those who wear it too long can become consumed by the role, and are unable to take it off. This can be reversed if the gnome is in good health, but will leave them with dire wounds that can take months to heal.

This is how many gnomes aim to die. Sometimes, when they have an ailment that cannot be cured, they will put on their Mask one last time, and replace all their usual colourful clothing with whites, the only colour being that of their Mask. They will leave their community, become consumed by their Mask, and then return as a final challenge. This is the only time any gnome will willingly kill a mask wearer, as they will die shortly after regardless.
The gnome communities are usually very small nomadic groups, moving across the grass plains of southern Akronia. When they come of age, and have completed their first minor villain role to ensure that they can use the Mask re-sponsibly, they go for a year long wander, where they are expected to learn about other cultures, spend time with other nomadic groups, and make a story worth telling when they go home.

Since a dull story is considered embarrassing or unfortunate for the gnome involved, some tend to embellish their tales a small amount, but not to the extent that it becomes unrealistic. Exaggerating the truth is accepted, but lying outright in your story is considered distasteful. Gnomes pride themselves in telling their stories in different ways, some writing academic papers, others acting the out or turning them into song.

Like all those originating from Akronia, the gnomes like to dress in brighter colours. They will keep their clothes for years longer than a human would deem something unsuitable, patching them when they break. A common phrase is that to be experienced you have to ‘earn your patches’, as your clothes reflect the journey you have been on. Gnomes are also likely to keep trinkets and keep-sakes from adventures.

A family will usually sew their own Chronicler’s Coat, worn by their most experienced family member. These indicate a high rank within gnome culture, and are very old, very prized possessions, with small amounts of enchantment wo-ven into them.