Gnomes

Gnomes are a short and wiry race, standing between 75 and 85 cm tall at full size, and have a maximum life span of about 90 years. (According to their records, at least; they apparently mature rather quickly as well.) Their origins are among the most disputed of all races among scholars; in fact, they were not even known to exist at all until 20 years ago. They are naturally very clever and adept at keeping themselves hidden, which is most likely why they were unknown to the rest of civilization for so long. Gnomes always keep their settlements hidden from view, making it very difficult to contact them. They generally have fair to light brown skin, and a variety of different hair colors, some even seeming completely unnatural. They seem incapable of growing any kind of facial hair. Gnomes only have notable settlements in southern Nionor, but since their discovery, some of them have moved to different parts of the world. Gnomes usually have a higher tendency towards good alignments.

Gnomes in Orthonia have the same racial traits as in the core rules, with the following adjustments:
 * Languages: The bonus languages available to gnomes are: Aklo, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, and Undercommon.
 * Eternal Hope: By default, gnomes in Orthonia have the Eternal Hope ACT. They may replace it with the Defensive Training and Hatred racial traits, or any other ACT (or pair of ACTs) that replace both Defensive Training and Hatred.

Tribes
There are known to be two major tribes of gnomes in Orthonia: the forest gnomes and the rock gnomes. Forest gnomes (called the gnomoi in Gnomish) live in the jungles of southern Nionor, and are thought to be the original form of the race. They have an intimate connection to nature and tend to rely on purely magical forms of concealment to hide their settlements. They believe that magic, as a gift from the gods, ought to be the only tool necessary for survival, and are loath to use anything more complicated than the simplest of machines. The other variety of gnomes are known as rock gnomes (called the minoi in Gnomish) and they live in the rocky badlands south of the Nionor jungles, now considered part of the Drow Lands. They employ advanced technology, rather than magic alone, for their survival, and due to their talent for craftsmanship they believe themselves to be a more evolved form of the gnome race. They consider magic to be just another force to be harnessed by their industry.

Despite differing views on each other's lifestyle, they consider each other to be beloved brethren and share little actual animosity. Forest gnomes generally have lighter colored skin than rock gnomes, who in turn tend to have coarser and naturally shorter hair.

The core gnome race can be used for gnomes of ether tribe, though forest gnomes should consider the Warden of Nature ACT, while rock gnomes should consider the Master Tinker ACT.