G N O M E

Gnomes spend most of their lives in their underground burrows and rarely come to the surface. They resemble dwarves to some extent, but have a ruddy brown skin and are more wiry and gnarled. Their hair is white, and somewhat sparse. Yet, their appearance is not what gets them noticed. Gnomes believe that building contraptions ranks right up there with saving the world. Renowned for their tinkering abilities, gnomes delight in the fact that they can build the right machine for any occasion. The many catastrophes, explosions, and traumatic amputations of limbs that have resulted from this pursuit of mechanics are not seen as tragedies, but rather as learning experiences.

Gnomes are an easy-going race, and most have a pleasant, carefree attitude. They do not believe in failures, only temporary setbacks. Their fascinations with gadgets, sprockets, springs, doodads, and-frighteningly enough--explosives, provide gnomes with an abundance of healthy respect (at a safe distance) from others. Not ones to waste time on such things as revenge, gnomes prefer to experiment. It cannot be helped if an experiment happens to go bad on someone who just offended them in some way.

Gnomes follow the standard occupations of cleric, enchanter, magician, necromancer, rogue, warrior, and wizard, but in their hearts, they are tinkers.

These little people have many deities, among them Brell Serilis and Bristlebane. Some worship the fiery power of Solusek Ro, and of course warriors tend to draw strength from Rallos Zek. There are others rarely spoken of who are said to follow Bertoxxulous, the Plaguebringer.