Gnomes were originally from a planet named Shea (shay), a green and craggy place, covered in rock strewn hills above valleys of squat white trees. Unlike many other worlds, it was home to several intelligent humanoids besides gnomes, most notably the Ogre race. Gnomes spent most of their time hiding from ogres and were particularly good at it, camouflaging their villages to appear like grassy fields, large boulders, or empty cliff sides.
On Aedra they’ve refined this talent: they now hide whole gnomish villages within human ones, often completely invisible to the human inhabitants. On the rafters, within the walls, and under the streets hide entire miniature towns where gnomes go about their daily lives just mere feet from humans, yet entirely separated. These tinkertowns, as they are called, are not a secret but a welcome addition. Its is a symbiotic relationship: the gnomes provide skilled labour and keep the cities free of pests, while humans provide raw materials and security. It is a tradition that has existed for thousands of years. At agreed up locations exchanges are made, sometimes between representatives and other times through written orders. The gnomes diligently build and repair the various articles, tools, and goods requested while the humans supply the materials and leave the gnomes to their privacy.
Such is this relationship ingrained in human society that even the lowliest of crooks would not violate it. And woe unto those that do. While humans make it their business to keep out of the gnomes’ affairs, gnomes are quite adept at collecting the secrets of their neighbors and are quite willing to use them to their advantage. It is not unknown for a married woman to hear a whisper in her ear late at night that her husband has been unfaithful especially if that husband has reneged on agreement with his house gnomes.
Not all gnomes ascribe to this secret lifestyle. Some find their brothers’ and sisters’ secretive ways silly and antiquated and live out in the open besides other races. Others never adapted to urban life and still live out in the wilderness, hiding their homes within trees and rocks – completely self-sufficient.
Gnome Traits
Gnomes have all the general traits gnomes receive in the player’s handbook except the darkvision. Instead they receive the trait below:
Gnomish Hearing: Gnomes have acute hearing and penalties caused by surrounding noise or distance are halved, i.e. trying to listen to a whispered conversation 40 feet away would normally have a -4 penalty to the listen check, but a gnome would only suffer a -2.
In addition, gnomes can hear sounds above and below the audible range of humans. They can hear dog whistles for example, and gnome communities often employ such whistles to alert fellow gnomes of trouble.
There are two kinds of gnomes: forest gnomes and tomte.
Forest Gnome
Forest Gnomes are keeper of the old ways, their lifestyle very similar to how they lived back on Shea. They are helpful people and often friends with many of the wild animals that leave near their villages. When they do assist humans and other races, they will generally do so secretly. Forest gnome adventurers are very rare and considered oddities among their own kind. Forest gnomes have the same traits as found in the Player’s Handbook on pages 36 and 37.
Tomte (tinker gnomes)
The tomte use the traits for Rock Gnomes found in the Player’s Handbook on pages 36 and 37. They are often called tinker gnomes by other races. These gnomes integrate into human society, performing useful services for the owners of the homes the cohabitate. If located in larger towns and cities, tomte will form a larger cooperative known as a tinkertown, and offer their services to the entire human community.
The list of objects Tomte can create with their Tinker ability can be expanded by resources found online, the book’s three recipes are considered just examples.
Mirrorworld 