Races of Theril: The Gnome

Gnomes

The second born of the smallfolk, Gnomes are ingenious creatures who love to learn and discover. Loving new sensations and new creations. Like the other smallfolk, the history kept by the tallfolk includes minimal references to their activity.

Created for Curiousity

Though Gnomes and Halflings were created at a similar time, and are of similar stature, their creation was utterly different. Gnomes were made from the earth, particularly out of alchemical minerals such as sulfurous and phosphorous ores. Gnomes have rounded and knobbly features, much like their creator Charlim. Standing between 4 and 4-1/2 feet when fully grown, and have a tendency towards a fuller, rounded figure, weighing 40 to 50 pounds. Gnomes have skin colour ranges from vibrant yellows, oranges and pastille blues and purples, with hair of all bright or pastille colours. Gnomes tainted by Malignance always have sickly green skin and lanky black hair. Gnomish males grow facial hair but rarely on the chin, they tend to not shape their hair purposely, but they naturally grow their facial hair in interesting patterns.

Befuddled and Befuddling

The gnomes share several traits with their creator, but none more noticeable than Charlims brilliance but utter absent-mindedness. Other races find it difficult to follow Gnomish logic as it features so many lateral leaps that it's difficult to call it logic at all. Gnomes are easily distracted; often working on several projects at any one time, bouncing between them in a way that makes non-gnomes surprised that gnomes can get anything done. If it weren't for their close ties with the Halfling communities, gnomes may not have ever gotten anything done. They have a general lack of foresight despite their amazing insight, and thus are ill suited for running a community. The Halflings took a gamble by integrating Gnomes into their communities and much like any other risk made by Halflings this one payed of, with gnomes supplying devices and concoctions to better their communities.

Fascination with Sensations

Gnomes poses ears, eyes and noses in larger proportion than other races, but their minds are ill equipped to handle this empowered senses, making them about as useful as those of other humanoids. The way Gnomes perceive is utterly unique amongst humanoids though, with no sense standing in isolation. Each sense bleeds into the other; sounds invoking colours, tastes, smells, sensations of touch; sights invoking sounds, tastes, smells, sensations of touch and so on. This crossing of the senses lead Gnomes to having both peculiar and particular tastes, often subject to their environments, in a way unique to each Gnome. As a result Gnomish food is often flavour neutral with varied texture, but served with a variety of potent flavourings so each Gnome can adjust the taste of their meal to the rest of the ambiance.

Curious to a Fault

Charlim fixed a lust for novelty in the soul of all Gnomes. Never is a Gnome satisfied with their body of knowledge, contempt with their design or set in their way. At the same time they are not ones for teaching or learning. Most Gnomes go through their lives testing and experimenting, but more or less covering ground that has already been explored by their predecessors. Due to their lack of note taking and general forgetfulness a gnome will often be stumped when asked to explain their own creations a year or so after they have built them, leading to the joy of rediscovering their own work if they ever need to replicate it in the future.

Master Illusionists

When Mysth revealed magic to the races, Gnomes became fascinated with illusion magic. It's power to deceive the senses clearly aiding gnomes to create new experiences or make environments match their current pallets. So prolific was illusionary magic that a charms to produce minor illusions still remains readily available in Gnomish communities.

Always a New Friend

In general Gnomes are incredibly welcoming and friendly with strangers. This learnt behaviour is a byproduct of the great difficulty Gnomes have remembering others, particularly those who lack exaggerated features, such as most non-gnomes. The process of learning a person is long and arduous for the person being learned that is, as it is quite unpleasant to be confused for a stranger.  Gnomes consider people that they recognise as incredibly good friends, and will maintain close friendships until regular interactions cease. After an extended period of time without interacting with a friend, it’s likely the Gnome will forget them entirely.

A Life of Learning

A young Gnomes curiosity is not yet fully matured, it takes sometime for them to grasp the ideals of creativity and curiosity. For the first 30 years of their lives their curiosity grows slowly, it is during these years that their memories are strongest. They form much of their impressions during these years, but over the rest of their lives these impressions are often degraded, replaced by the much more fluid outlooks of an adult gnome. Gnomish names are rarely permanent, most gnomes are incredibly forgetful of names, thus in their communities they hold little weight. Their names are often more akin to nicknames of other peoples, either being self assigned or assigned by others. Most gnomes tend to live to see their second century, over which time they would expect to see several generations of their halfling kin come and go.

The Reverence of the Sublime

Gnomish communities lack the rigour for communal worship, though this does not prevent them from being religious folk. Most gnomes hold some reverence for the brothers Charlim and Omnis for their creation and manifold blessings. Other then that each individual gnomes faith evolves through their personal journey. The desire for new experiences and a desire to experience the sublime often driving gnomes to attempt to find their god of personal worship.

Spirit of Studiousness

Despite, or perhaps due to, their incessant curiosity and unending fascination, Gnomish souls grant the gift of supreme insight into their surroundings. Blessed to be able to make great leaps of logic, or perceive the truth of the reality around them. Sadly, what would be seen as a great idea to another is often  simply discarded by the mind of a gnome.

Superfluous Speech

Gnomes adopted the halfling tongue for their own, but not without modification. The combined languages of halflings and gnomes is collectively known as Smallish. THe gnomish influence is easy to find; often far too long for practical uses, it their words describe things of equal complexity, as it is often their inventions that carry gnomish words. Gnomish words that enter into common use often quickly get shortened.

Communes of Confusion

Though they have little care for it, there are some broad classifications of the types of gnomish communities that appear on the continent of Theris. These distinctions tend not to arise from Gnomish actions, instead being caused by the communities interactions with their Halfling kin.

The Isolated Sevant. On the continent, the smallfolk communities are dominated by dalefolk. They tend to leave in agricultural communities that are incapable of supporting more than one or two gnomish families. As such these gnomes are quite halfling like in their tastes, and further are more prone to reinvention. After all, the dalefolk are far more interested in getting duplicates of items then an endless stream of novel inventions. This intellectual stagnancy also leads to a personal one, these isolated rural gnomes are prone to shunning the idea of moving about.

The Guild Gnome. As many halfing communities have been absorbed into human cities, so to are the gnomes that lived with them. There they tend to attract each other into what can loosely be described as guilds. With the youngest of adult gnomes being assigned the drear duty of teaching children and outsiders the basics of gnomish brilliance as well as such dull things as leading the guild, allowing the elders to be free from monotony and together achieve new heights in creativity.

The Bedazzled Isles. The isles formally known as the Craig Islands had long been thought as incapable of sustaining societies. This was until those gnomes who had lived with the eternal traveling riverfolk decided to break from them and settled there.  Through what is surely pure luck the gnomes not only survived but thrived; forming a loosely governed state with a myriad of valuable exports. The riverfolk who regulalrly traded with the gnomes named their community the Bedazzled Isles, as they shone with fanciful lights that could be seen even from far off. Visitors to the isles would describe it as always like a festival.

The Lepers Rock. Not all islands in the cluster were created equal though, and those that lived on the southernmost Craig Island became corrupted by the Malign. No halflings or any other race visits the island to inject structure, and so it has fallen to almost complete anarchy. Luckily the festering gnomes that live here are far too disorganised and isolated to pose a real threat to the other isle, but if they were the only known Gnomish state would surely collapse.

Gnomes

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.

Age. Gnomes mature at a similar rate to humans, but are not expected to be independent until the age of 40. They can live past their third century, but rarely reach their fourth.

Alignment. Gnomes are too absent minded for order and destruction, and tend towards individuality not by choice but by lack of concern.

Size. Standing between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh 40 pounds on average, gnomes tend to have a more rounded build. Your size is small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to dimly lit boroughs, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Gnomish Cunning. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Gnome Illusionist. You know the Minor Illusion cantrip. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Smallfolk.

Brewer Gnome

Brewer gnomes tend towards being yellow and orange and have a fascination and affinity with alchemical mixtures. They’re pallets are even stranger than their bluer kin, tending to be enhanced by potent esters which they produce to infuse food with taste. Travelers would often note that if a blue gnome offered you food or a yellow gnome offered you drink you’d be fine, but if it’s the other way round respectfully decline.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Alchemy Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to potions or alchemical objects, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Brew. You are proficient with artisan's tools (alchemist's tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to brew a non-magical potion. These potions spoil after a tenday. You can have up to five such potions. When you create a potion, choose one of the following options:

Sticky Ichor: This brew is a viscous green fluid with a swampy aroma that when exposed to air expands. As an action you can splash this potion onto a creature within 5 feet of you, make a ranged touch attack against a creature, treating the potion as an improvised weapon. If hit the target is restrained by the fluid until they pass a DC 15 strength saving throw, or a minute passes and potion becomes ineffective.

Sleeping Fumes: This brew is a thin clear liquid with a faint floral fragrance, that quickly evaporates when exposed to air.  As an action you can splash this potion onto a creature within 5 feet of you, make a ranged touch attack against a creature, treating the potion as an improvised weapon. Or can be administered more subtly be soaking a cloth in the potion and placing it over the creatures mouth which counts as a grapple check. If hit the target falls unconscious for 10 minutes, or until the creature takes damage or someone spends an action to slap or shake the creature. Undead, Constructs, and other creatures that do not sleep are immune to this effect.

Billowing Fluid: This brew is a murky white fluid that when exposed to air or water rapidly becomes a cloud of chalky fog. As an action you may pour out this potion creating a 10 foot radius sphere of fog (or 20 foot radius if poured directly onto water). The sphere spreads around corners, and it's area is heavily obscured. It lasts for 1 minute or until a wind of moderate to great speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.

Glowing Gel: This brew is faintly glowing clear yellow fluid that glows brightly when exposed to air. As an action you can apply this potion to any solid surface or object, which then sheds bright yellow light in a 20 foot radius. This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until the surface or object is washed with water.

Tinker Gnome

Tending towards the blues and purples, the tinker gnomes have a fascination with Omnis’ gifts. Building contraptions that enchant and amaze, it is perhaps for their love of invention that the gnomes weathered the loss of magic quite well. Many tinkerers even producing devices able to simulate the effects of some spells.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Artificer Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to magic items or technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Tinker: You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time. When you create a device, choose one of the following options:

Clockwork Toy: This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.

Fire Starter: The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.

Music Box: When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

Fester Gnome

Touched by the malign, fester gnomes take a slick green colouration, their skin mired by pots and bumps. They always seem to shine as their skin is coated by a thick oil which is highly poisonous. Still in love with alchemical creations, the festering gnomes turn both their new and old skill to the production of a myriad of powerful poisons.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Poisonous. Anything that attacks you with an unarmed strike, natural attack, touch attack, or otherwise touches you must succeed a Constitution save with a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution bonus + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save they suffer the poisoned effect. Undead, Constructs or any other creature immune to poisons unaffected by this ability. You can spend an hour gathering the toxins off your skin to produce one vial of Common Poison, which loses its potency after 24 hours. You can only use this ability once per short rest. You are immune to the poison produced by Fester Gnomes, and resistant to Poison Damage.

Toxins Expert. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to poisonous materials or other toxic substances, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Malign Power. You know the Acid Splash cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Malignant. When making  Charisma (Deception), Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Performance) checks against creatures without this trait you do not add your proficiency bonus.

Races of Theril: The Drow

Drow

Of all the beings of the Utterdark, the Drow are the self-professed rulers of them all. Created as a twisted image of the Elves, the Drow have no care for the world around them, seeing everything only as a resource to be used, including each other. The cities of the Drow are hot beads of lies, betrayal and manipulation.

Elves of the Deep

The Drow were the second of the dark races made by Belough, formed from captured elves who had been tortured in the unfathomable depths. They share most of the elves features but with skin ranging from dark blues and purples to near pure black, their eyes are pupils globes of solid colour, the most typical being a pale pink, but white and light blue are also common, their hair is purest white unless dyed.

Exploitation and Subjugation

Whereas true elves see the world as something to be nurtured and cared for, the Drow are a subversion to this. To a Drow everything in the world is a tool for them to use, and if it has no use it needn't exist. Drow cities run on mutual distrust and constant political turmoil, each citizen striving to secure their 'rightful' position as N'zar, the current leader of the city. N'zars are rarely in power for more than a week or so before being deposed, the longest reigning N'zars rarely lasting more than a year. One would think a society plagued by such a crippling leadership system would lack the productivity to survive in the Utterdark, and this would be the case if it weren't for the Drows strong slave culture. Capturing Surface and Dark races with equal quantity, the Drows traffic a large number of slaves into their cities, such traffic is needed as the bound lead short and utterly miserable lives.

Persuasion and Extortion

There is no currency in the bizarre underground cities of the Drow, commerce is instead performed through barter and extortion. As a race Drow are remarkably good at getting what they want, and somehow the cities are well supplied without the need for standardized commerce. The only people who are disadvantaged by this system are outsiders, who often end up receiving unfair payment, losing their inventories or even being taken as a slave.

The Pursuit of More

Belough created the Drow such that they were never satisfied by their possessions, and always jealous of what others have. Their perception that each Drow is the only being that deserves to be in control is also ingrained into their very souls. Post-breaking, the absence of Belough lessened theses urges, particularly due to Drows no longer receiving her blessing during their rights of adulthood, but these urges still remain.

Weaves of Taint and Shadow

Just as the Elves are skilled in the Art, so too are the Drow. They have a distaste for Mysth's weave, preferring the use of the Charis' Shadow Weave, but the Drow also pioneered a new form of magic. The deep places of the world are filled with malign energies they call Tar'Zarin, a dangerous energy with the power to twist and corrupt mortal flesh. Belough infused the Dark Souls contained by all of her creatures with Tar'Zarin rendering them immune to their mutating effects, but the Drow discovered a way to harness it to perform magic. This became even more useful following the breaking; the magic may have left the world but the Tar'Zarin remained. Some rare Drow are infused with Tar’Zarin altering their form somewhat but allowing greater proficiency with it’s tainted energies. Tar’Ziran infused drow are easily recognised by their eyes which extrude purple flame, and the glowing runes that cover their body from birth.

Allies of Convenience

The Drow are a friendless people, all interpersonal connections are for personal gain. This also applies to their relationships with the Gods, often considering deities as a source of power, but still dreaming of a time when they can cast them off, or take that power for themselves.

A Family of Convenience

So pervasive is the belief that each Drow see themselves as the rightful owner of everything they around them, Children as young as 6 share this belief. Drow do not practice marital bonds, and Drow families only hold together while the members feel they have a use for each other, Drow parents seeing their children as a vessel for their legacy and potential political gain, and Drow children see their parents as a provider of food and shelter and a pathway to prestige. Family units often break up well before the young Drow is considered an adult, which is typically within their 110th year. Before the breaking, a Drow child would become an adult after taking the blessing of Belough and taking their own family name, permanently severing their ties to their kin. Post-breaking the tradition was continued despite the absence of the gods.

Favoured of Belough

The drow that make their homes below the ground almost exclusively worship Belough, though they also might prey to Caris or Silicia.

Hungering Hearts

It is in the soul of the Drow were Belough lies, driving them to greed, envy and desire, pushing them to see everything around them as possessions. The Drow though were the first to reveal the effect of souls on the mind, some Drow in the overworld had their souls driven out of them which had a profound on their personalities.

Races Language

The drow speak a tongue similar to Elven, but filled with harsher consonants that break up the melodic flow of the tongue. The Drow way of life is so prevalent in the underground that their tongue has dominated the underground, leading to the language being called undercommon in the common tongue. Regional dialects of undercommon exist in areas dominated by other races but the common feature of long elegant words shattered throughout by hard consonants and removed vowels.

Drow Communities

The events around the breaking of the world had a profound effect on Drow societies, taking a more or less uniform social structure and shattering it into a variety of different opinions.

The Drow of Utterdark. The base of Drow power is vast caverns of Beloughs Utterdark. Here the dark Drow cities hewn from the stone form the base of an empire of sorts spanning the entire underworld. By far the most common of all drow, they have recently begun trying to find purpose in the world now that Belough no longer intervenes directly in their lives. Many have used this as an opportunity to seize power, either over their kin or the other Dark races. The main bases of Drow power are the cities of Loth’Kaal the Daemon Web, Angrl’Thzak the Crystal Spire, Zell’Nagrtha he Dissonant Caverns, and Zarin’Ghul the Malign Islands.

The Drow of Talor Val. The city of Talor Val is an oddity amongst elven towns, as it has a small population of Drow. The Drow omf Talor Val joined the city when refugees of a Chitine attack forced the denizens to rise to the surface. Unable to seek asylum themselves they did secure a home for their young children, who was brought into a great orphanage. The priest of Selus saw that Belough was still influencing the children despite his best efforts, so he decided to exorcise her. What he did not know was that he was in fact, destroying their souls. The orphanage was shut down a mere 10 years after its founding, driving those who had not found homes were driven to the streets. All of this was before the breaking, and at this time any of those Drow are now entering adulthood. Drow on the surface fight prejudice leveraged against them for their race, as a response the Drow of Talor Val try their best to subvert common Drow types.

Drow Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2.

Age. Although Drow reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the Drow understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An Drow typically claims adulthood at around the age of 100 and can expect to see the end of their 8th century.

Alignment.

Size. Drow range from under 5 to 0ver 6 feet tall, with slender builds. Your size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Chitter.  Through clicks and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller insects.

Weapon Affinity. You have proficiency with the rapier, glaive, whip and hand crossbow.

Languages. You can speak, read and write Undercommon and Elvish.

Cavern Drow

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Belough's Favour. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put you to sleep.

Extortionists. You are proficient with intimidation or deception skills.

Telor Val Drow

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Mark of the Crescent Moon. You have immunity to Charm effects.

Shattered Soul. You must choose a flaw from the table of Indefinite Madness (or some equivalent effect) in addition the other flaw you take during character creation.

Daylight Adaptation. Your Darkvision is reduced to 60 feet but you are not effected by sunlight sensitivity unless the source of the light is magical.

Ter'Zarin Drow

Tainted Knowledge. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill.

Ter'Zarin Infused. You know the minor illusion Cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell once per day. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the darkness spell once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.