The Gnomes of Aetolia
The Gnomes are Aetolia’s small, sharp, magic-inclined homebodies. They stand two to three feet tall, live almost entirely in one secluded valley, and run a university famous across the continent for enchantment work. If you want a race that leans on intelligence and craft instead of muscle, with centuries of insularity quietly cracking open in current canon, the Gnomes fit.
At a glance
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Native region | Valley of Lodi, near the Putoran Hills |
| Cultural home | Village of Gorshire (independent) |
| Spiritual frame | Largely secular; sceptical of the Gods. Spirit-magic scholarship is the closest thing to a religious tradition |
| Distinctive trait | Small, sharp, arcane-inclined offshoot of the ancient Zao Sazi heritage |
| Suits play styles | Scholarly roleplay, enchantment and tinkering, isolationist-cracking-open arc, magic-tech |
| Gender lock | None |
Gnome lore and origin
Gnomes were created during the First Immortal Epoch as an offshoot of the Zao Sazi, the progenitor heritage they share with Kobolds, Imps, and Pixies. Where those sister races spilled out into the tumult of the world, the Gnomes did the opposite. They picked a sheltered valley, settled in, and stayed.
That valley is Lodi, near the Putoran Hills. The Village of Gorshire is the only real civilisation the race produced, ruled in name by an elected mayor and held together by a small constabulary. Elections happen rarely, because nothing much changes and the people generally prefer it that way. For most of Gnomish history, a Gnome leaving Gorshire for good was a scandal worth gossiping about for a season.
Current canon is the part where that starts to break. The mines under the Putoran Hills are largely tapped out. To launch the Gorshire Mining Syndicate and look for new reserves, the Gnomes had to swallow their isolationism and accept help from outside adventurers. Under pressure from the people, mayor Gorbert agreed to let young Gnomes leave the valley and adventure on their own. If you want to play a Gnome, you are playing one of the first generations to step outside Lodi as a matter of policy rather than scandal.
A Gnome character carries that tension by default: centuries of “we keep to ourselves” against a present where the home culture is finally cracking open.
Gnome appearance
Gnomes stand between two and three feet tall, with knife-like pointed ears and eyes that run through browns, blues, and hazel, with green showing up only rarely. Heads tend to be more square than round. Limbs and extremities sit in odd proportions compared to taller humanoids, and Gnomish hands have thick, almost web-like fingers that separate further along the knuckle than a Human’s would.
Male Gnomes grow profuse facial hair after puberty: full beards, moustaches, heavy eyebrows. Female Gnomes get a wider range of natural hair colour than the males do. Despite their natural dexterity in fine work, Gnomes walk with an awkward, inelegant gait. Useful detail for roleplay: the smaller frame, the proportions, and the walk all read as “Gnome” before anyone speaks.
Gnome racial abilities
Gnomes have three racial abilities, unlocked at character creation, level 31, and level 61.
- Small Size (available at character creation). Passive. Your smaller frame lets you ride mounts that would crush a Human or larger rider. The trade-off is that alcohol hits a small body harder, so a Gnome gets drunk faster and hiccups a little differently when speaking after a few drinks.
- Willful (unlocks at Level 31). Passive. Gnomish willpower is legendary in the common stories, and the mechanics back it up: your maximum willpower is increased by 5%. Useful for any class that burns willpower as a resource.
- Arcanist (unlocks at Level 61). Passive. A natural affinity for magic that raises your arcane-sourced damage by 1%. Small, but always on, and it stacks with everything else an arcane class brings.
The package is built around mind, will, and magic rather than brute force. Small Size opens a real mount option from the start, Willful is broadly useful for caster classes, and Arcanist is the late-unlock reward for staying with the race long enough to reach level 61.
Gnome base statistics
Aetolia uses statpacks, a separate choice from race that sets your five base stats. The values below are the racial baseline before statpacks apply.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Strength | 9 |
| Dexterity | 10 |
| Intelligence | 16 |
| Constitution | 10 |
| Wisdom | 13 |
That spread leans hard into Intelligence, with respectable Wisdom and weak Strength. The profile reads as a caster or scholar archetype more than a duellist. Your statpack does most of the actual mechanical work, but the racial baseline tells the story of who Gnomes are: smart, willful, physically slight.
How to roleplay a Gnome in Aetolia
- Cultural anchor. The Valley of Lodi and the Village of Gorshire. Most Gnomes were born and raised there, with a simple lifestyle, farmland, geese and sheep, and a deep contentment with the status quo. Gnomes living outside Lodi are still rare enough that other characters will ask why.
- Faction-cultural alignment. Gorshire is independent, but Gnomish temperament pulls toward Spinesreach. The scholarly habit, the enchantment work, the Gorshire University, the comfort with arcane study: all of it overlaps with Spinesreach’s culture more cleanly than with Enorian’s Spirit-faith, Bloodloch’s Shadow-corruption, or Duiran’s wildkin. Some Gnomes go elsewhere, including the rare daring scholars who chase Shadow and usually regret it.
- Religious texture. Mostly secular. There are no chapels in Lodi, mistrust of the Gods is widely considered healthy, and most Gnomes treat the divine with scepticism rather than reverence. Gnomish religious roleplay tends to be either quietly devout in defiance of cultural norms or openly contemptuous of the Gods.
- Common archetypes. Other players will read a Gnome as a scholar, an enchanter, or a tinker first, with a stubborn streak and a habit of preferring tradition. Lean into the type or play against it. A Gnome warrior is unusual enough to be its own roleplay hook. A Gnome who chases Shadow is a Filwin cautionary tale waiting to happen.
A note on Enchanter Filwin: the standard cautionary tale taught at the Gorshire University. He tried to design new enchantments by channelling directly from Shadow, succumbed to the Shadowbound plague in the mid fifth century, and was executed. Most Gnomish scholars know the story, and many will quote it.
Which Aetolia classes fit a Gnome
Any race in Aetolia can play any class. Race never locks you out. Some class archetypes share a thematic resonance with Gnomish lore, which can make for a naturally cohesive character.
Ascendril
Enorian’s primary arcane class: structured elemental magic, scholarship, and the discipline of light-aligned spellwork. The Gnomes founded the Enchanter’s Society of Mournhold and run the Gorshire University on the strength of exactly this kind of work. A Gnome Ascendril is the type-A reading of the race, but it is the cleanest one.
Archivist
Memory, knowledge, and the careful preservation of arcane lore out of Spinesreach. Gnomish culture rewards study, tradition, and a long view of the past. An Archivist Gnome reads as the keeper of records the Gorshire University would actually keep employed for life.
Sciomancer
Shadow scholarship for the daring Gnome who decided the Filwin warning was a challenge rather than a deterrent. Sciomancer’s deep, dangerous magic creates real tension against Gnomish culture’s general scepticism of Shadow, which is exactly what makes the character interesting.
Earthcaller
Bone magic, lava, and stone evocation out of Bloodloch. The political tension is real (Earthcaller is Bloodloch-tethered, and few Gnomes naturally drift toward Bloodloch), and that tension is what makes the character interesting. The Gorshire Mining Syndicate and Gnomish life under the Putoran Hills give Earthcaller real cultural footing for a Gnome who took the stone work seriously enough to follow it across the political line.