Forest gnome

Forest gnomes were among the least commonly seen gnomes on Toril, far shier than even their deep gnome cousins. Small and reclusive, forest gnomes were so unknown to most non-gnomes that they had repeatedly been "discovered" by wandering outsiders who happened into their villages. Timid to an extreme, forest gnomes almost never left their hidden homes.

Description
Compared with other gnomes, forest gnomes were even more diminutive than, rarely growing taller than in height or weighing in over. Typically, males were slightly larger than females, at the most by four inches or five pounds. Unlike other gnomes, forest gnomes generally grew their hair long and free, feeling neither the need nor desire to shave or trim their hair much, though males often did take careful care of their beards, trimming them to a fine point or curling them into hornlike spikes. Forest gnome skin was an earthy color and looked, in many ways, like wood, although it was not particularly tough. Forest gnome hair was brown or black, though it grayed with age, sometimes to a pure white. Like other gnomes, forest gnomes generally lived for centuries, although their life expectancy was a bit longer than was the case for either rock or deep gnomes; 400 was the average life expectancy of a forest gnome.

Psychology
Forest gnomes were painfully shy creatures who neither felt the need nor desire to interact with other races. For the most part, forest gnomes would simply like to be ignored as they had been for millennia. Unlike deep gnomes, this came less out of a general mistrust of outsiders and more out of an extreme sense of privacy and affinity for the natural world, combined with a general ambivalence about things that were outside of their experience. Among their own kind, forest gnomes were quite friendly, if not particularly lively.

Like deep gnomes, forest gnomes rarely left their remote homes. As a general rule, forest gnomes lacked the curiosity typical of most gnomes and would only leave their homelands under intense pressure, such as a threat that they alone could not overcome. For the most part, forest gnomes preferred to stick to what they knew—caring for the wood around them.

Abilities
Forest gnomes differed from the more common rock gnomes and deep gnomes in a number of ways. Forest gnomes, like halflings, were adept at obscuring their presence and slipping into places unseen, particularly when in the familiar terrain of their forest homes. In addition to the cantrip-like abilities typical of gnomes, forest gnomes also possessed supernatural abilities similar to the spells pass without trace and speak with animals, although they could use these abilities at will.

Culture
Forest gnomes lived in an extreme state of primitivism, though their lives were generally comfortable and idyllic. Forest gnomes are largely hunter-gatherers, harvesting their food from wild fruits, nuts, and berries, and supplementing their diet with a little meat. Forest gnome villages were usually composed of less than a hundred members, who were often all a part of an extended family. Forest gnome homes were generally small, reclusive, and so well-hidden that a human might well walk within a few feet of a gnome home and not even realize it. Part of this is because of the unique manner in which forest gnomes constructed their homes, which were typically located within trees.

Forest gnomes spent the majority of their day tending to the forest and gathering food to feed the rest of the village, although a few, like their kin, searched underground for gems in a manner unusual for most hunter-gatherers. Forest gnome children who were too young to contribute were generally allowed to do as they like, although they were prevented from wandering far from their protective parents. These children learn how to behave primarily by example, watching their elders, acquiring a reverence for the forest and appreciation for their society gradually. Forest gnomes were generally organized in a loose gerontocracy, with the eldest member of the community serving an advisory role to the rest of the community, who generally only make decisions by consensus. Outside of their homes, this ethic carries on, though gnomes rarely gathered in groups of more than two or three beyond their secluded villages.

Forest gnomes only rarely became adventurers, usually due to some kind of threat to their home or other need that requires them to leave their reclusive hovels. Most gnomes are instead craftsmen or experts of various kinds. Those who do leave take on a variety of different roles. The forest gnome love of music makes many excellent, if somewhat shy, bards. Other forest gnomes became clerics or druids, who often play important roles in forest gnome society upon their returns. Very few forest gnomes would consider themselves proper warriors and forest gnome fighters were next to unheard of. On the other hand, many forest gnomes were well-suited for the life of a rogue, given their small size and stealthy natures. Some forest gnomes also showed a propensity for the arcane arts and became, like so many of their kin, illusionists. Because of their historical conflict with those races, forest gnomes often had defensive training against kobolds, orcs, goblinoids, and reptilian humanoids, which serves adventurers well in their travels.

Art and Leisure
Forest gnome society, like that of most hunter-gatherers, is a curious mix of luxury and hard work. Forest gnomes spent most of their days working for the benefit of the community but after returning home from the forest, they were usually treated to a relaxed lifestyle with few causes of stress. During such times, forest gnomes devoted themselves to a variety of humble but impressive artistic practices. Among these are gemcutting and jewelry-making, which forest gnomes, unlike the similarly primitive wild elves, had a deep fondness for. Typically, however, these beautiful designs reflect the natural world in a way uncommon to most civilized peoples. Forest gnomes also forged a wide variety of tools but have a notable taboo on axes, due to their common use in woodcutting by other races.

Forest gnome architecture is also unique. Like many of the Tel-quessir, forest gnomes made their homes in such a way as to disturb the local environment as little as possible. However, unlike elves, who often live in the branches of trees, weaving their architecture into the surrounding structures, forest gnomes build their homes within trees, carving them in a careful manner devised by druids that does as little harm to the living plant as possible. Each tree hovel is usually a few hundred feet away from every other one, allowing each family the privacy that forest gnomes as a whole crave. The homes themselves are usually made of several tiny rooms stacked on top of one another, with trapdoors and ladders connecting them. Each room is about four feet tall and lined with windows to let in the sun.

Because of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle forest gnomes neither kept livestock nor pets. However, forest gnomes are fond of wild animals and will sometimes forge bonds with them. Of the forest's wildlife, forest gnomes most prefered the company of creatures close to their own size, such as foxes and squirrels.

Magic and Religion
Like most gnomes, forest gnomes prefered the use of illusion to other schools of magic, which they embraced as a way to protect them from harm. Frequently, forest gnome illusionists use their talents in concert with the more naturalistic camouflage that is a part of forest gnome architecture to hide their homes from outsiders. When forest gnomes were forced to deal with outsiders, they often delegate illusionists, who will conjure an image of the intruders' own race as a form of communication that distances the gnomes from their potential attackers.

Unlike other gnome peoples, forest gnomes also had a strong tradition of divine and primal magic. Clerics were well-respected among forest gnomes and typically offer their healing powers to help animals who've been injured by hunters or traps. Druids were also respected among forest gnomes, though forest gnomes were so shy that they rarely join larger druidic circles. Those that do, however, find their extroversion is well-rewarded, with the addition power gained from such association helping to protect their forest homes.

Forest gnomes had a stronger sense of faith than any other gnome subrace, although it was often very different from that of the typical gnome, incorporating into it animistic traditions and a reverence for the natural world. Priests were often communal leaders, who helped to keep distant villages in touch. When large numbers of forest gnomes gathered priests of various types are usually there to bless the meeting.

Of all the gods, forest gnomes felt the closest to Baervan Wildwanderer, who was often associated with the wild places where forest gnomes reside. According to forest gnome tradition, Baervan had personally entrusted the care of the wilderness to his followers, a burden the forest gnomes were happy to accept, and clerics of the god often served as caretakers of the forest. Segojan Earthcaller was another popular god, and gnomes venerated his teachings to treat with respect and friendship the animals of the wild. As a way of showing their veneration for the god, the few forest gnome warriors often wore grass and roots as part of their armor. Like most gnomes, forest gnomes feared the influence of Urdlen, who represented unknown threats, though, for the large part, the god had ignored the gnomes, who he seems to unusually appreciate.

Relations with Other Races
Although forest gnomes were a shy and reclusive people they were not particularly resentful or untrusting of outsiders. Usually, it's more the case that forest gnomes simply didn't care about other races and, when they meet outsiders they're often friendly, if painfully timid. When given the chance, forest gnomes could be close and loyal friends.

Of the other humanoid races, forest gnomes were most fond of rock gnomes, elves, and halflings of all types, with ghostwise halflings preferred among the latter. Forest gnomes got along particularly well with elves and ghostwise, thanks to both races sharing similar homes to the forest gnomes. In regards to other races, forest gnomes usually did not care about them, although an exception was made for orcs, kobolds, and lizardfolk, whose harsh treatment of forests make them natural enemies of the forest gnomes. Forest gnomes had a similar, but more amicable opinion of humans, thanks to loggers, trappers, and hunters of human civilization.

History
Like other gnomes, forest gnomes rarely bothered to keep meaningful historical records. Anthropologists and historians have postulated that the tiny people may have helped save forests throughout Toril from overlogging and other forms of destruction but there is no concrete proof of these efforts. For their part, forest gnomes of various villages often marked years by important events, good or bad, that befelled their community, but these events are rarely significant on a larger scale and mean little to outsiders.

Homelands
Forest gnomes were a rare sight, but they are not particularly uncommon. In addition to inhabiting their ancestral homes in the Feywild, forest gnomes could be found in Aglarond and the Great Dale. Wherever they lived, forest gnomes are well-hidden and so are often unnoticed, sometimes for centuries, by their neighbors.