and how to spot the difference between them – a comission from the Keepers of Dawn for their field agents.
Kali’s tales and legends are full of gigantic creatures, shaping the world and creating vast empires. However, there are also several smaller races, that while a lot less empirical in their existence nonetheless had left their imprint and do so until this very day. The most known of those are Goblins, Gnomes and Halflings, as well as their various subraces. Due to neither of those small folks having stamped out any lands or kingdoms for themselves, many of the taller people of Kali unfortunately tend to heed neither of them much attention nor even misidentify one for the other. This short -and clearly not as extensive as they would deserve it- scripture is meant to shed some light on the issue, as well as hopefully prevent our agents from any social blunder when dealing with either of them.
The confusion between all three races has its origin most likely in predominately human or elven settlements (while dwarven lands can distinguish gnomes with ease, they do tend to still confuse halflings with goblins), where neither of the small folk are a common sight or tend to be overlooked as street children. Stories about the short folk tend to have similarities: All of them prefer living either underground or in the wilderness, are short and nimble in statue, tend to prefer to live in their own style while living around or withing other races communities and are often a cause (or easy scape goat) for trouble. There are however key differences, so let us begin with those no one else would ever begin with -goblins.
Goblins
Goblins are a fascinating and somewhat tragic race who are generally the most despised of the small races. They are fearful beings, painfully aware of their lack in physical as well as mental prowess, always on the lookout to run from something stronger than themselves. Their figurative lack of a spine had caused them to be driven to live at the fringes of what is described as ‘habitable’ or being slaughtered and/or subjected by monsters and people alike.
If it wasn´t for their incredible reproductive rate and supernatural adaptability -being able to digest almost everything without fear for diseases or most poisons, as well as the change in bodily functions depending on the environment such as fins or camouflaged skin- they would have died out by now, no question.
Not much is known about their culture, besides their ritualistic eating of the dead, lack of individual possessions (most of the time) and strong ties to fireplaces. According to second hand-accords, while goblins live in tightly packed tribes sharing everything including food and sleeping places, out in the fields the rule is “every Goblin for themselves”, as goblin warriors will gladly flee the battlefield after sustaining injuries, even if other goblins are still fighting. Historians usually ignored the “savage runts” in their tales -a tragic reality, as I am sure mankind has much to learn from such valiant survivors.
The listing of goblin subraces is as numerous as stars in the sky, due to their adaptability and isolated tribal cultures, so I am forced to leave it out for now. Goblins can be found all over the world, in any kind of terrain or climate, even at the Broken Continent if those reports are to be believed. Since the founding of the Lautwasser Republic, the new realm has offered full citizenship to goblins maybe offering a new chapter of goblin relations.
Halfings
Next in our list are the Halflings, Kali´s least understood “civilised” race. While they are not that complicated individually, most of them preferring the simple things in life, their origin is completely obscured by even the oldest of sages. They have no creation deity, no language remotely similar in syntax or wording to any other language spoken in the world and not even themselves can agree on how they made it to Kali in the first place. All that is known that they have been here longer than the Elves and the Anatolians, but their nomadic and simple live style has left no traces of an ancient Halfling civilisation anywhere. In fact, some of the more mean-spirited researchers of our age have proposed the theory that Halflings are nothing but a highly evolved and specialized subrace of goblins, that has adapted to look more like humans – a theory wildly disliked by most Halflings.
Their culture is heavily clan and family structured. A halfling family, while individuals often split in their journeys for years, will always stay in contact with each other and come to each other’s aid, no matter the circumstances. Travelling is the default state of every Halfling. According to them, they each have a deep, unexplained longing to wander, searching for a place they truly belong. While none of the places Halflings have settled over time seemed to truly be this ‘mythical’ place, halflings have made it their way of living to feel at home on the road, preferring comfy, slow moving wagons, open caves and community tents to build houses and set residency, sustaining themselves and their families through foraging, hunting and bartering with the settlements they pass along the way.
This carefree attitude and constant drifting -as well as their disrespect towards any kind of border- has given them a bad reputation amongst the more organized towns and people, and many see them as ne’er-do-wells, pickpocket and generally untrustworthy. This, of course, is a blatant, but self-fulfilling misconception, as Halflings share what kind of attitude a settlement had towards them to other clans, who then might nick valuables from said town out of retribution for a lack of respect. Unprovoked, Halflings are honourable and trustworthy people, with a keen moral compass. They are incredible generous hosts, be it in kindness, entertainment or food, and respectful guests but expect the same in return and can get fierce if their hospitality is being abused or put in question.
Halflings are found in the southern half of Kali, where the weather is less harsh for wandering and the dwarves are less adamant about border control. While many clans have their own traditions, most Halflings can be separated in the Stouts (who prefer the rocky hills and mountains, as well as deserts and open fields), or the [xxx], who have integrated more into tall folk society, and often work as sailors, messengers, scouts, or merchants -if they aren´t contributing to the stereotype of small-time criminals and cheats.
Gnomes
Gnomes are an originally subterranean race that reached the surface of Kali deep inside the mountains with the Dwarves. Dwarves indeed see the Gnomish race as “brethren”, a different kind of dwarf separated from the others in the times before the Fire Giants enslavement. Due to this co-existence, the creator god of gnomes has secured itself a place in the Iron Faith, the dwarven pantheon, only strengthening their cultural ties. In fact, most gnomes in the mountains see themselves as dwarves, their ancient cultural traditions long merged with those of their bigger, more powerful allies.
However, Gnomes are far more driven than Dwarves, eager to prove themselves and earn respect, praise, or fame by taking far greater risks then their conservative brethren. It is often joked that the reason of the Gnomish stereotype of a bumbling and exploding inventor in the human realms is because those who leave their ancestral homes got kicked out for being too impatient or considered dangerous for society.
Outside the mountains, Gnomes prefer to keep to themselves, be it as hermits, close-nit families or even small, secluded sub-settlements inside human towns. These gnomish communities have a complex hierarchy that can shift and change, depending on the accomplishments and deeds of individual gnomes within, creating an atmosphere of -mostly- friendly competition between family members. Being invited into such a community as an outsider is a high honour and is usually reserved for long-time friends or business partners.
While the cooperation with gnomes have brought untold advancements to the humans over centuries, as their experimental dwarven designs combined with the willingness to risk and repeat of humanity created a boom of new inventions, such as thunderstone technology, their stigmata to cause explosions and weirdness, combined with their secluded secretiveness often made them the target to blame in cases of unexplained fires, crop failures or mechanical mishaps, only increasing the gnome´s disinterest of further integration. Thus, the semi-cooperative relations of gnomes providing specialists and artisan jobs while being provided with security and food from the larger race housing them remain.
Gnomes mostly live in the Dwarven Kingdoms, as well as in enclaves everywhere where opportunities for prosperity revealed themselves (However they tend to stay in those locations, even after the benefits have passed). Gnomes can usually be categorized in Tinker- and Rock gnomes, and while tinker gnomes are more prominent outside the mountains, both subspecies intermingle with each other so regularly that there is not a lot of cultural differences between them.
Conclusion
As I hopefully was able to show, while there clearly are similarities between the various small races of Kali (at least the three most prominent ones, that I was able to present) in both their way of life as well as general physique, this is more due to similar external factors then anything else. They are all vastly different people, that deserve to be seen and treated as such. Ignorance is the greatest threat to peace between races, and my hopes are that people like our agents -with the help and advice from people like me- can create a world of better understanding for all of us.
The World of Kali: D&D Worldbuilding 