Craftsmanship

The single most artistic endeavor of the gnomish craftsman (excluding Tinker Gnomes) is, of course, the carving and mounting of precious gems. These little folk are adept at every aspect of the jeweler's trade, including the smelting and finishing of precious metals. While each subrace has a special affinity to a certain type of stone (diamond, ruby, and emerald respectively for the Rock, Deep, and Forest Gnomes; coal for the Tinkers), their gemcarvers are capable of working with virtually any type of stone.

This artisanship goes beyond mere rote skill. Gnomish jewelers are capable of very creative designs in jewelry and have developed the most elegant royal crowns, sceptres, and decorative sculptures known to demihuman-kind. Stonecarving is another skill at which gnomes excel, and in those caverns where they have dwelt for many centuries intricate patterns have been scrolled into many of the walls and ceilings, enhancing the natural beauty of the rock.

Their special affinity to stone makes gnomes exceptional excavators, miners, and tunnelers. Those gnomes who seek employment among other cultures might work as gemsmiths if sufficiently skilled but are far more likely to find work in the mines of humankind. Even dwarves, grudgingly, admit that gnomes are almost as good at digging as themselves. This is, in fact, an ungenerous assessment--Rock Gnomes in particular are every bit the equal of dwarves in this profession!

Beyond the working of stone, however, the gnomes are somewhat limited in the tooling of materials into useful products. As a general rule, gnomes find it hard to produce raw materials but easy to shape it. For example, they do not weave, so all their clothing is either made of leather or of materials bartered from other folk. However, given the right fabrics, a gnomish tailor can create almost any kind of garment, often with elaborate stitching and similar attention to detail characteristic of all gnomish work.

Carpentry is another skill that demonstrates the gnomish penchant for elaboration. Whereas dwarves will hew timbers to shore up a mine shaft and at need can make rough tables, beds, and chairs for their own use, gnomes have a compulsion to cover every available inch with decoration which goes far beyond utility. Thus gnome miners will often use their breaks to carve delicate designs into the support timbers (taking care not to weaken the beams!), often having friendly contests between different shifts as each continues the other's work. Gnomish furniture is a marvel of fine woodcarving, with a multitude of baroque detail.

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