| Thanks, airwalkrr.
Continued from above...
The gnomes were always sensitive to Dream, and when the time of the Dreamer came they adopted rather than become twisted like so many others. Their entire race became like conduits of the Dream plane and they were able to form their own imaginings into substance. Now every gnome can exert a taxing effort in order to create minor illusions, such as lights that dance in midair. Many gnomes now suffer forms of mania or autism, some minor while others show extreme, detrimental symptoms. Mania-inspired gnomes usually end up acting as travelling minstrels or showmen, thrilling in a chaotic, emotionally-charged life. Gnomes with minor autism often seem emotionally detached, but are excellent engineers and tinkers-- it is said they dream of gears and mathematics.
Several halfling clans had a shared dream, which was so intense that they packed up their most precious belongings and left their shires forever. The current generation of halflings will not say what their ancestors saw, and whether it was a nightmare or prophecy. Perhaps they were never told by the older generations, or perhaps the dream was never fully recalled since their waking as it is said that even the short folk do not comprehend their desire to push ever onwards. Whatever the reason, these cursed halflings now live as travelling gypsies, earning a living through hook or crook while avoiding their homelands in their journeys. Their paths are random, meaning that a halfling encampment might spring up and settle in from anywhere to a night to a few years. In a similar fashion to their gnomish cousins, these gypsies often have slight behavioral quirks that are not detected until a halfling is befriended. Often these take the form of minor compulsions such as a desire to collect round, red pebbles or hum a tune repeatedly. Halfling gypsies are one of the few groups that has members willing to dare the nights of Naravan in the hopes to stealthily swipe valuables when the city folk least expect.
The goblins were always a savage, brutish race, but centuries ago they did boast a primitive civilization. They were talented in stone cutting, and created a series of now-crumbling ancient towers across the more sparse locations of the known world. The purpose of these diverse structures is generally unknown, except that they served as meeting points for the various shamans that once ruled the race. When the Dreamer came the goblins natural tendency towards barbarism was augmented and focused inward except among many of the more powerful shamans. It was one goblin shaman, the legendary dwarf-slayer Ghrist Yon, that eventually decided to try to save his people through his and his assistants combined magics. The twelve and one goblins climbed to the top of the greatest of the towers, a red-bricked cylinder that ended in the shape of a four-fingered claw. When the enchantment was finished the thirteen goblins were found in a comatose state that all eventually died from. Somehow their magic did save the goblin race, for the remaining clans ceased their self-inflicted genocide induced by the Dreamer. Still, the barbarism and insane desire to pillage and murder stayed strong but was focused externally while the goblin civilization never fully recovered. It is said the remaining madness comes from the fact that goblins have somehow lost the ability to dream at all. The location of the Tower of Ghrist Yon has also been lost in the chaos of the new goblin era.
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