Gimfen
Gimfen are both the kindest and the most controversial race in all of amethyst, more so than even the tilen. Although not a single voice has ever spoken in objection to their introduction, elements of their profile carry undertones readers may find unsettling. They are the de-facto Halflings of Amethyst. In literature, they are reflections of the playful and kind fairies that build toys and shoes as well as the annoying little elves that bother a family while they sleep. In various books and films, they are often presented as children, to reflect their playful dispositions, but also because it is easier to cast children as short fantasy creatures than adults or even those affected by dwarfism. Though the gimfen don't have wings, they are the most aloof and playful and innocent of the fae races in Amethyst…at least the ones the rest of the planet has had any exposure to. In comparison, all other fae races are dull and serious way too often.
Gimfen represent this common seen element in fantasy literature--childlike creatures whose intents, though mischievous or inquisitive, are rarely malicious. Despite not having overly large shoe sizes, the gimfen take pride in their nonchalant attitude towards life, indulging in whatever vices they desire from petty theft to recreational drug use, thus part of their controversial nature (more on that later).
Gimfen are one of the last fae branches. What once started as the statuesque laudenians moved onto the damaskans. The gimfen are a late step from this branch and despite some claims, never developed a branch to another species later. The three main divergences of the original fae became the chaparrans (mostly feminine), narros (mostly masculine), and damaskans. The latter, though not having a gender dominance, were more social to each other and outsiders and when the gimfen broke from the damaskans, they emerged greatly amplified if this trait. The damaskans would also eventually have branches with the skeggs, boggs, and the feral puggs. Gimfen share with the boggs and puggs an overt joy of life in general. Gimfen believe themselves the eventual final form all fae should aspire to become. They have yet to devolve into a lower form and have coincidentally gained an ability unique to their species many others both envy and decry.
The entire fae species, being a creation of magic and not evolved, lack the instinctual drive to reproduce or dominate the land and others they see. This obsessive push is a feature of evolved animals like man. This is why humanity created an industrial age in the same span of time while the fae were riding horses and brachiating between trees. But the gimfen, though not sharing the human's obsession for advancement, do share their curiosity. This caused the gimfen to begin asking questions no one else had until that point. In the short time they were on Earth before being banished to Attricana like all the other fae, they acquired knowledge no of the others had even dreamed. They added leaf springs to wagons, discovered the basics of chemical explosives, and even proposed the basics of steam power. Although much slower than humanity, the gimfen were beginning to develop technology. Alas, the EDF prevented them from pursuing past this point but, upon their return to Earth and their discovery of humanity, were able to springboard past this hurdle. In the modern age, the gimfen still have no idea how the majority of human technology works. They can recreate it but still have problems understanding the intricate nature of it all. They also do no generate the magical disruption field as all fae despite being a creation of magic. They can never be a replacement for humanity but are still the only species of fae able to enter bastions without breaking everything, by disruption that is. This has created a minor schism in gimfen society. There are those agrarian gimfen that keep to the old ways, maintaining farms and living in small houses, drinking and partying to the morning's rise. They keep no obligations and despise restrictions and bureaucracy whenever they find it. On the other side are the growing ratios that have embraced the machine. If you were to give them a Model T, they could recreate a Model-T but would take a thousand years before they could build a Prius. Even with that limitation, these gimfen had surrounded themselves with machines and gadgets, most of which don't work. Their society reflects this and nowhere is this more clear than in the grind towers--mammoth buildings sprouting from the soil that mark the towns and cities of the subterranean, mechanically adept fae. The people within them are adorned with a variety of ugly and shuddering machinery. The gimfen developed their bizarre talent to be able to reverse-engineer nearly everything they find and rebuild it with immunity to disruption. However, the task creates a device so clumsy and finicky that said gimfen is the only one able to use it.
So with one race, the gimfen represent not only the playful miniature elves of legend and lore but the tinkering and mechanically inclined as well--wrapped in a package we hope will be attractive to players. The only aspect that can never change is their appearance. Gimfen appear as children through their lives and though no taller than 4 feet, also never look a day over 15 until they shuffle on. Even still, they look even younger reaching adulthood and remain that way for hundreds of years. This only changes in the last few days and weeks of their life, as their age literally rushes onto their skin and they grow feeble and frail just before the end of their natural lives. But until then, they are gifted with the miracle all others envy.
This presents the uncomfortable conundrum. Regardless of their path, be it tinkerer, thief, soldier, serial-killer, etc, gimfen always present the childish image, making the application of many of these roles uncomfortable (or further uncomfortable). It presents an enigma, one recently dealt with in a minor degree in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (a film I recommend despite comments about the film's length). How does someone’s outward appearance affect how you address them? This is not about being ugly or fat but strictly how you age. In a scene in the film, Button is a toddler of 7 but with the face and body of a 73 year old trying to have a friendship with a 7 year-old girl. We are bothered by it as are those who don't know about Button's origin, but to him, this is who he connects to. When the roles are reversed, the film jumps away from a similar conflict. Button (played by Pitt) is seen in his teens, then again at 10 (played by another actor). The following scenes pass by quickly and the similar uncomfortable atmosphere we picked up early in the film is not repeated. Gimfen don't age backwards. They never age at all, so a gimfen adult of 250 years could still have the face of a 14 year old. This makes their presence on the battlefield a little disturbing. Similarly, as all fae are romantic, nearly every race has intermarried at least at one point with another race, including man. If you met a gimfen young in life, you would grow old but the gimfen would stop just before society would deem it acceptable to pursue them romantically. Yet it does happen. Hell, in Amethyst, all pairings are possible. In the novel, a nymph is seen married to a bear (That's a reference to Russian mythos for those unaware). To push this even further, in the game, there is a paragon path for gimfen called a Redcap, which turns your average diminutive gimfen into a jumping blender of death, all the while smiling and cackling like playground child.
When the races began to get established, I looked at the gimfen as the riskiest endeavor. I thought of literature, how they were presented in the various fictions of the world, and also, honestly, how they could easily be presented in a film without breaking the bank (yes, I actually had thought of that). Unlike the 3.5 Gimfen, which were clones of Halflings, our new variation is distinct with abilities all their own. They are still not my favorite race but they are no longer my least favorite and they offer great opportunities...if one is able to overcome one uncomfortable hurdle...