It has been way too long since my last post. I thought the Halloween bustle was over, but no, four orders just today. So grateful for the business, but looking forward to a break.
Enjoy!
Gibbies
Gibbies with tools
by Connie Walker
Gibbies
are gnomes and, at an average adult height of three and a half
inches, are the very smallest of their ilk. Some may claim to have
ancestors who have achieved heights as great as four and a quarter
inches, but since Gibbies have never bothered to master the ability
to write, and thus keep record of such anomalous occurrences, these
claims are generally regarded as little more than boasts. It is quiet
common for Gibbies, as well as other gnomes, to wear hats in an
effort to appear taller.
Appearance
Gibbies are gnomoid in appearance. That is to say, they look like
very small humans. They tend to be rather squat in body and limb,
though their arms are typically robust and hairy. Most also sport
great wild beards reminiscent of their distant cousins, the dwarves.
Aside from the pointiest hats they can find or fashion, Gibbies dress
themselves in simple garments often crafted from bits and pieces of
fabric found or 'requisitioned' from human homes. Despite their
clothes tending to be more for function then fashion, special
emphasis is placed on color. The color of the tunic or shirt in
particular serves to indicate from which Donsy a Gibbie is from.
Gibbies belonging to rival donsys often react violently to each
other.
Among
the Faye
Being so small, and possessing very little in the ways of magic,
Gibbies are considered to be among the very least of even the lesser
faye. Even before the Fade, Gibbies were largely regarded, when
regarded at all, as little more than common world rats. This is due,
in no small part, to their size but also to their astonishing ability
to crop up in almost any environment, if one only looked hard enough.
The small statures of these tiny gnomes, their (rather un-faye like)
ingenuity, and near non-existent need for ambient mana means a donsy
of Gibbies could be, and have been, discovered anywhere from the most
heavily guarded palaces of the highest faye lords to the very fringes
of mana infused lands. These traits are most likely the reason the
Gibbies have managed to outlast the Fade and now thrive in the modern
time known as the 'Resurgence'.
The
Fade
During the Fade, all the faye of the mortal world were forced into
increasingly isolated pockets of ambient mana. As human sorcerers
drew on what remained of the Earth's mana to fuel their spells, these
pockets grew ever smaller. The faye that wished to survive were
forced to fight ferociously with their own kin for their place in
them. Gibbies, however, being very small and needing only the barest
hints of mana to sustain themselves, often managed to go unseen and
unnoticed by the greater faye. Many remained on the very edges of
these pockets, keeping in tucked away corners with far too little
mana for any but themselves. Even then, the Fade was a time of great
struggle for the Gibbies, who would competing with other lesser faye,
and more often than not, themselves.
Community
Most Gibbies live in closely knit groups or clans known as Donsys. A
donsy is most often led by an elder, or occasionally elders, who have
the role of guiding their people. The elder of a donsy does not rule
in the way a king or other leader might, but instead is often highly
regarded by their younger kin for their wisdom. A typical Gibbies'
life, while potentially lasting many years, is often a frantic and
short affair. Due to the many dangers the tiny gnomes face, reaching
old age is something of a rarity and is thus seen as a great and
admirable feat.
A typical donsy is made up of at least one but more often several
Gibbie families, most of which share some level of blood relations.
Because of this, Gibbies in a donsy treat each other as family and
are expected to aid one another should the need arrive. Food, tools,
and other resources gathered or made by a donsy are kept in communal
storage areas. These areas are usually kept open and all in them
shared. Individual Gibbies are expected to take only what they
immediately need from these and to replace anything they no longer
have a use for. Most often at the behest of an elder, storage areas
may be closed off in times of need to more strictly ration what is
had.
Daily
Life
Male
Gibbies spend much of their lives expanding their tunnel networks and
scavenging. Rarely surfacing, they dig in a direction they feel is
best until they find resources, whether food, typically in the form
of edible roots and tubers, or materials they may use to craft into
tools, clothing, etc. When found, they will alert their kin, who will
then cease their own expansion efforts to help collect whatever was
discovered. Since males spend so much of their time away from the
safety of their homes, they are the most often seen. Female Gibbies
are so rarely found by humans that it has led some to believe that
the tiny gnomes are an all male race. A falsehood I assure you.
Female Gibbies do exist, and if you ever manage to befriend a donsy
you may even be fortunate enough to see one.
Gibbie's
women folk often remain at the donsy's Delf, or primary housing and
storage area. They have the responsibility of taking in what the
males bring back and finding some use for it. In their haste, males
may drop off food stuffs and other materials too large or awkward to
handle and store well. The women spend much of their time break these
up into more manageable bits so they may be utilized by the donsy
more easily. They also do much of the tool building in the Gibbie
community, putting together the various odds and ends brought back by
their scavenging counterparts to help make their hectic little lives
just a bit easier. Gibbies are well known to be found with human
tools, almost always modified, sometimes heavily, to fit their needs.
Abilities
Gibbies have few abilities that would ever be considered overly
magical. What little they do possess, however, has undoubtedly been
instrumental in their survival, particularly in the common world.
Being so small and having little affinity for wielding the grand
powers of the arcane may not seem like an advantage, but these hardy
little gnomes have made the most of both. Their size, about as tall
as your middle finger is long, has allowed Gibbies to keep hidden
from faye and human alike. Able to fit into nearly any nook or cranny
has afforded these tiny beings the ability to move about unseen, even
when living among the many Urtons, or giants, of their diminutive
world. Lacking in any substantial magical talent also means they can
survive in lands with only the barest hints of mana, much too little
for any greater faye, but just enough for them. This has made it
possible for the Gibbies to remain in some level of contact with
humans, even during the Fade, which seems to have led to another
unique ability.
It is well known that all faye, from the greatest to the least, have
an aversion to worked iron. Gibbies, however, having spent the many
centuries of the Fade on the very fringes of what little land was
left to the Earthbound faye, seem to have developed some immunity.
This is often attributed to their ages long struggle for survival
along the very border between the lands of man and faye. Having spent
such a great time near humans, and taking full advantage of it
whenever the opportunity presented itself, many Gibbies are able to,
at least at some level, resist the generally harmful touch of iron.
They are even noted for utilizing tools made of iron or of alloys
with a high iron content, often to aid in their raids of human
gardens and crop fields.
A last ability, and one of very few to be considered truly magical,
is the Gibbies ability to petrify themselves. It is understandable
that the ability to turn yourself into stone may not be overly
impressive, but as all they have, the Gibbies make what use of it
they can. Originally developed as protection against cave-ins and
tunnel collapse, the Gibbies have long ago adapted a version of the
'stone skin' spell to suit their needs. In a land of tromping giants,
an early burial was once a common end for many a Gibbie, though with
the introduction of 'stone skin', an entrapped gnome could not only
better survive the initial calamity but also await rescue from his
kin. The Gibbies have since made themselves so familiar with this
small bit of Earth magic, that it has now become more of an instinct
than an intent.
Modern Gibbies, whenever sufficiently frightened, a frequent state
for such tiny beings, are well known for petrifying themselves, even
mid flee. Humans are more than capable of causing this reaction and
frozen in utter horror is the state in which most Gibbies are found.
Gibbies are unable to unpetrify themselves and require the touch of
one of their own to undo the spell. This has led to found Gibbies
remaining in their stone states for years while in the possession of
unaware humans. Such petrified faye are undoubtedly the origins of
the 'garden gnome'.
