¶ The Gnomid
Loremaster: WowGain
¶ Overview
The Gnomid are a species of highly intelligent, highly advanced, diminutive cyborg beings with a sense of detachment from the rest of the Galaxy around them due to their size. Happy to exist outside of the minds and the worries of the other species of the Galaxy, they exist in their private societies, hidden away in small subterranean cities, far from the prying eyes of the destructive Giants around them and their feuds.
¶ Biology
Long ago, the Gnomid discovered a means of ensuring their survival in the many hostile environments they began to settle. Through rigorous genetic and mechanical augmentation, they achieved a means of surviving a majority of unwelcoming environments that would have once sent them fleeing. Their lungs have been enhanced, reinforced against the constricting grasp high-pressure environments and protected from dangerous toxins in the air by filtering systems that are built into into their respiratory tract. Bones have been reinforced, strong and durable, even for their small stature. Ranging from 4 to 7 inches tall, they are one of the smallest species in the galaxy by far. The level of integration in their bio-mechanical augmentation is clearly visible, but on a level in which they appear almost as if they were born of metal and flesh, rather than those who only later came upon it. This observation, however, is partially true. The augmentation of Gnomid begins as they develop in incubation from their eggs, introduction of chemicals designed to prime the growing fetus for their eventual mechanical augmentation starting as early on as four days from initial oviposition. Genetic augmentation itself, has by and large, become hereditary within the species, desirable traits having been forced into a dominant position long ago to facilitate a speedy dissemination of the changes across the population.
Gestation lasts around four months, and maturation of an infant to an adult typically takes around 15 to 17 years, with a lifespan lasting upwards of 150 years with proper maintenance of mechanical augments. One of the final, and greatest, means of augmentations were those done to the mind. Access ports for hard and soft neurolinks are standard across all members of the species, allowing for a means of interaction with technology that is rarely found in members of other species. Direct modification to the cranial tissue has allowed for a higher ratio of mass to surface area, increasing the raw size of the brains of the Gnomid, and in turn their intellect.
¶ Culture & Society
The culture of the Gnomid is one of artisans and spiritualists; viewing the world around them through the lens of their culture, science and the mathematics of the universe exist as beautiful creations, art and song, sculptures of the great force of life that allows all to exist. Largely pacifistic and non-confrontational, they avoid most conflict and destruction due to their rather innate trait of being able to go by unnoticed by most species, and able to quickly slip away if they feel that they've drawn too much unwanted attention. The Gnomid, although spread across the galaxy, leave little impact upon the worlds they create colonies upon, largely out of a respect held for the natural world and its intricate beauty, offspring of the mathematical functions that allow the universe to operate. Doing so by meshing their technology with the surrounding environment similarly to their mesh of technology in their own bodies, powering them largely with ZPE and clean fusion energy.
The arts are vital to the cultural heritage and identity of the Gnomid, with most members of society being trained in various fine and performing arts. History is depicted through song and art, both visual and literary, giving their factual history a sense of of as if it was a great epic of eras past. Those who perform vocally or instrumentally often have augmentations specifically designed to assist in these pursuits, such as additional breathing apparatuses, or means of self-harmonization. Those who find themselves privy to the visual fine arts, such as painting or sculpting, have specifically invented an augmentation for their mind. Using it, they can visualize nearly any image that comes into mind via hologram or even hardlight, allowing them to nearly seamlessly bring nearly any creation that comes into their mind onto the page or into the third dimensional plane.
¶ History
"Mysterious and secretive, few in the galaxy know much about the Gnomid, and many are entirely oblivious to their presence altogether. However, this fact is to the benefit of the Gnomid, who would much rather be entirely forgotten and left to their own activities than be thrust into the chaos of the actions of "Kochiisedo', or "Great Beasts', whose constant warring and bickering has all but dissuaded them from attempting wider contact with the major species of the galaxy." - Hideki Eto, The Hidden Peoples
3125 - 3284
One century prior to the current date, the Gnomid were a species with most of their "territory" clustered within the western reaches of the galaxy. In this time, the Gnomid had not yet undergone the full scale of the modifications that would form them into the bio-mechanical species they are today. Living close to the nature that surrounded them, their presence itself was often considered a myth by the species that they shared worlds with. (A few historians claim human mythology of creatures such as leprechauns and fae-folk may be attributed to misunderstood Gnomid sightings). Although technologically the Gnomid had always been rather advanced, mastering micro technologies long before most species had entered early industrial revolutions, utilizing generational ships for colonization prior to the discovery of FTL technology, it was at this time that the Gnomid would make their next great jump to the state they exist in today.
xxxxxx
In the central worlds of the Gnomid reach, a revolutionary discovery was made following the archaeological research of a Thol think-tank, where great wealths of information were stored providing details on the bio mechanical technologies once used by the Thol before they achieved their state of ascendancy. As the secrets of these technologies were decoded, the naturalistic Gnomid saw it as the truest means of being able to merge their constructs with the world around them, leaving a footprint the size of a cell and minimizing the amount of natural organic surroundings that would have to be removed for settlements. With this, the presence of the Gnomid became all but invisible, granting them the separation from the Great Beasts around them they'd so long desired.
xxxxxx
Since the discovery of bio-mechanical meshing, little of note (as far as we know) has occurred in Gnomid society. Seemingly having reached what they appreciate as their zenith, the Gnomid are quite content to live out a simple existence in near-perfect coexistence with the world around them, perhaps searching for the next great step of integration in seclusion from the violent galaxy they share a home with.