Gnomes, a taxonomy
When we talk about Gnomes our first thought brings up little happy old men, often fat, often sneaking out with something bright. After JK Rowling, we can also think about Garden Gnomes, those very ugly beings with sharp teeth eating all our vegetable garden. Very few people see Gnomes as magic beings, protecting some kind of treasure.
To tell the truth about Gnomes I’m risking exposing a very precious one, so please, do not stalk those folks, even though they are quite easy to find.
Gnomes are indeed little, but not so little, and they are the fondest creatures ever. If you have the privilege of looking to the eyes of one of them, you’ll see the sweetest eyes you can imagine, a smile going on with it and you are caught for life. They are very good friends with dogs and are very active beings, so it is common to find Gnomes running through the woods, but don’t even try to catch one, as in the run they can get startled and punch you right in the nose (they are very strong, and they indeed need to be). A Gnome can be female, male, agender or bigender, but they can not be fluid, as the fluid gender only belongs to the fairies (I heard they earn this right in a game of blackjack and the revanche will be in a thousand years, that is the law.).
They usually have red hair, so it’s quite common of male gnomes to shave their head so they can not be identified (but the silly ones always forget about the beard…), the female have red or black hair, depending on the season of the year they were born. Of course, the red is for winter and the black is for summer. A thing about them that the tales tell and it is true, is their love for Mushrooms, as they use the mycelium to make the maps of the Earth and the caps to…well, get high. Sometimes, they will put inedible mushrooms close to the look-alike edible ones, so they can have a laugh of you having a diarrhoea, but the really poisonous are well hidden for their enemies. I have no idea who are their enemies, but I bet a shoe that are the leprechauns.
Besides their knowledge of mushrooms, it is important to note that Gnomes are incredible beer makers. I know, enchanted are always related to distillates, spirits beverages, but our crew like brewing better and they are masters on it. It’s a privilege to drink a beer coming from the nimble hands of a Gnome, as they offer it only for people they think are beautiful and that can mean lots of things: smart, funny, grumpy outside and kind inside… What’s going to catch the eye of a Gnome is always a surprise, but once they see the beauty, their magical powers allow everybody to see the person as beautiful as they seen.
Finally, Gnomes are welcoming, warm. Sometimes they do as the tales says and guard the precious stones of the Earth, but mostly, they act showing compassion, sympathy and generosity, hopping that the human beings can learn how to be better and have a more respectful relationship with nature, animals and another Enchanted Beings, Magical Creatures just like me, a Dryad who sometimes translates the ancient wisdom and knowledge for people willing to learn.
