Caislen Campaign Notes

• A subspecies of gnomes with blue skin that primarily dwell underground or in foggy areas. They are not fond of direct sunlight. They are usually thought of as a variety of deep gnome.
• These are a valid Player Character race in this campaign!
• Resistance: They have resistance against any magic the DM decides counts as “earth magic”, meaning anything that alters rock, ground, or preferred underground environment that would pass as a Niflome habitat.
• Darkvision: Up to 120 feet.
• Lightvision: A slew of disadvantages due to poor eyesight in bright light await a Niflome character that has to make checks or enter combat in direct sunlight. It is not preferred.
• Niflome can live up to 500 years, have a speed of 30, and count as a humanoid gnome for anything that requires that definition.

The Niflome as a race are not an evil people. In fact most are known to be good or neutral leaning. However by the terms governing what is and isn't a god, entity, otherworldly power, etc, in this game, they all definitively know that a powerful being once hunted their kind to experiment on, known as Garko. Garko was the force that drove them underground to escape, starting the branching from other gnome sub-races in isolation and gloomier environments than their counterparts. Some died, some got experimented on, some even were rescued and rejoined the community. An odd side effect of the experimentation was that only 1 out of 100 are now born female. But this traumatic shared memory creates belief, and belief creates a viable entity.

Garko is now a mysterious figure, that no one sees, or tries to summon. But this has given rise to power being channeled right back to the believers, which is the entire race of Niflome. Each one of them can cast a cantrip from the Warlock list in the PHB. Chosen at character creation. The catch is that they try not to use the cantrip because it gives more validity to Garko, where that power is coming from. This is their own unfortunate Catch-22. Racial memory and belief in Garko, empowers Garko, which in turn spawns the cantrip ability, which in turn further reinforces Garko as a valid god. It is twisted, and it is why the entire race are technically Warlocks. Note this doesn't prevent them from being any class as a player character. Conflicts of interet may arise if a Niflome character is a warlock to another patron however.

• Cantrip For Life: Gets to pick a cantrip off the Warlock cantrip list in the PHB at character creation. It never changes again. They struggle with the question of “should I use it” for the rest of their life.

• “Nifl” is a Norse mythology prefix meaning mist, fog, or darkness.
• Gnome is part of the suffix, using just “ome”.
• Hence “Nifl” & “ome” become Niflome.

Given the nature of the Niflome, they have naturally spread out into underground communities over time. These communities are not always easy to spot since they elude most surface dwellers. However, there are some cases where the Niflome live on the edge of the above ground world, with one excellent example being in the region known as Havenspass, due to the highly viable underground potential off the mountains and gloom of The Mistwood. They are known as the Niflome Moonshiners.