Gnomes

Gnomes are one of the original races of Earth which participated in the Grand Migration. They are theorized to be an evolutionary cousin to Dwarves which split off very early on in history, given their vastly different lifespans, cultures and features.

Appearance
Despite being approximately the same height on average as Dwarves (generally 3 or 4 feet with few outliers growing any taller), a number of obvious anatomical differences are apparent at a glance and in depth; chiefly, while Gnomes are just as harty as Dwarves, it seems that their neuromuscular systems were evolved to focus around dense clusters of muscle at major points of locomotion that may have helped evade large predators. It also makes them surprisingly deft in tasks involving manual dexterity, a chief reason for why their species is strongly associated with mechanical, scientific or even magical aptitude.

They are notacably darker in complexion than all other races of Earth on average; While other species tend to run the gamut between different shades and intensity of pigment, gnomes largely have bronze skin or darker regardless of the climate from which their ancestry hails. They have pointed ears with higher muscular articulation, giving them sharper hearing than humans and dwarves, and have evolved to see better in low-light conditions as a result of subterranean living.

Lifespan
Birth is less special in Gnomish culture largely because of the nature of how they reproduce; gestation periods are shorter than humans by several months and they have an incredible tendency towards having several children at once. It's extremely rare that a child isn't born a twin or triplet, and single births are considered a sign of bad health and terrible misfortune.

Gnomes inherent hardiness seems to be a direct evolutionary byproduct of their short lifespan - Without medical intervention and general artificial prolonging of their lives they only live about 50 years on average, with few examples living into their 60s and 70s.

Culture
Between being so much smaller than everything that wants to eat them and their cultural predeliction to ferverent and often reckless experimentation with both magic and science, its not expected for any gnome to die of natural causes. Among Gnomes living the way they are generally raised to do by the culture they're born into, about 1 in 5 actually dies of old age and the ones which live that long are revered for merely surviving. They have a deep kinship that extends beyond direct relations because their heritage is one formed around surviving threats by grouping up, and betrayal of another Gnome was considered one of the worst transgressions possible in Gnomish communities of old, usually resulting in exile or death. Most Gnomes are raised to aspire for nothing more than to keep advancing the work of their ancestors, if not break new ground on their own; this may be why most Gnomes express a magical affinity that may be hereditery, as they were among the forefront of experimentation during pre-Bronze Age times when magic was more commonplace..