Gnomish Center halls

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Throughout Wyverndale and the near realm there are several villages and hamlets, which do not appear on the campaign map. Indeed without detailed knowledge it is unlikely that any given character would know the town's location unless they themselves hail from that town or perhaps a neighboring location. The majority of the population in these towns is human. While the locals may regard their tiny villages as just as big as any other in the dale, the truth is without large gnomish populations, these towns will probably never rise to prominence. Any but the most inexperienced traveler can immediately tell the difference between one of these thorps and a similar~ looking one with the "near invisible" community of several hundred Gnomes. While interaction between the two populations is typically limited, towns with these gnomish communities are obviously better off. What few merchants that sell wares will have a much wider variety of goods for sale than one might expect.

The focal point of most Gnomish communities is the "Center-hall.” These underground structures usually have a well-hidden entrance at the base of a great tree or hill. The hall typically extends underground for several hundred feet and has the feel of a modem-day mall. Many Gnomish businesses in the community conduct their activities exclusively in small shops of the central hall and tunnels usually connect to several underground plazas or prominent gnomes' dwellings. The typical design of a Center hall has 5-6 ft ceilings (though many are more spacious) with shops around a central meeting area. The local sheriff (Gnomish and Halfling communities elected officials are known as sheriffs) almost always posts guards at the entrance to the center hall and strangers would rarely be admitted without gnomish escort. Indeed, the entrances are usually so well disguised by minor illusions and wards that foreigners might never know they are mere feet away from a center hall entrance.