"Daran" was originally an insult for those gnomes who had gone to live with humans and meant something on the lines of "servant/pet", but now has come to mean any gnome who lives among humans. Obviously there is great variation between the Daran depending on which humans they live among.

Their is no really difference between a traditional Daran and a Gnorian apart from in where they live. Both the Gnorians and the Daran come from the same original tribe which was simply called gnomes (equivalent to the race) but the Daran were assimilated by humans into their cities while the Gnorians live independently.

Picture description. A Daran Gnome in the process of collecting some glowcap mushrooms. Image drawn by Eshóh.

Appearance. Daran look mostly like any normal gnomes. Which means: They are slightly less than a ped all the way through to one and a half peds. Their skin tone is very pale and they are not very muscular. Daran Gnomes also mostly imitate the looks of the humans with whom they live in the same town, that's why you'll see many Daran Gnomes wearing beards, and mostly they also aren't completely bald as Gnorians are for example. Usually Darans are a very obliging and helpful kind of people, that's why they are also often called the "friendly dwarves" by the humans.

Coat of Arms/Sign. Daran don't have an own sign or coat of arms. They take the coat of arms of the people they live among whenever they need to identify themselves with it.

Territory. A small number of Daran can be found in most of the cities of Santharia though some contain larger gnomish populations than others, an example being Cavthan which has a rather huge Daran population.

People. There are three different outlooks that the Daran can take:

In many cities the Daran form their own areas of the city and live in a very similar way to the Gnorians, most of them following the edicts of the Arch-Alchemist and containing Merchant Guild buildings. This often causes problems with the local population as the Daran tend to ignore humans and always deal inside their own community apart from things the gnomes don't make.

Some Daran like those in Cavthan behave in a very similair way to the Gnorians but accept all the humans in the city as honourary gnomes and treat everyone equally. This is probably the best way for humans and gnomes to co-exist.

The final extreme that gnomes can go to is to try and act as much like the people they are living among. They normally still have alchemy as a major part of there occupation but apart from that try to live like humans. The success of this varies with the attitudes of the humans whose city they share.

Normally the gnomish position will lie somewhere between the three and occasionly there will be two different Daran populations in the city one acting like Gnorians and one trying to act like the humans they are among. Normally the ones who try to act like humans are a lot younger.

There is often a great deal of tension between the humans and gnomes, especially if the gnomes are isolating themselves. The humans tend to dislike the fact that the Daran make so much money and live so well through their alchemical expertise especially as the gnomes are notoriously secret about their techniques and will not teach them to anyone. These coupled with the natural human dislike of all things different can lead to huge amounts of racism and there are many reports of gnomes being attacked on the street in some parts of Santharia.

Housing. Again this varies on the type of Daran. Those trying to be like humans will live in human style housing, while the other types of Daran have housing more like the traditional Gnorians.

Clothing. Those gnomes trying to be like humans wear human style clothes, but even some who are acting more like “normal” gnomes are known to wear these types of clothes to fit in on the streets. Those who don’t often give a spark of colour to dull human streets in their bright Gnorian clothing.

Diet. The Daran normally get their food from humans so their location will greatly effect what foods they eat, for example in a fishing village they will eat large amounts of fish. Drinks are different as the gnomish skill at fermenting and distilling alcohol means that they drink more traditional gnomish drinks even if they try to integrate themselves into the community. These drinks often tend to be in high demand among the humans as well.

Weapons. The gnomes who dwell among men, although not normally involved in fighting themselves have used their alchemical knowledge to create weapons of great power. One of these weapons would be the Atch-loch, which sprays burning concoctions straight in front of it for a limited distance but causing huge destruction. Another example would be Gnomish Fire, that is thought of as magical by most, in which a ball of burning concoctions is lobbed at the enemy (normally by a catapult but any other method would do) which is not put out by water but instead burns more fiercely. These inventions have been instrumental in certain sieges like the siege of Milkengrad in 617 b.S.).

Occupations. Gnomes living among humans will either choose a traditional alchemists job like producing glass, making acid weapons or creating medicine. The gnomish alchemists work are always highly prized and the Daran can be very rich. Those acting like humans, if they feel they cannot do an alchemical job, will occasionally do any job they can which a human usually does in the settlement in which they live.

Government. Obviously gnomes who live among humans are subject to their government, although seldom allowed a say in it even if there are democratic institutions. Although under the humans' government control most gnomes will sort things out between themselves and listen to the best alchemist in the city.

Production/Trade. The Daran produce many things related to alchemy for the people among whom they live. These make medicines, cement, dyes, cloth, magical reagents (especially among the Daran who live on the Ximaxian peninsula), salt (mainly in Cavthan), and many alcholic drinks to name just a few of their many products. There is virtually always a large amount of trade going on between the Daran and the humans as the gnomes' alchemical products are highly prized and the Daran need food and housing to live.

Picture description. The gnomish octagon eye-glass. Image drawn by Faugar.

One of their major money earners is the creation of glass vessels, eye-glasses, mirrors and stained glass windows. They had used coloured glass in replace of gems, and this had done very well as a cheap, novelty decoration, however the dwarves made it quite clear that no-one was going to push their way into the gem market and destroyed most of the gnomish workshops that produced fake gems. At the time the gnomes were in a very weak position as general gnomish hatred was growing as the doctors gave preferential treatment to gnomes during the Plague at Nyermersys in 602 b.S. so they gave up the decoration business. Although at first no humans knew how to make glass now some are cottoning on and this is a further cause for bad gnomish-human relations.

Natural Resources. This all depends on which humans they live among, for example in Cavthan they have access to a large amount of sea water from which they make their salt.

Holidays, Festivals and Observances. The traditional gnomes have the same festivals as the Gnorians, but the gnomes acting human normally follow the same religious festivals as the humans. Of course many celebrate both sets of festivals as it gives them an excuse to have fun.

History. The history of the Daran is always tied up with the humans among who they live.