Once considered blessed by the gods halfmen fell upon hard times with the death of gods and the fall of magic. Their immunity to diseases disappeared and smallpox wiped out many of their cities. Being small in stature and physically weaker than other races they are invariable marginalized by the civilizations that have subsumed them.
Gnomes were only identified as a separate species from halfman a few hundred years ago by an enchantress named Essandri. Her writings state that gnomes are distinct socially and biologically from halfmen. Gnomes legends refer to Essandri as a child of gods whom led them into the world from deep inside the earth.