TBD

What is this? A small creature in the forest? Small indeed, but perhaps more intelligent than the average rabbit.  A gnome! With ears long and pointed with a long hooked nose that closer resembled a fleshy beak. While older than any simple man may live but not elderly by his standard, his hair was a bright red, a tangled mess that was held at bay by a simple leather band. He was dressed in simple clothes, small of course, and was carrying a large wicker basket full of a variety of root vegetables that he had harvested. He carried his bounty towards a large manor house that was not made for a gnome, not originally anyway. 

Perhaps for any other intelligent being a house too large might have been a hindrance, or an annoyance. For this small one however, it meant simply more space to fill and a certain challenge of how to fill it. He had filled a majority of it with wondrous things, incredible inventions and machines that allowed him to handle daily life easily. The door opened at his approach, the low hum of motors and machines working throughout the building. A section of wall opened revealing a long metal chute that he dumped the contents of his basket into before moving along. As he approached the large central staircase he stepped onto the bottom step and allowed the stairs themselves to carry him to the top, which had been one of the first improvements made to the house. Small legs do not do well with large staircases after all. 

The second floor of the old manor had been almost entirely gutted, save for the walls that were required for the structure, and was remade into this small man’s workshop. Tools lined the walls, hung over a variety of work benches and different stations for varying types of work. The small one’s latest, and arguably, greatest creation sat within the center of the room connected by a web of wires to the ceiling. The Small one had found a rusted and discarded suit of steel plate armor behind the largest tavern in the town nearby a few months back, and it had simply seemed too sad to leave there! So with the help of two very kind human soldiers and the reliability of his trusted cart he hauled his bounty back to his home, filled with excitement and overflowing with ideas on how to improve or fix this wonderful discovery. 

The armor was polished and fixed within a matter of days, the little gnome using exactly the right tool for each job or task. Any dents that would have been found were removed with a vengeance, a tiny hammer could be heard pounding rapidly in the area just around the house for those few days until not a single blemish could be found. 

As many know or have heard, gnomes love to craft. To make something or to make something new from something old is the greatest mission in life. Nothing could make them happier! A gnome with a tool and a task is a happy one at that- and this gnome was among the happiest there could be.  For him, this task was the biggest he had taken upon himself and one that he was very intent on finishing, and today was the day! 

As the small one was admiring his latest project when he heard the bell by the staircase ding! Ahh! Dinner was ready in the kitchen! Before riding back down the stairs to enjoy his meal he checked the power source that he had left charging for a few days and found that it was finally full! The thought of dinner fled his mind quicker than a cottontail fleeing a rabid wolf.  Wires and cables were removed with immense haste, the small ones' excitement bubbling over as he giggled with joy. As soon as all of the wires were removed he strapped a leather helmet to his head and climbed into the suit. It had been originally made for a human man, a very large human at that, but on the second day of the project the small one had fitted the inside of the suit with a seat and an array of controls. It was within this seat that the small one sat for the first time, his excitement truly over flowing. With a press of a button and the expert switching of a few levers the armor came to life, well not life, but it did spasm and one of the arms flew wildly. Just a few more minutes found the armor standing, however tenuous it may have been, another few moments saw the large suit of armor taking its first steps stumbling as a young babe might, if that babe was six foot tall, and entirely made of steel. 

The small one was laughing and having a blast as his new suit made more than one hole in the floor or wall as the suit stumbled or fell. He was set on mastering his new project, nothing could stop him, especially not the now long cold meal of carefully prepared veggies that awaited him on the first floor. 

It was a few weeks before the small one had fully mastered the suit that he had made. He was able to run, jump, and climb like he never had before! At once as strong as an Ox and agile as a fox. And with a helmet that he had fashioned to suit his rather large nose he was even allowed to get into some taverns that usually ended with a swift hit from a broom or a kick in the back that sent him right back out the front door. But now with the suit he could go freely anywhere in any town! As long as he kept the helmet on of course. 

And thus began a new life for the little gnome. For all the while he had lived amongst humans or around them he had never truly found a name that he thought of as his own. Always introducing himself to anyone who may have asked as TBD. A joke that he had always found rather humorous of course as his name was always to be determined- until one very special day.  One day the small one had been in town gathering and purchasing materials for a new project he had thought up when the lovely lady selling to him asked for his name, and in that moment he had just the most wonderful Idea. 

“My name? My name is Theodore Beauregard Dotson. TBD at your service.”