Oatland is a small country haunted by the threat of war. A young painter, Maurice, acquires a new species of creature, a gnome that can do actions if you show him how to do it. After seeing the gnome replicate his art, Maurice is impressed by the gnome's abilities and loves it. But trouble arises when the gnomes become popular enough to take work away from other painters, causing them to start a movement against usage of the gnomes. Maurice works hard to stop this movement and find a way for gnomes and painters to coexist in order to protect the gnomes, who he believes have a ton of potential. --- This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual current events is entirely coincidental.