Geographic Base: Scandinavia

Appearance: Nisse men and women are about a foot tall, of thick build and round-faced good nature. They dress in gray with red tasseled knit caps. The men have long pointed white beards and the women wear their hair in two braids. They strongly resemble Scandinavian humans of peasant ancestry, except for their tiny size.

Lifestyle: Nisse live as caretakers for human homes and farms, doing by night all manner of chores to keep things running well. In exchange they take a corner of the barn to live in or the space between the walls in a house. They like working in moonlight and silence; both loud noises and bright lights irritate them. Nisse love folk music and dance and are generally a very festive happy people. They excel at handicrafts like carving and sewing and generally keep their homes very clean and decorated. Given the northern climate of Scandinavia, the Nisse enjoy a wide variety of winter sports, particularly sledding. Nisse are also gifted at caring for animals, able to calm them easily and trained in doctoring them.

Human Interaction: Given the nature of Nisse existence, they have a very close bond with people, especially the particular family that they work for. Nisse in fact see themselves as a part of that family, and will move with their humans wherever they go. They are fantastic workers and take great pains to make life comfortable and prosperous for their hosts. The only thing they ask in return is a warm bowl of rice pudding on Christmas Eve and perhaps a mug of spiced wine. If this is provided, the Nisse then bestow handmade toys on the children of the household and stay on for another year of service, but if their masters are ungrateful, the Nisse will take up and move elsewhere. Clearly however, this is a rare circumstance and generally the same family of Nisse will live with the same family of humans for generations.