Deep gnome

Deep gnomes, called svirfneblin in their own language, are a gnome subrace that live in the Underdark. While their surface cousins are known for their boundless optimism and cheerful mischief, the svirfneblin are serious and suspicious creatures. They survive in the Underdark by maintaining wariness of others and working hard to keep their underground society secret.

Physical characteristics
Deep gnomes are wiry and lean with a body as hard as a slab of rock. Males are completely bald and beardless, while the females sport hair. Ranging from 3' to 3'6" (107 cm) in height and weighing between 40 and 45 lbs (20.4 kg), the deep gnomes are small enough to give them a size advantage when battling larger opponents. Deep gnome complexions are sometimes described as "gnarled" and, like drow and duergar, are commonly dark in hue, with most deep gnomes demonstrating brown or gray skin, with dark gray eyes, as well as gray hair if female.

Abilities
Deep gnome are better adapted for underground living than either rock gnomes or forest gnomes, with darkvision to help them see where there is no light. Similarly, deep gnomes have a dwarven-like affinity for stone and innately understand it on a level few other races can appreciate. Deep gnomes also lack most gnomes' predilection for cantrip like abilities but can instead blind other beings, obscure their own presence, or shapeshift. Deep gnomes also have a great deal of resistance to magic of any kind, and can go undetected as if they were using the nondetection spell, alongside their natural affinity for avoiding danger or hiding.

Psychology
Keeping themselves to themselves, being cautious when contacting other races and eying strangers with suspicion, it is hard to befriend a deep gnome, but when taking considerable effort to befriend a svirfneblin, one can find a loyal friend who will not easily misplace one's trust.

Although outsiders find deep gnomes' overly serious attitude to make for sour company, those qualities make them tireless pursuers of excellence in their metalworkings and weapon forging. Their seriousness and pessimism fades when admiring the gems which fascinate them so much.

Culture
Like their surface cousins, deep gnomes worship the gnome pantheon. Their special patron is Callarduran Smoothhands, the Master of Stone.

Deep gnomes are mostly neutrally aligned, since dealing safely with other races calls for political neutrality.

Relations with other races
Deep gnome relations with other races are colored by the impression of most surface-dwelling races that deep gnomes, like the duergar or drow, are a cruel and vindictive relative of their surface cousins. This is, in fact, untrue, and while often suspicious and sullen, deep gnomes are a largely agreeable people. Deep gnomes, for their part, are not particularly eager to correct outsiders of their error and for the most part would rather be left alone. As a rule, deep gnomes are deeply suspicious of all other races, though they hold a special enmity for the drow and the duergar, whose violent ways often interfere with the svirfneblin wish for isolation. Deep gnomes are most accepting of gloamings and slyths, since these folks rarely threaten them. They deal very cautiously with grimlocks and orogs since they have proven too willing to plunder weaker races like the deep gnomes.

If forced to deal with surface-dwellers, a deep gnome is most likely to find forest gnomes agreeable, who, like the deep gnomes and unlike the rock gnomes, are a reclusive, withdrawn folk. If compelled to seek out companions who are not gnomes, deep gnomes are open, if not friendly, towards gold dwarves, shield dwarves, and some of the Tel-quessir. Beyond that, rock gnomes have few opinions other than a general distrust.

While making a living by selling the gems, weapons and metalwork they so masterly produce, they have to rely on dealing with only trusted merchants in neutral caves, trying to avoid danger altogether.

History
Although gnomes in general lack any kind of cohesive history, deep gnomes bring this cultural idiosyncrasy to its greatest extremes. Deep gnomes lack not only a tradition of keeping records or writing biographies, but they also have never developed a calendar or a method by which to track the passing of time as the drow have. To a deep gnome the very concept of day or night is foreign, having never seen the light of the sun or the stars of a night sky.

In fact, so deep-rooted is this cultural lack of time-keeping, either of the past, present, or future, that among outsiders the history of the deep gnomes amounts to little more than the story of Blingdenstone, the only deep gnome settlement known of prevalently among non-svirneblin. Blingdenstone, founded in -690 DR by clans fleeing the phaerimms beneath Netheril, grew to prominence in large part thanks to its vicinity to the infamous drow city of Menzoberranzan and the less infamous, but equally strong, duergar fortress Gracklstugh. In spite of the presence of these two mighty cities, Blingdenstone survived for over two millennia, supported by the rich mining industry that thrived on Blingdenstone's rich veins of arandur and other exotic minerals.

Blingdenstone would, however, like so many deep gnome cities, come to ruin in the end. The way in which this occurred is peculiar, however. In the Year of the Wanderer, the ruler of Blingdenston, King Schnicktick welcomed into his city the fugitive Drizzt Do'Urden, a fugitive of Menzoberranzan's harsh justice. Drizzt stayed for only a short while but his route would later be tracked twenty years later by a vengeful army from Menzoberranzan during their invasion of Mithral Hall in the Year of Shadows. Realizing the danger to them the deep gnomes abandoned their homes and sought refuge in the darkness. After the drow passed their city largely unharmed a group of deep gnome wardens led by Belwar Dissengulp convinced King Schnicktick to lend his aid to Mithral Hall's defense.

The resulting victory at the Battle of Keeper's Dale saved Mithral Hall but it would cost the deep gnomes their home. Twelve years later, in Marpenoth, the matron mothers of Menzoberranzan launched a full-scale assault on Blingdenstone. The deep gnomes' defenses were no match for the drow army, aided and supported by demons summoned from the Abyss. Thousands perished in the siege and thousands more were enslaved by the vengeful drow. Those that escaped made their way to Mithral Hall and Silverymoon, where they were welcomed, eventually settling throughout the neighboring area.

Homelands
Svirfneblin live in harmony with the rocks they carve and their natural environment. They are skillful artisans and have created magnificent homes without destroying the natural beauty of their habitat. Their crafts in mining, gem-cutting and artificing have not gone unnoticed, and their handiwork is well sought after by neutral merchants throughout the whole Underdark. They are also excellent guides, scouts and foragers because they know of underground portals, tunnels and passages long forgotten by the other races. Having to rely on stealth and cunning, they have truly mastered traveling their environment, resulting in some of the finest subterranean deep gnome rangers.

One of the largest deep gnome cities in Faerûn was the city of Blingdenstone, until the drow of Menzoberranzan summoned bebeliths inside the city in the Year of the Tankard. The survivors fled to the surface and settled in hundreds within the lands of the North, particularly in Luruar.

Svirfneblin also aid in the mining of bloodstones out of Bloodstone Mine in Damara as they know where all of the most valuable deposits are to be found. More recently, the svirfneblin of this region have opened a college of illusion magic.

Most other svirfneblin live isolated in small communities in the Underdark, hidden away from the drow and other Underdark races who terrorize and subjugate them.