Finding themselves frequently near the bottom of the pecking order in the Underlands, the deep gnomes have become very skilled at not being found by the other intelligent races, and even more skilled at crafting traps to buy themselves time to get away.
Appearance[]
Deep gnomes are smaller and leaner than their surface cousins, but possess a deceptive wiry strength caused by growing up surviving in dangerous environments. Their skin is gray and their hair is white, and their eyes are large and featurelessly white. They wear simple clothing and tough footwear to protect themselves from the razor-sharp rock formations they often use to protect their communities.
History[]
The deep gnomes have parallel origins to that of the duergar: while they decided to remain underground alongside their similarly-minded cousins, they refused to delve into the deepest of the tunnels, and so avoided the horrors the duergar unleashed - but found themselves targeted by the duergar for their experimentations. This process transformed many of them into their current form before they managed to escape.
Today, they live in secluded comunities, defending themselves from the more ruthless races of the Underlands as they try to survive. Fortunately, their natural ingenuity makes this a better prospect than many would expect, to the initial detriment of those who would hunt them...
Lands[]
Deep gnomes are found exclusively in the Underlands, as they find sunlight painful to their eyes.
Languages[]
Culture[]
Deep gnomes are reclusive and cautious folk, spending most of their lives learning about the dangers of the Underlands and the best countermeasures against their foes. Using their smaller size to squeeze into caves and hollows where others cannot follow, they defend their homes without mercy, while living simply enough that they can pack up and move with little notice.
They are particularly adept and building traps, such as pits and deadfalls to foul up pursuers, and they make armore out of stone and the carapaces of subterranean creatures for protection. It is said that the most dangerous tunnels in the Underlands are those that have been occupied by deep gnomes, and that you will never know they are there until the ceiling falls on your head.
Because of their size and talents, though, they are popular as slaves for Dark Elves, Duergar, and other races of the Underlands, who try to grab them as children to indoctrinate them into their "proper role".