Race: Isn’t it obvious? I am a Svirfneblin!
Age: Oh what a number. At times I lose count of the turnings and cycles. I suppose I am younger than what you may think from my appearance. I may look over 40 cycles, but I am in fact, only 33 cycles.
Appearance: My appearance? Look at our surroundings. This Darkwood District is not a place where you will want to flaunt your wealth. Fancy baubles and dangling jewelry are not practical in the tunnels of the Underdark, nor for any mining operation either. I prefer to travel light. The less weight I carry the better I can make my way when roaming, not to mention when it comes to battle. So I usually wear items that do not make much noise, light and cool and tend to blend into the rock around me. Nondescript to avoid notice sort of wear. I do have this backpack I enjoy though. It fits quite a bit for something so small. I think it may be magic but do not advertise such! My appearance may be plain and I may look defenseless but by the Great Ruby, I am not.
Height: What’d you say I stand? About 3’4, 3’5?
Weight: Well, I have never weighed myself before but I’d judge me to be about 80 to 90 pounds, eh?
Eye: As silver as the veins o’mithril. Envious are ya?
Hair: We deep gnomes generally do not grow hair, but I decided to. I have my reasons on why but not likely to share so do not ask!
Facial Hair Style: Pfft. Nope!
Skin tone: As the color of stone, and I am proud of it.
General Health[/u]: Oh, I am quite healthy. I run the tunnels often. It’s a great way to stay healthy…and alive.
Deity: I give homage to the Deep Brother, Callarduran Smoothhands. He is the provider for us Svirfneblin and our Patron. I thank him every turning.
Initial Alignment: Meh, I’m a bit unorthodox in my methodology but I get things done. Sometimes others enjoy it and sometimes they don’t, but the job gets done. But when it comes to Svirfneblin, I try to do some good as I would want them to do good to myself in return.
Profession: I like to claim that I am a Tunnel Runner or Cavern Scout. Sometimes I dabble in merchant operations and others I work on behalf of other svirfneblin. But in essence, I suppose you could say I am a humble servant. I do have an eye for the gems though.
Weapon of Choice: Knowing the layout of a cavern better than you…and, my crossbow.
Languages: I am quite fluent in quite a bit. I do enjoy speaking Elvish and Terran, the latter being my particular favorite in order to speak with the Deep Brother’s kin. I do know some Cant, though I tend not to use it.
Background: My life has been spent roaming the tunnels of the Underdark. When my village and clan were slaughtered by the humans, only a handful of us remained. They took everything from us, even the lives of my kin, just for some gems and wealth we were able to gain for the glory of Callarduran. Unforgiveable! But the few of us whom survived, about 12, roamed and ventured together. The eldest was a cleric of the Deep Brother who led us and taught us the skills we needed to survive in the wild caverns of the Underdark. It was dangerous, and it was frightening but we trained, and we grew and together we managed to survive.
I heard the call of the caves louder than most. Never forgetting where I came from, I always wanted to plunge deeper and farther than the rest of my kin. The cleric said Callarduran had a special mission for me. Whether that’s true or not, who knows? But I learned as much as I could from him..from them all actually, taking bits and pieces of knowledge and wisdom whenever and where I could and always honing my skills. I do miss my clan though, and think of them often. I take heart in knowing they’re with the Deep Brother probably finding the best rubies!
On one of my Stone Speaking Rituals //Commune with nature spell// we were in anguish from a call from the stone itself. It was horrendous. And it is what brought me here. Apparently something..or someone, has opened a portal to the Elemental Plane of Earth near Sshamath. And I am here to figure out why.
Personality Profile: How would I describe my personality? Hmmm, now that’s a tough question because one cannot truly define themselves with just words. If I had to, I would say I am more on the patient side. I try to stay calm during all situations for what use are you if you are so frightened or freeze under pressure that you get yourself killed? So I like to sit and watch. I tend not to speak on subjects I know nothing about. It is better for others to think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt, you know? Being here in Sshamath though, has put me on edge. One must always tread carefully and with the utmost caution when dealing with the Drow, no matter how well intentioned they might seem. It is almost always a farse. I always try to maintain an open mind in all situations…the more surprises the better!
Habits/Hobbies: Well, I enjoy a good spelunking mission. What svirfneblin does not? I enjoy roaming the caverns, helping others of my kind I encounter, and to a lesser extent, others as long as I do not get hurt in the process. I have been enjoying the trade and bartering here in Sshamath, and hope to gain more insight on Drow natures the longer I reside here. I do like to gather with other svirfneblin, hearing tales on their villages and life before Sshamath. I am also an avid collector of the finer gems Callarduran blesses us with, especially rubies. Although I enjoy mining and gem hunting as much as the next Svirfneblin, the deeper heart of the World Below always calls to me.
What I dislike? I do not believe I have enough digits to count, but to name a few..Fomorians, Cyclops, Unseelie Fey and Hags, I absolutely despise them and will not hesitate to kill if I encounter them. They are anathema and a disgrace to the Underdark in my eyes. Surface Humans make me cringe. They’re greed knows no bounds and I can honestly say that is one species that frightens me more than Drow. I dislike brashness and the immaturity found amongst the young and the overly ambitious. That gets quite boring at times.
These I would consider OOC knowledge to give insight to other PC’s and DM’s should any wish to RP with my svirf.
Goals (these are not end-all; be all. Just helpful guidelines for myself:
-Discover what is keeping the portal open to the Elemental Plane of Earth that are allowing Elementals to roam freely.
-Map the Underdark as much as possible.
-He would like to increase the gathered presence (RP) of svirfneblin within the Darkwood District, especially in the merchant business to the point where the next epic items merchant is a svirf in the Darkwood District.
-Seek out and discover other svirfneblin villages near Sshamath to promote relations between Sshamath and the svirfneblin and perhaps establish a bi-lateral agreement for the two.
-One of his “impossible” end goals (which is something that drives his RP), is to get a trading outpost established in the Upperdark, run and governed by svirfneblin or non-citizens with the support of the Conclave. The support of the Conclave would be necessary in order to ensure no School of Magic attempts to take over the outpost and become dominant over the outpost and for protection from outside enemies. The Outpost’s purpose would be to facilitate trade for Sshamath through less intimidating means than Drow, thus ensuring more avenues for trade and access to a greater amount of wares (and spell components) available for the City of Dark Weavings. It can also function as an additional spawning point in the UD, away from drow life for those interested in non drow UD RP.
-Wants to locate an Earth Node (from UD Handbook) as location for the previous goal. He would need to find a svirfneblin druid to either grow it, or bond with it. Or assist the Druid in getting the necessary requirements to cast the ‘Create Node’ spell.
-A second “impossible” end goal would be to establish a strong trade relationship with Gullykin, Corm Orp or even Kraak Helzak, should the driven RP be strong enough. Small folk need to stick together!
Base Class & Proposed Development:
Ranger/Assassin/Cavestalker. Will be RP’d as the Cavelord PrC from the Underdark Handbook. Just RP, not claiming any mechanical advantage.