.Drathnelars, also known as umbral gnomes,12 svirfneblins,3 or deep gnomes, are a Darklands offshoot of the gnome ancestry.45 They are notably resistant, and perhaps immune, to the gnome malady of the Bleaching.26
Drathnelars are similar in stature to their surface kin but have rocky gray or brown skin and pale, oversized eyes.27 They are either bald or have gray, thin, stringy hair.8
Perhaps because of their strong connection to the First World, drathnelars are more emotionally erratic than gnomes, vacillating between cold detachment and violent outbursts.9 Most keep to their own, hidden insular communities and are slow to trust outsiders.10
Drathnelar ancestors came to Golarion from the First World in -4202 AR during the Age of Anguish, at the same time as those of the surface gnomes. Their decision to settle in the Darklands was likely prompted by either a desire to keep an eye on the evil fey of that realm711 or to escape some unknown threat.10 Millennia spent underground without sunlight slowly changed them into the people they are today.7
Deep gnomes are tenacious opponents of hryngars,12 and the two peoples have fought numerous wars in the past. These conflicts have had such a negative impact on drathnelars that they sometimes have trouble separating the grey dwarves from their surface-dwelling dwarven cousins.7 They also bear no love towards mites, with whom they frequently come into conflict.13[citation needed]
Drathnelars live in secret, luminescent cities that are nearly unknown to the other societies of the Darklands.1011 Drathnelars avoid the Bleaching by focusing entirely on tending to their homes.6 Their largest settlement is the hidden city of Dwimovel in the layer of Sekamina.1114
Few drathnelars travel to or live elsewhere in the Darklands or underground, including a few in Highhelm1516 and Hagegraf.17
The dark fey of the Court of Ether are perhaps the drathnelars' greatest enemies. Using the abilities of allied xorns and other elemental beings, they keep watch over Queen Frilogarma's court at all times but dare not approach too closely, lest they fall under her mystical powers.18
Drathnelars often speak Gnome and Sakvroth.7 Because of their isolationism, most drathnelars have difficulty making friends with people of other ancestries. Travelers who accidentally stumble across a drathnelar community are often incarcerated for the rest of their lives, for fear that they might spread the knowledge of the settlement's location to the outside world. Outsiders who do manage to become friends with a drathnelar are sometimes given small stone bonding stone amulets that symbolize their new relationship.11
Drathnelars consider the goddess Nivi Rhombodazzle to be the first drathnelar and mother of their race, and they comprise most of her following.1920
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
Cambion
(tiefling)
Other heritages
1E uncommon
2E legacy planar scions
