Out of the Abyss

(Jeff_L) #1
SETTLERS, SQUATTERS,
AND INVADERS
The current citizens of Blingdenstone are a different
breed than their forebears. They aren't simply hard
workers and resourceful miners. but also senlers.
explorers, and- above all- survivors.

LEADERS OF BLINODENSTONE
By deep gnome tradition, Blingdenstone is governed
jointly by a king and queen, but the svirfneblin have
had no true sovereigns while living as refugees for the
good part of a century. Dorbo and Senni Digger mattock
are talented miners, but they have become even more
capable as community leaders. They spent years
planning an expedition to Blingdenstone, paying
adventurers to scout and keep an eye on the terriwry
while they organized their people across the dwarven
holds and surface-world cities that had received them.
Afte r a decade of careful and determined planning,
the Diggermattocks led a force back to Blingdenstone
to reclaim it. While they have not yet been crowned,

CHAPTER 6 I IIII~GDE:\STO~H


SvtRFNEBLI N
GHOSTS

everybody treats them as the de facto rulers of the
settlement.
Chief Dorbo oversees rebuilding industry, opening
mines. and organizing patrols to explore parts of the
ruined city that remain uninhabited by the svirfneblin.
He is also responsible for rebuilding and commanding
the new settlemenfs defenses. Like most svirfneblin,
Dorbo is serious and aggressive when dealing with
outsiders: for all of that. however, he is also a loving and
caring husband and a thoughtful leader of his people.
devoted to the vision that he and his wife share of a
Blingdenstone rebuilt and reborn.
Quartermaster Senni takes the count and measure
of everything, ensuring her husband's efforts are
well supported and efficient. She oversees the trade
efforts and caravans to Mithral Hail. Gauntlgrym, and
Mantoi-Derith. She manages and helps to maintain
Blingdenstone's magical in frastructure, and is
intimately familiar with security conditions across the
settlement. As quartermaster, she assigns homes to
the ever-increasing numbers of svirfneblin returning to
Blingdenstone.

MINERS' GUILD
The svirfneblin base most of their economic subsistence
on their ability to mine ores and gems. The settlement is
largely self-sufficient, but it still relies on the duergar of
Mamoi-Derith for tools. weapons. and supplies.
Because the Blingdenstone economy depends on
mining. the Miners· Guild holds a lot of power in
Blingdenstone. Led by the Pickshine family. the Miners'
Guild oversees all of Blingdenstone's mines, as well as
the mining, cutting, and enchanting of spell gems (see
appendix B), both for the settlement's defense and for
trade export.

STONEHEART ENCLAVE
This group of svirfneblin spelleasters once trained
under the Emerald Enclave but eventually splintered
off, choosing to focus solely on earth elemental magic.
After doing so, they absorbed the surviving priesthood
serving the deep gnome deities Segojan Earthcaller
(the god of deep earth and nature) and Callarduran
Smooth hands (the god of stone and mining).
The Stoneheart Enclave is in c harge of summoning
earth elementals to help defend Blingdenstone. They
also use their magic to aid in various engineering
tasks, such as widening burrows. closing off tunnels,
or establishing spell gem emplacements and defensive
measures. When needed. the spellcasters of the
Stoneheart Enclave serve as extraplanar diplomats,
forging occasional agreements with xorn and galeb duhr
to aid Blingdenstone.
The enclave's leader is Yantha Coaxrock, a young
female mage who s plits her time and energy between
conducting magical research in Blingdenstone, aiding
the svirfneblin enclave in Mamol-Derith (see chapter 9),
and working with the rest of the Stoneheart Enclave.

BURROW WARDENS
Most of the honored protectors of the svirfneblin
died during the drow invasion, and the rest perished
while protecting their people during their flight from
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