Every time a Deep Imaskari nears a settlement they're greeted with the same message: "As you near the settlement you attract a few odd looks." The same start to the message as Outcasts get. Laurick tells them to get the Hells off his ship, and that he'll have nothing to do with their kind! The Registry Agent delivers a similar line telling them that he doesn't interact with their kind! Quite clearly, all of these messages point to the same conclusion: Deep Imaskari are regarded as vile Underdarkers in the same likeness as Outcasts.
But that's not true lore-wise, and more-or-less forces them into Underdark RP since they can't partake in anything else due to mechanical restrictions. In fact if we look at the Arelith Wiki (which copies most of the information from the FR Wiki) we see a precedent of Deep Imaskari having very different personalities from the typecasts of most Underdarkers:
What this demonstrates is that Deep Imaskari are by no means an evil race. In fact it explicitly says that most are Neutral and that the purpose of their coming out was pointedly not for any form of conquest.Arelith Wiki wrote:"[...]The deep Imaskari have long managed to conceal the existence of their hidden kingdom even from other Underdark races by enforcing complete separation."
"[...]a few deep Imaskari have begun to wander the deep ways of the world that their ancestors fled long ago."
"[...]The deep Imaskari have taken pains to keep their existence secret from every other race of Faerûn, so they have little real experience with humans, dwarves, and other races. Deep Imaskari encountered outside Deep Imaskar are curious and excited to meet members of other races."
"While the Imaskari of ancient times are generally regarded as evil, abomination-creating, devil-dealing people (which was probably true), the folk descended from the survivors in Deep Imaskar are mostly neutral. The Great Seal that kept Deep Imaskar separate from the rest of the Underdark was opened recently to begin the process of reengaging in commerce and communication with the world outside, not to enable any sort of deep Imaskari conquests."
An understandable counter-argument is, "how would a Surfacer know the difference?" And the answer is simple: the Deep Imaskari are still Human.
While it would certainly be weird for a common Surfacer to look at a Human with stone-like skin and spindly hair who has- over the course of thousands of years- been magically transformed, it doesn't make sense on a setting like Arelith for them to flat-out refuse travel to them while then turning around and offering the Surfacer Tiefling with wings, horns, and red skin (this is an example, not a reference to a specific player/character) full services.
As stated earlier, these mechanical restrictions more-or-less force Deep Imaskari into Underdark RP. While technically yes, they can go to the Surface, they can't use any of the functions that Outcasts and Underdarkers are barred from. This means that if their party decides to go from Cordor to Brogendenstein to interact in RP, the Deep Imaskari had best either be an Epic Transmuter to teleport there, drop the 3500 coin to teleport, or run up to the nearest source portal and use that. All massive inconveniences when compared to the 150gp ride from Cordor's docks to Brogendenstein's. While this is just one example, it also boils over to being excluded from RP if a settlement enables the "no outcast" policy via their registrar (if that's a thing-- I heard it was, but that's speculation on my part), and they also can't take any writs to level with Surfacers so their leveling is forced to the Underdark to be most efficient.
With all of this in mind, my suggestion/feedback/request is that Deep Imaskari be allowed access to Surface functions as well as Underdarkers. They're a Greater Reward as is. I can understand maybe not wanting them to have access to both writ systems (maybe?), but barring them from an entire section of the server, essentially, really limits the RP and doesn't fit the lore/canon of the race.
