[The intent was to have a creature halfway between naked mole rats and The Mole People. I always enjoy monsters that look scary but are not automatically hostile]
Molekin This hunchbacked humanoid shuffles on bowed legs, as
if it were unused to walking upright. Its thick greenish-gray skin is wrinkled
and sparsely coated with tufts of hair. Wide pale eyes stare from over a nose
consisting of little more than two holes and a mouth with protruding, tusk-like
teeth. Its arms are powerfully muscled and its hands are tipped with large,
curved claws.
Isolationist inhabitants of
great subterranean caverns, the molekin retain their independence and freedom
due to their affinity for the beasts that share their homes. Since molekin are
only able to tunnel through stone with great difficulty, they prefer to live in
previously existing caverns near the surface. Molekin do not build structures,
but each individual or family has a home-pit in which it sleeps and collects
its possessions. Molekin can be found on the surface collecting food or
attempting to tame exotic beasts, but the light of the sun is painful and
blinding to them, restricting their activity to the night. Molekin have a preternatural
affinity for subterranean animals and vermin and train them as guardians,
steeds and pets. The most prestigious animals to own in molekin society are
giant frilled lizards, which grow to immense proportions in certain caverns.
Both the duergar and the drow are envious of molekin strength and seek to take
them as slaves, but molekin are fiercely independent and view any kind of
servitude as an aberration. Molekin will fight to the death to protect their
freedom, and large-scale clashes between molekin clans and humanoid slavers are
remarkable in their ferocity.
Molekin, despite their names
and burrowing habits, are not related to moles. Although roughly mammalian,
they lay eggs with thin, leathery shells. Molekin are omnivorous, and most of
their diet consists of fungi and root vegetables. Their enormous claws make
delicate crafts nearly impossible, and so molekin do not use much in the way of
technology. They have a fascination with the treasures of other races and
collect metal goods and jewelry as curiosities. Molekin are shy of other intelligent
races and often seek to avoid confrontation, but a few tribes are on good terms
with neighboring dwarves and gnomes. A molekin would stand more than six feet
tall if it were capable of standing upright, and their stout frames weigh about
250 pounds.
Molekin are capable of advancing by character
class. Molekin often take classes that strengthen their bond with nature, such
as druid or ranger, but their philosophical nature leads some to become
clerics. Druids and clerics tend to be the leaders of molekin communities.
The Stone Council Although molekin do not
venerate any individual gods, they do worship something they refer to as the
Stone Council. A gestalt divine entity, the Stone Council is composed of
thousands of deceased molekin thinkers and leaders from the beginning of time,
all of them forever engaged in vigorous debate over the best course of action
for their people. Clerics of the Stone Council have access to the following
domains: Animal, Community, Darkness, Earth and Liberation. The favored weapon
of the Stone Council is the claw, but non-molekin worshipers treat its favored
weapon as the heavy pick. If using subdomains in your game, clerics of the
Stone Council have access to the following subdomains: Caves, Family, Freedom,
Home and Night. Non-molekin worshipers of the Stone Council are rare, but a few
iconoclastic gnomes and dwarves respect this communal divinity.
Molekin are native to the continent of Koll, where they construct grand subterranean complexes and even entire nations. One such nation were allied with the Kingdom of Rawras, who made contact with the Kingdom of Kown-Dam.
Shores of Swords 