Denizens

Started by Mr. Cheez-It, October 20, 2005, 11:28:35 PM

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Mr. Cheez-It

This section is intended to give players a general idea of some of the more commonly found or known races dwelling in the Underdark.  These descriptions intentionally do not provide much specific information, but should be enough to help develop concepts as to what races may have enslaved a character.  These also give a little insight into those creatures that may be encountered in the setting and how they relate with their neighbors.

Upperdark

Most Upperdark inhabitants traffic with the surface world in some way, either trading with or raiding their upstairs neighbors for things they can't get in their native habitat.  They also trade with (and raid) each other.  No Upperdark community is ever really friendly with each other, but Upperdark settlements often observe wary truces with their neighbors.

Dwarves:  For thousands of years, the great dwarven realms of the surface world have expanded downward instead of outward.  Neither gold dwarves nor shield dwarves harbor any fear of the Underdark, and their cities are often buried in the upper reaches of the Realms Below.  Unlike the duergar, who prefer the deeper portions of the Underdark, gold and shield dwarves keep fields and livestock on the surface and trade extensively with the surface folk.

Goblins:  Bugbears, goblins, and hobgoblins often establish outposts in the Upperdark, from which they can easily raid nearby surface lands.  Goblinoids may in fact be the most numerous of the Underdark's races, but they have raised no great cities and delved no great caverns.  Goblins in particular are commonly found as slaves in the cities of crueler and more sophisticated races, such ad the drow and duergar.

Minotaurs:  Hulking and fierce minotaurs dwell in the Upperdark, usually favoring the most confusing and complex cave systems for their lairs.  Minotaurs generally live by raiding and plunder, although more than a few sell their services to other folk who offer gold and food in exchange for a chance to fight.  Minotaurs are kept as slaves by Upperdark dwellers such as drow and mind flayers, but such slaves are not numerous.

Orc: Like goblins, orcs often settle in the upper caverns of the Underdark.  Caverns close to the surface offer shelter from the hated sun and easy defensibility with a minimum of work, and most orcs are only too happy to take advantage of that combination.  Orcs are often enslaved by deeper-dwelling races, so they can be found almost anywhere in the Underdark.

Quaggoths:  These so-called deepbears frequently ban together to raid and forage throughout the Underdark.  Most quaggoth bands now survive by roaming the deep as nomadic hunter-gatherers and supplementing their diets with anything (or anyone) that falls into their bloody claws.  Like goblins, quaggoths are frequently encountered as slaves in the cities of more civilized Underdark denizens, such as drow.

Svirfneblin:  The deep gnomes live in hidden caves and secretive strongholds throughout all the three layers of the Underdark, but most of them dwell in the Upperdark and Middledark.  Deep gnomes avoid trouble by simply staying well clear of it, and few strangers ever blunder across svirfneblin towns.

Stone Giants:  Powerful and ponderous in action and thought, stone giants are strong enough to keep all but the most magically powerful of foes at bay.  These creatures delve enormous quarries for their homes, and they can work wonders with their chosen medium.  Few in number, stone giants leave other folk alone and expect the same courtesy from anyone passing through their lands.

Troglodytes:  Perhaps no other race is as universally detested as the troglodytes.  These bloodthirsty savages descend on the realms of other Underdark folk like a plague of locusts and immediately set about raiding, pillaging, and killing anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby.  They occasionally serve as slaves to more powerful races, but only in those places where more tractable (and less vile) slaves aren't widely available.

Middledark

No alliance is permanent in the Middledark.  Some communities maintain wary trading partnerships with others, but it is understood that if one party ever grows stronger than the other, the terms of the partnership will change â€" perhaps drastically.  Even in the most open of the Middledark cities, newcomers can expect to be challenged (physically or otherwise) unless they make a pointed display of power upon entry.

Drow:  Most drow cities occupy large vaults or caverns in the Middledark.  The Middledark also offers the defense of distance â€" a drow outpost near the surface is vulnerable to the attacks of adventurers and surface elves, but moving a large army into the Middledark can't be done with ease.  Taken as a whole, drow probably have the most significant presence in the Middledark.  Their cities and strongholds are numerous, wealthy, and well situated for defense, and the drow themselves are cruel and strong.

Duergar:  The Middledark is also home to the largest and most powerful gray dwarf realms.  Duergar cities are less numerous than those of the drow, but any given gray dwarf city is likely to be a strong, wealthy, and martially inclined realm quite powerful enough to deter the attacks of its hostile neighbors.

Fomorains:  The most hideous and wicked of giantkind, the terrible fomorians dwell throughout the Underdark, but mostly in the middle section.  They are thankfully scarce, and no one knows of any true fomorian cities or holdings in the Realms Below.  However, a few dozen fomorians gathered in a keep or clanhold represent a formidable threat to their neighbors.

Grells:  Monstrous and alien, grells are usually thought of as solitary predators, but in the Underdark they have been known to gather in nests or hives numbering dozens of individuals.  Grells make poor neighbors, since they regard all other creatures only a potential prey.

Grimlocks:  Well suited for a life in the lightless depths, grimlocks gather in large, savage tribes that are fully capable of overwhelming the cities and strongholds of more sophisticated races.  Grimlocks are tireless hunters and raiders, and they often range dozens of miles from their lairs in search of food and plunder.  Like the goblins and orcs of the higher levels, grimlocks are frequently enslaved by other races (particularly mind flayers) and can be found almost anywhere.

Hook Horrors:  These vile abominations plague many of the Middledark's lonely and deserted passages, waylaying any travelers who come along.  Hook horrors seem barely sentient, but they have been known to gather in large and dangerous bands to stake out a good source of water or a cavern of edible fungus as their own.

Kuo-Toas:  Kuo-toas are found throughout the seas of the Middledark.  This once great race has dwindled over time, and many of kuo-toan cities lie in ruins.  Kuo-toas get along reasonably well with most other Underdark races (except aboleths), and they travel widely as traders, pilgrims, and guides.

Maurs:  Like the stone giants or formorians, maurs are not common, but where they walk, lesser folk get out of the way.  Maurs are unusual among Middledark races in that they are not malicious, predatory slaveholders.  Some maurs are as wicked as any foromorian, of course, but for the most part, these ruined giants want nothing more than to be left alone by their neighbors.

Mind Flayers:  After the drow, the mind flayers are probably the most powerful, notorious, and sinister of the Underdark's peoples.  Since illithids are uniquely well suited to hold great numbers of slaves and thralls, mind flayer cities may have ten times as many slaves as illithids.  Unlike the slaves of the drow or duergar, illithid thralls are compelled to absolute loyalty and zeal in the service to their horrid masters.  The mind flayers can field entire armies of thralls whenever they wish and hurl them into battle without concern for their loyalty or fighting spirit.  The mind flayers prefer the lower reaches of the Middledark, but they also have numerous communities in the Lowerdark.

Orogs:  Stronger, smarter, and more advanced than their surface kin, the deep orcs are well suited for the fierce competition of the Underdark.

Umber Hulks:  Although umber hulks are sentient, they are nomadic hunters that build no cities and manufacture no tools.  Among the most common of the Underdark's monsters, umber hulks fearlessly attack almost anything they meet.

Lowerdark

Why would any creature with intelligence or common sense live in such a terrible environment?  Some races have lived here for generation upon generation, and the Lowerdark is simply their home.  Other creatures settle here to take advantage of the Lowerdark's unique magical properties, rare ores, or shelter from the hated sun.  Still others view a sojourn in the Lowerdark as a temporary solution, since the dead magic areas and hostile territory may be a wanted criminal's most expedient means of avoiding capture.

Aboleths:  These horrible aberrations lurk in the deepest, blackest waters of the Underdark, surrounded by legions of thralls.

Beholders:  The Lowerdark is home to numerous beholder hives.  Each of these bizarre cities can house hundreds of eye tyrants and thousands of slaves.  Like mind flayers, beholders can magically compel loyalty from their thralls, and they believe that their natural role in the scheme of things is tyranny over lesser beings.