Dwendi

Dwendi are stunted, twisted creatures. Humanoid with long, spindly limbs, they are most noted for their razor teeth filling their oversized mouths and beady red eyes. Most Dwendi are three and a half feet tall, though some specimens have been observed to be as tall as six feet or as small as one at full adult development. This is a matter of available food and nutrition during their first decade of development, but Dwendi given to the Lacedaemon Academy  tend to be larger and taller than native Dwendi, though still hunched with long, spindly limbs.

+2 Dexterity, –2 Strength, –2 Charisma Goblinoid Small size: +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, –4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 of those of Medium characters. A Dwendi's base land speed is 30 feet. Low-light vision. Dwendi can see four times as well in conditions of dim light, but their pupils rapidly adjust to light conditions, allowing them little discomfort from darkness or dim light. Spatial Awareness. Dwendi have sensitive hearing, allowing them an outline of their surroundings out to 60 feet. +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks and Ride checks. These are always considered class skills for the Dwendi. Timeless Body. Upon reaching adult development, Dwendi cease aging. Barring accident, disease, or injury, they are effectively immortal. Favored Class: Bard.

Dwendi are both male and female, and require both to reproduce. Males often maintain harems rather than monogamy, maintaining as many females as comfortable rather than adhering to monogamous policies popular throughout the West.

The Dwendi achieve full growth in ten to twelve years, but Dwendi taken from their mothers at seven years and given to the Lacedaemon Academy have altered their development somehow to match that of their companions, slowing somehow to the levels of their peers. The mechanics of this are not fully understood, but Dwendi seem to alter their development to match their surroundings, rather like fish adapting to their environment. Upon reaching full adult development, Dwendi, like most fey, develop negligible senescence.

Dwendi inhabit the ruins of the Eternal Republic in Terracinensis. While they build nothing of their own, they do maintain and repair these ruins, albeit repurposing them for their own needs. Terraconensis is a warm subtropical environment, very welcoming to hairless hominids like the Dwendi.

Dwendi tend mushrooms in the lower caverns and tunnels they've dug beneath Terraconensis, and they are largely fungivores, though their incredibly sharp teeth are well-suited to meat and fish. The Dwendi brag of their subterranean gardens and trade openly with their produce, even among outsiders. The mushrooms of the Dwendi are a dietary staple, one they augment with meat rarely.

Dwendi are largely a theocracy with Valeria their god, but unless she is motivating them, family groups are centered around a dominant male, who may have multiple wives, and their colonies resultingly define themselves by relation to this individual, using the formula (name), (birth number) of (mother). The Dwendi all have jobs to do, which are assigned by the dominant male, though individuals who produce adequately may retain their surplus and use that for their own support and that of any females they wish in their personal harem. The various extended familial units often share a roof, and unite in hard times or during warfare, and tend to be very peaceable among themselves, but virulently protective of their lands.

Beady eyes rest over long, thin noses over a wide, toothy mouth. The jaws are very strong considering the Dwendi have little in the way of cheeks.

Dwendi are generally found only in Terraconensis, but may be elsewhere if ordered by Valeria. Many Dwendi females who cannot raise their young deliver them to Lacedaemon, where they are raised by the Academy there. Resultingly, Dwendi may be found wherever there are Imperial Legions.

Dwendi are not only as intelligent as any other sentient species, they are also psionically aware. Dwebdi may adopt any psionic class though most remain bards.

Dwendi have excellent nightvision, and can utilize their hearing as a targeting sense, rather like bats though their ability is passive rather than active. They can detect others by their heartbeat but cannot emit sounds to reflect as bats can. Dwendi are psionically aware, but have no ability with psionics beyond those of class.

Dwendi have personal names, and formally identify themselves as of the tribe of (father), but often call themselves by the surname (birth order) of (mother) to outsiders.

Dwendi are stone age, but can repair artifacts of up to Classical construction without straining their ability

The Dwendi were present in Teraconensis as stone age tribes dwelling on the outskirts of the Eternal mansions established in Terraconensis after the Punic Wars. They are recorded by all who passed through Iberia, including Melqart, who trod the Path of the Sun dividing Iberia along the path the Sun takes at the solstices, who mentions seeing them at the fringes of his road construction. When the Eternal Secession began, Valeria arose in the Gardens of Lupercallus and the Dwendi rose with her. United for the first time, they drove the Empire from the Peninsula and the Eternals with them. Rumor insists they fed upon the slain, but this is uncertain and unprovable in current times.  The Dwendi moved into the mansions the Eternals built when they commanded the Empire, and though they lacked the knowledge and skill of the Eternal City, they maintained these structures and settled their expansive family units in them, stirring forth only when Valeria orders. They have thus far devoured migrating tribes invading Terraconensis with no problems, though they welcome traders and friends alike, with the caveat none but Dwendi may dwell in Terraconensis west of the Path of the Sun.