Vegepygmy guard

Vegepygmy Guard

(Creature)

Type

Plant

CR

2

Environment

Darklands

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Source: Into the Darklands, pg(s). 24

One of the six major vegepygmy castes, vegepygmy guards are the caste most likely to be encountered by travellers wondering the depths of Nar-Voth, due to their roles as warriors.

Appearance

Vegepygmy guards, despite their plant heritage appear humanoid, looking most like some sort of fungal halfling. Their skin and hair are both green looking like the toughened stems of a sprouting bush. They are not particularly tall creatures, but despite their lack of height, they have a fearsome appearance. They normally don't wear any armor into battle, attacking their foes using either their claws or crudely-fashioned spears, adding to their feral appearance.

Habitat and ecology

Vegepygmies dwell in Nar-Voth, the level of the Darklands that is closest to the surface. This was not always their home as the Vegepygmy race was created in the depths of the Darklands second level, Sekamina. They were created not by some benevolent deity or natural phenomenon, but by one of the cruellest races to inhabit the Darklands, the drow. The drow of House Udrinor (worshippers of the fungal Demon lord Cyth-V'sug) created the vegepygmies to serve as a food source that was tough, durable and sentient. The drow wanted their new "cattle" to be intelligent enough to feel fear (as the drow believe terror helps flavor food), but also smart enough to look after themselves, as then their masters would not have to. Unfortunately the drow's new food source proved a little too intelligent and soon hordes of rebellious vegepygmies were swarming over the drow capital of Zirnakaynin. While intelligent and vicious, the vegepygmies were no match for one of the Darklands most evil races and were soon being hunted mercilessly by the drow and their demonic allies. Still, some vegepygmies managed to survive the ensuing massacre and fled through the depths of Sekamina up to Nar-Voth, far from their drow creators.

In the relative safety (and safe is not a term that can really be used to describe any part of the Darklands) of Nar-Voth, the vegepygmies have thrived, creating their own bizarre society. They generally avoid contact with the other intelligent races of the Darklands but happily ambush small groups of travellers. When they do ambush other creatures, they normally try to take their opponents alive so they can return them to their Russet mold spawning ground where the victim is freed from his flesh and transformed into a new vegepygmy. Vegepygmy tribes normally worship a fungal version of Gozreh though the most violent tribes take Cyth-V'sug as their demonic patron.