Moleman

Moleman
Starting stats
Strength: -1 Dexterity: -1	Constitution: 2 Intelligence: 1
Bonus combat stat points: -1
Noncombat skills
Interpersonality: -2 Trickery: 0	Survival: 0 Education: 1
Bonus skill points: 1
Offensive stats
Size: 1	Speed: 0 Initiative mod: 0
Defensive stats
HP mod: 1
Racial features
Cave adaptation: You can see well even in low-light conditions.
Digging claws: You can dig through dirt and loose stones at half of your speed.

Molemen are a Chimeric Humanoid race that lives primarily in the Plane of Earth, and specifically in the Cratered Land. As their name implies, they bear significant physical similarities to common moles, a result of eons spent underground. While they are an uncommon sight in Panoulis, there are small populations of Molemen in many city centers. They are known for their role in the Plague, to which they exhibited a natural immunity, and which their medicine cured in many.

Physiology

Molemen are much smaller than the average human, with an average height of about a meter, though they are much stouter. Despite their small stature, Molemen possess an outstanding constitution, though they are outmatched by other races in terms of raw strength and physical dexterity.

Molemen typically have a covering of thin fur, which ranges in color from brown to light grey. They have small, usually black eyes, which see well at night but poorly during the day. By the nature of their upbringing, many Molemen have an aversion to bright lights, but those who visit Panoulis typically acclimatize within a few months.Their specially adapted claws allow them to rapidly dig through soil, but do interfere with their manual dexterity.

Molemen typically have 5 or 6 offspring at once, and with a considerably lower mortality rate than Humans, their society is in a state of constant population explosion.

Culture

Almost all Molemen living in Panoulis or the Plane of Earth speak Mullvarpan, a chattery language that is difficult for outsiders to learn. While those Molemen living in Panoulis typically do learn Common, most living in the Plane of Earth choose to learn Dwarven instead.

Moleman society is highly communal and rigidly structured. The social elite, who typically owe their status to the support of their extended network of family and indentured workers, take great pride in the good treatment of their underlings. Likewise, those lower in status serve their social superiors faithfully in the belief that their service will be rewarded. The few who disagree with the strict social order typically choose to live among Dwarf or Humans. Even these few often have trouble adjusting to the looser expectations of other races, and often insist on maintaining the strict system of honorifics that characterizes Mullvarpan grammar when they speak other languages.

While Moleman society is not hostile to outsiders, few are capable of fully assimilating into it, and so many Molemen have no experience with members of other races.

Moleman cities are exclusively located in the Plane of Earth, and stretch for many miles below the Cratered Land. They are tightly packed and always expanding. Those highest in status live deepest within their complexes, and as cities stretch further underground to facilitate the Molemen's constantly expanding population, virtually everyone is forced to move their homes lower or risk social demotion. Built up over hundreds of years, these cities are virtually unnavigable to members of other races, who sometimes find it difficult to even fit through the tight passages of Moleman cities.

The Moleman economy is built on the extraction of sulphur, lead, and other valuable commodities from the Sulphur Vents, as well as the production of virtually all of the wooden products in the Plane of Earth. They trade with Dwarves and earth elementals for many of their luxuries. They are well known among the other races for their alchemists and medical doctors, who make good use of the strange properties of the Sulphur Vents to heal the injured and defend their territory. There are rumors that at least one moleman has succeeded in turning simple stones into gold, but no outsider has ever been able to confirm the truth of this rumor.

While a few molemen follow some form of the old religion, most care little for it, and devote their time instead to a system of filial piety.

v - t - e [Show/hide] Races v - t - e [Show/hide]
Playable races	Human ▪ Chimeric (Bugbear ▪ Dryad ▪ Faerie ▪ Hobgoblin ▪ Moleman ▪ Minotaur ▪ Orc) ▪ Dwarf ▪ Elf ▪ Giant ▪ Goblin ▪ Greywight ▪ Kobold ▪ Magical construct (Elemental ▪ Soulbound) ▪ Shadowfolk ▪ Troll ▪ Æthereal
Race templates	Child ▪ Undead (Direkin ▪ Lich)
Extinct races	Ocrisian ▪ World Noble
Unplayable races	Dragon ▪ Merfolk