Groundling

Groundlings began as dwarves, magically warped by a secretive cabal of wizards into a hybrid of dwarf and giant badger. Squat and thickset, they pass for dwarves at a distance. Up close the ears are tiny and lost in shaggy fur, the eyes are slits, a bristly snout replaces the nose, and fangs jut from a lengthened jaw. Talons sharper than swords tip their hands, and they reek of rotten meat. Most can growl a few words of common.

Given an item the target has handled, a groundling can follow that creature anywhere by scent, and can pick out clothing the target wore that no one else held more than briefly. Its eyes are weak, it hates daylight and usually hunts at night unless ordered otherwise, and bright light at sunshine level or more imposes -1 on its attacks. It burrows astonishingly fast through packed earth, though not solid rock.

The usual attack bursts up from below in a spray of dirt, giving victims -3 to surprise and the groundling +2 to hit. If two of its claw and fang attacks hit in one round, it drags a man-sized or smaller victim into its burrow at round's end, and several working together can pull down larger ones. Inside the tunnels, captives are limited to natural attacks or small weapons, at -2, while the groundlings gain +2 to hit and damage. Pulling a trapped victim free takes a combined Strength of 23, counting the victim and any helpers.

Strict guild rules imposed by their masters govern them, and they generally kill no one but their assigned target unless hindered. Told to take a quarry alive, they subdue it; otherwise they kill and eat it. They have no society beyond the guild. Most resent their slavery but obey, many hoping that long or excellent service will earn a cure, although no such reversal is reliably recorded. Dim but crafty, they use ambushes, false retreats and converging attacks on a known target, and climbing a tree seldom stops them for long.

Their magically fueled burrowing demands huge amounts of food, so they eat nearly anything, preferring meat. Whether they can breed is unclear; reports conflict, and most believe each one comes from the cabal's laboratories. When not quartered in the dungeons of the cabal's mountain fortress, they rest in shallow warrens just under the surface, waiting for dark.