Killmoulis

Under a foot tall, a killmoulis has a spindly body under a huge head with no mouth or chin; it sniffs its food in through an oversized nose. It never speaks, appears to be telepathic, and shows no visible sex.

Harmless to humans and demihumans, it fights only rats, stabbing them with needles for 1 point of damage. It relies instead on great speed and on blending into its surroundings, being only 10% detectable.

They move in wherever people work, especially where food is processed, living under floors, in walls or up in the rafters and coming out after the workers leave. Like their distant kin the brownies, they love simple, honest labor but also love pranks. Always hungry, they devour great amounts of grain, flour or whatever is handy.

Their mischief mirrors their host's behavior: merely annoying if left alone, destructive though seldom deadly if hunted or harmed. Dogs, cats and rats prey on them, so rats are snared and needled and a menacing pet may be poisoned. An unmanageable threat makes the whole colony move house.

Painfully shy, they cannot face the big folk they call giants; one that is spotted flees in panic, and one that is caught may die of fright. Yet gifts of warm food or tiny clothes win their friendship, repaid with faint telepathic thanks felt as a sudden warm feeling. Telepaths and shapechangers may meet them directly. They share the outlook of the farmers and tradesfolk they live with and gossip endlessly about friends, rivals and proper workmanship, so a killmoulis confidant offers a superb spy network, though slanted toward domestic and labor news.

No young have been seen. They probably breed like brownies, and infants must inhale food from birth. Lifespans may reach centuries. Their small hoards are scavenged trinkets, sometimes stolen from hostile giants but freely shared with friends.

They live in partnership with larger folk. The wise welcome them, since their work is worth more than the food they eat, and they guard against shared perils such as vermin and fire.