Over the centuries, millennia and beyond, many creatures have lived in the soil, both in union with Mother Earth and working against her or her wishes. It is mostly the latter that come into contact with humans- that seek them out even. At one time this was a terrible problem in settlements as it meant people could be attacked virtually anywhere by creatures from below their feet as byways weren’t paved and accommodation had earth floors.
As urban areas grew, so did protection against such dangers as streets became paved and buildings became more complex. One danger that remains, however, is that of the Underpaver, a creature known initially as an Underpather until they got trapped in the earth beneath the pavement.
Mostly they are no danger at all, mostly they cannot even hope to harm but; wherever there is a crack, wherever the binding between paving slabs has deteriorated they have a chance.
They cannot face light, of course, so during the day and in well lit areas one is safe but stray into a dark and ill-maintained alleyway and you must watch your step. For your footsteps alert those in wait below, those who hunger for human flesh, and can wait patiently forever for a victim, using a dark magic to pull them through the tiniest of cracks into the earth to suffocate and become food.
These creatures resemble “gnomes but with evil faces” according to different medieval texts. Unlike gnomes, though, they can elongate their arms to fit through gaps and pass this ability on to those they touch, enabling them to pull their victims into the earth. There seems to be no way to defeat them, no way to fully determine if they still exist, other than by studying missing persons reports.
As urban areas grew, so did protection against such dangers as streets became paved and buildings became more complex. One danger that remains, however, is that of the Underpaver, a creature known initially as an Underpather until they got trapped in the earth beneath the pavement.
Mostly they are no danger at all, mostly they cannot even hope to harm but; wherever there is a crack, wherever the binding between paving slabs has deteriorated they have a chance.
They cannot face light, of course, so during the day and in well lit areas one is safe but stray into a dark and ill-maintained alleyway and you must watch your step. For your footsteps alert those in wait below, those who hunger for human flesh, and can wait patiently forever for a victim, using a dark magic to pull them through the tiniest of cracks into the earth to suffocate and become food.
These creatures resemble “gnomes but with evil faces” according to different medieval texts. Unlike gnomes, though, they can elongate their arms to fit through gaps and pass this ability on to those they touch, enabling them to pull their victims into the earth. There seems to be no way to defeat them, no way to fully determine if they still exist, other than by studying missing persons reports.
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