Do you have a favorite underground monstrous race? not dnd

[cavetroll]

Do you have a mythical race of creatures that live underground, could be humanoid, but monstrous is fine if they are industrious or have some variety of community (soldiers, mages, priests).
Evil is ideal but if it is something I repurpose as aggressive/dangerous, be great.

I can't use any DnD content (no drow, duergar, mindflayers) or any copyright content (nothing from modern books), so something from legends or otherwise public domain.
I already have some dwarves and gnomes and demons, looking for something that people haven't heard of.

If you have something really cool, would love to hear.

 

[aramis erak]

Morlocks (HG Wells - The Time Machine) - degenerate humans in the far future, who have a taste for the surface dwelling Eloi... Copyright date 1895, thus clear.

Note that the Drow are based upon (loosely) the Trow/Drow of Scandinavian legend...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The Mahars from ERB's Pellucidar series are neat (and I think in the public domain):

Mahar

The Mahar are a species of intelligent flying reptiles from Pellucidar. They are civilized but they prey on the stone age humans of Pellucidar. They use the Sagoth as servants. The Mahar are somewhat like the Rhamphorynchus. The entire race lacks the ability to hear, or to even comprehend the...

barsoom.fandom.com

 

[Jer]

I was going to say CHUDS but since you're looking for public domain, Lovecraft's ghouls are the likely (loose) source for the CHUDS and have the same behavior. They aren't undead, but instead are a civilization of creatures that live underground and kidnap humans from the surface.

I also have a soft spot for the Dero - the original loose inspiration for the D&D derro. They're descendants of an ancient civilization who mostly escaped to the stars in space ships but left some behind - the descendants of the ones they left behind were driven underground due to solar radiation and have become sadistic "robots" who singlemindedly work to make the surface dwellers suffer. Like the ghouls and the CHUDS they come to the surface and kidnap people into the depths, but with the help of the ancient technology their ancestors left behind. (Unfortunately the problematic element of the dero is that their creator was mentally ill and didn't think he was writing fiction when he wrote about them, so using them in gaming contexts can be a bit weird.)

 

[cavetroll]

Morlocks (HG Wells - The Time Machine) - degenerate humans in the far future, who have a taste for the surface dwelling Eloi... Copyright date 1895, thus clear.

Note that the Drow are based upon (loosely) the Trow/Drow of Scandinavian legend...

I need something more fantasy like, but I love that name, I may steal a version of that.

 

[cavetroll]

The Mahars from ERB's Pellucidar series are neat (and I think in the public domain):

Mahar

The Mahar are a species of intelligent flying reptiles from Pellucidar. They are civilized but they prey on the stone age humans of Pellucidar. They use the Sagoth as servants. The Mahar are somewhat like the Rhamphorynchus. The entire race lacks the ability to hear, or to even comprehend the...

barsoom.fandom.com

I like that, I never heard of this series, very cool, I can work with that, put a spin on it, great thanks!

 

[cavetroll]

I was going to say CHUDS but since you're looking for public domain, Lovecraft's ghouls are the likely (loose) source for the CHUDS and have the same behavior. They aren't undead, but instead are a civilization of creatures that live underground and kidnap humans from the surface.

I also have a soft spot for the Dero - the original loose inspiration for the D&D derro. They're descendants of an ancient civilization who mostly escaped to the stars in space ships but left some behind - the descendants of the ones they left behind were driven underground due to solar radiation and have become sadistic "robots" who singlemindedly work to make the surface dwellers suffer. Like the ghouls and the CHUDS they come to the surface and kidnap people into the depths, but with the help of the ancient technology their ancestors left behind. (Unfortunately the problematic element of the dero is that their creator was mentally ill and didn't think he was writing fiction when he wrote about them, so using them in gaming contexts can be a bit weird.)

Probably gonna stay away from Lovecraft, I've never read it but seems everyone else has and perhaps too saturated.

The Dero, I loved those in AD&D, I didn't realize they predated AD&D, that sounds like a great one, gonna dig into that, thanks!

 

[TheSword]

Fraggles?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Seshayans would be a fave, but they’re not public domain.

The obvious option of using an insectile species with a hive-based society is filled somewhat by Eberron’s Dromites. And without the hive, by Thri-kreen, more or less. But there’s no reason you can’t put your own spin on things. There are plenty of bugs in the earth, as it were…

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The Dero and the Shaver Mystery are wild, but yes, it's unfortunate that by all accounts he believed deeply that what he wrote was real. Dero, Rock Books, underground civilizations, everything,

I also have a soft spot for the Dero - the original loose inspiration for the D&D derro. They're descendants of an ancient civilization who mostly escaped to the stars in space ships but left some behind - the descendants of the ones they left behind were driven underground due to solar radiation and have become sadistic "robots" who singlemindedly work to make the surface dwellers suffer. Like the ghouls and the CHUDS they come to the surface and kidnap people into the depths, but with the help of the ancient technology their ancestors left behind. (Unfortunately the problematic element of the dero is that their creator was mentally ill and didn't think he was writing fiction when he wrote about them, so using them in gaming contexts can be a bit weird.)

There's some neat stuff, like the idea that Mahars only communicate in telepathy, and because humans cannot, they are not considered intelligent lifeforms by the Mahars.

I like that, I never heard of this series, very cool, I can work with that, put a spin on it, great thanks!