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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9398132" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/AUiruK1.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Choker: Calling themselves the Siashlien, or Deep Speech for “Survivors,” chokers have long been regarded as nuisances at best, dangers at worst, by miners and other subterranean denizens of Khyber. It was long thought that the Siashlien were little more than evolved animals due to their solitary lives and lack of larger societal units. Being fluent in only Deep Speech and not Undercommon doesn’t help matters, cutting them off from more meaningful contact with a larger number of neighbors.Siashlien live this way in order to preserve resources, with parents letting children fend for themselves once they come of age, and also to better evade the stronger denizens of Khyber. The more people who gather long-term in a cave or tunnel system, the easier it is to find evidence of their existence. If communication with others is necessary, Siashlien make use of echoes in areas with the proper acoustics to carry their voices.House Tharashk and Xor'chylic made meaningful contact with a few Siashlien living in the Khyras tunnel network of Graywall within the past year. Their ability to squeeze through narrow crevices is useful for the purposes of subterranean exploration, and combined with their quickness is helpful for rescue operations where time is of the essence. By bribing them with food and tools to secure a relatively safe life, Graywall’s power players were able to chart vast reaches of Kkhyras that other races are physically unable to reach. In doing so, the city was able to seal off dangerous areas which the forces of the daelkyr and other dangerous creatures could take advantage of. However, some Siashlien haven’t returned from recent sealing operations, and Xor’chylic expects the worst.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/FapkVtV.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Moldfolk (Renamed Vegepygmy): Although outsiders typically call them moldfolk due to being humanoid fungi originating from corpses infected by russet mold, these monsters refer to themselves as "Klaahist." Klaahist in Droaam are most commonly found in the Watching Wood or in caverns throughout the country. When it comes to relations with others they most often ally with the myconids, who have no problem communicating with their otherwise obscure language. Both races use their powers in mutually beneficial ways: when a myconid sovereign’s spore servants are of no more use, they often feed it to russet mold, allowing moldfolk to replenish their numbers. While they dislike sunlight, Klaahists do not suffer ill effects from prolonged exposure, so myconids use them for making expeditions to the surface world in their stead if other races aren’t available to do this. Klaahists also have regenerative properties akin to a troll, with the only reliable way to fell them via cold, fire, or necrotic damage. Some druids and horticulturalists grow them to serve as guardians, albeit they lack the training and tactical mindsets of more professional soldiers.It is these qualities that motivated the Daughters of Sora Kell to engage in a covert project within the Byeshk Mountains known as Operation Landmine. While most Droaamish citizens would name Breland or the Church of Silver Flame as their nation’s greatest enemies, the hags also fear the druidic factions of the bordering Eldeen Reaches. As an insurance policy against a mountainous invasion they set up various caves and tunnels exiting out into the northern forests with russet mold cultivation facilities. Should a hostile force move through the caverns, they would contend with Klaahists who could use the corpses of the fallen to grow more of their own. In theory, the fungal settlements would serve as a self-sustaining border guard.While it is billed to those in the know as a preventative measure, it’s inevitable that some Klaahists will escape into the forests of the Eldeen Reaches, upsetting the delicate ecosystem as they spread beyond the mountains. Druidic retaliation in this case will be inevitable if discovered, although some of Droaam’s chibs believe that this outcome is intended by the Daughters of Sora Kell. Klaahists are not strong enough of a hazard or as obvious as harpies or trolls, so there’s some plausible deniability. It also lets the hags gauge the strength and reaction times of the druids without having to commit to more expensive, riskier ventures.Editing Note: <a href="https://www.fao.org/4/w1033e/w1033e03.htm" target="_blank">Based on a UN forestry report,</a> native African ethnic groups notable for their short heights consider the term "pygmy" offensive and prefer to be called by their appropriate ethnic names. Thus my use of the other term, moldfolk, for this monster type.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/Bd3efnw.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Winter Wolf: There aren’t many winter wolves in Droaam, living in the highest reaches of the Graywall and Byeshk Mountains. They find the warmer lowlands disagreeable and so only a rare few are found elsewhere. Given that the mountain ranges form natural defensive barriers against Breland and the Eldeen Reaches (to say nothing of their largely-untapped mineral wealth), the Daughters of Sora Kell have a heavy stake in controlling them. In addition to local harpy flights, more than a few winter wolf clans pledge loyalty to the Daughters of Sora Kell, with those few resisting suffering dearly from raids and forced into the most remote reaches.In addition to their role as alpine border patrol, winter wolves as well as the other races of Droaam make use of their freezing breaths in a variety of ways. The most common uses are for preserving perishable supplies and corpses for later resurrection or reanimation, as well as alchemical experiments requiring drastically low temperatures. They’re also fluent in Giant, making them well-suited to working with ogres, trolls, and hill giants for communication purposes.</blockquote>

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