Fauna, Companions & Familiars
| Creature | Description |
|---|---|
| Stone-Moles | Burrowing companions with diamond-hard claws. Used for tunnel exploration and geological surveying. Highly prized as pets. |
| Granite Hawks | Large raptors that nest on mountain peaks. Trained as message carriers; their talons can crack stone. |
| Glow-Moths | Bioluminescent insects cultivated for tunnel lighting. Their soft green-gold glow is the primary light source in residential halls. |
| Iron-Badgers | Stocky, armored mammals that guard mine entrances. Fiercely territorial; dwarves train them as sentinels. |
| Crystal-Spiders | Arachnids that spin threads of crystalline silk used in enchanted textiles. Farmed in controlled caverns. |
| Earth-Serpents | Massive, semi-mythical stone dragons revered as mountain protectors. Rarely seen; their presence is considered a blessing. |
| Stone-Golems | Constructed guardians powered by rune-inscribed crystal cores. Not alive, but semi-sentient; they follow patrol routines and respond to threats. |
15.1 Domesticated Companions
The most common companion animal is the Stone-Mole, a burrowing mammal roughly the size of a large cat, with dense gray fur and diamond-hard claws capable of scoring solid granite. Stone-Moles are used by miners to detect mineral deposits (they are instinctively attracted to certain ores) and by engineers to test new tunnel routes. Many families keep them as household pets, where their gentle temperament and low-light adaptations make them ideal for underground living.
Granite Hawks serve as the Dwarves' primary long-distance communication method alongside the Whispering Orb Network. Each hawk is bonded to a specific handler and can carry messages across the full length of the Iron Mountains in under a day. The hawks nest on specially constructed perches near Hold entrances, and the Hawk-Wardens who tend them are a respected sub-guild of the Engineers Guild.
15.2 Creatures of the Deep
The deeper zones of the Holds harbor creatures rarely seen by surface dwellers:
- Vein-Worms: Segmented, eyeless creatures that burrow through mineral veins, leaving behind tunnels precisely wide enough for a dwarf's arm. Their excretions contain concentrated ore, making their trails valuable to miners who know how to read them.
- Shade-Bats: Large, silent bats that navigate by a form of runic echo-location. They are tolerated in the Holds because they consume parasitic insects, but their sudden appearance in an unexpected tunnel can startle even veteran miners.
- The Deepstone Leviathan: A creature of legend, described in the Chronicles of the Deep as a vast, slow-moving entity that inhabits the Abyssal Zone. Whether it is a single organism or a colony is unknown; most scholars classify it as myth, but occasional tremors in the deepest tunnels are attributed to its passage by the superstitious.