Mite

Mite

Species	faerie
No. Appearing	6-24
Behaviour	resentful
Range	subterranean, urban
Size	2 ft. tall
Weight	10 lbs.
Intelligence	12 to 14
Armour Class	5
Hit Dice	2
Action Points	5
Max. Stride	8
THAC0	20
Hp/Die	d2
Attack Forms	1: fangs or with dagger
Damage	fangs (1–3) or dagger (1-4)
Special Attacks	curse, experience levels, skulduggery, stealth

Mites are not a distinct race, but rather grotesque, spiritually corrupted beings driven by malevolent impulses and baleful desires. These creatures hate the light and prefer to inhabit dark, subterranean tunnels and dungeons, sewers and even shipboard, where they can be close to those they intend to harm. They harbor animosity not only towards other sprites but also towards themselves.

Their minds have been warped by malevolence, so that they possess a strong urge to inflict cruelty, with little regard for their own existence. A mite would rather perish while causing suffering to others than prioritize self-preservation, all the while aiming to maximize the pain it inflicts before meeting its end.

Origin

It's a legendary belief that sprites are dedicated to purging the world of evil individuals, relying on their ability to discern good from evil. However, occasionally, a small group of sprites error in this. Seeking to make amends, the knowledge of their error preys upon their conscience. They begin to hate themselves, they brood, transforming themselves as a group, day by day, into mites.

These newly transformed mites distance themselves from their own kind and establish a "nest," where their malevolence festers. Within a year or two, they begin to perceive evil in every creature, much as they recognize it within themselves, leading them to harbour hatred toward all sentient beings.

Sprites are acutely aware of this peril and take measures to safeguard themselves against it. Above all, they are committed to locating mite lairs and attempting to restore peace to their fallen brethren, although this can only be achieved by death. Many small wars have been waged in the underground realms between mites and sprites, with victory not always assured for the latter.

Behaviour

Mites possess a relentless drive to construct intricate tunnel networks that are too cramped for most human beings to enter. These tunnels serve as avenues for them to access their victims and the resources, which they can either pilfer or destroy. These passageways rarely exceed a diameter of eight inches in width. Mites build these through single row houses, courts or in subterranean warrens, patiently biding their time to kill off unsuspecting dwellers one by one.

These creatures also embrace the opportunity to cause prolonged suffering. If they can, after ensnaring a living being in a trap, they'll torment the victim for days or even weeks before ending it with a nasty death. Given the chance, mites like to steal essential items like antidotes, medications, artificial limbs or notes that are left by one tenant to another, deliberately destroying these possessions to sow misery.

Mites have a preference for cannibalism, particularly relishing the flesh of sprites, pixies and brownies — but they're not selective, consuming any humanoid they can, including their own kind, if the opportunity arises.

Advantages

Mites possess a natural venom and a collection of personal skills which make them dangerously intelligent in their cruelties.

Curse. If the creature scores a hit with its fangs, victims must make a saving throw against poison; if this roll fails, the character's mind has become infected. Until the curse is discovered and removed, the DM should roll a die to randomly determine at which hour of the day the character feels an overwhelming compulsion to commit an atrocious act — murder, arson and the like. At that moment, the character makes a wisdom check with a -4 penalty. If this fails, then the character's mind goes blank until the crime is committed ... whereupon the victim awakes, confused, some five or ten minutes after the deed is done.

The character has no memory of doing anything — yet there might be evidence of some kind, such as the presence of blood on the character's clothes or hands, or of a nearby panic. In nearly every case, the curse works its will in some manner that the character is very unlikely to have been witnessed committing the actual crime; and probably the character won't experience a desire to come forward. Note that whether the wisdom check is made or not, the character experiences no moment of conscious wanting to do anything.

Experience Levels. As mites used to be sprites, they typically possess between 1 and 4 experience levels as thieves. Thankfully, they've lost their ability to become invisible at will. Still, for each experience level they possess, they'll have 1d6 additional hit points and 1d12 points of knowledge in their chosen sage study.

Skullduggery. Mites have one study within this sage field — either backstabbing or setting traps. Their base knowledge equals 10, even if they have no experience levels. They'll possess all the amateur-status sage abilities in these studies, and if they have 30 points of knowledge or more, the authority-status as well.

Stealth. Regardless of level, mites gain a +4 adjustment when attempting to approach others, as detailed under the sage ability stealth.

See Bestiary