Cave Midget

The cave midgets of Cloudshame are a humanoid species which are distantly related to humans and possess a similar level of intelligence. They live very long and boring lives down in the deep. They are often exploited and used. They are often sold and shoved in foreign caves where they are expected to learn the terrain and guide miners through them with less hazards on the way. Due to the fact that they are perfectly adapted to life in caves, they don't get lost or die very easily because they can recognize the terrain through echolocation, feel, smell and the ambient noise around them. They usually die from accidentally going to the surface and getting eaten.

Basic Information

Anatomy

This is a small creature that stands at around 80 cm tall and has a large and elongated head with large ears and a large nose. The cave midget is covered in a white waterproof fur coat and which helps it keep a steady body temperature when going into cold water to swim. It has a pair of muscular arms with strong fingers and tough hard nails for digging and climbing as well a pair of strong legs with strong toes. All these limbs make the cave midget an amazing climber and an excellent swimmer so that it can dwell in the deep and dark caves without much difficulty.

Biological Traits

They tend to live for centuries because their bodies never age. Some individuals have been thought to be 1,000 years old when when they died. Cave midgets are capable of speech and have their own unique language as well as a touch based writing system based on subtle textures. They may not look like it, but they are almost as intelligent as humans and see them as beneficial. Cave midgets have a very high tolerance for carbon dioxide and a high oxygen intake due to having a lot of hemoglobin.

Genetics and Reproduction

Cave midgets reproduce like humans, but a lot more rarely.

Growth Rate & Stages

Cave midgets mature at a similar rate to humans, but they never age.

Ecology and Habitats

Cave midgets live in deep dark caves where they take up the role of apex predators. They will try to farm their prey so that it will be more plentiful and provide them with plenty of food. They eat cave shrimp, cave fish, cave salamanders, scorpions, bats, anything they can catch. In areas like mines where they are used by humans and manderthals, they know that they are fed regularly and they prefer to set up regular meeting spots to feed, sleep, get jobs etc. Cave midgets don't do well on the surface because they stand out like sore thumbs and get targeted easily by predators if they aren't caught by someone who will put them back in a cave. They find the outside world too confusing because it's too noisy and full of smells for them. They also don't like the feeling of rocks that heated up in the sun.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Cave midgets are exclusive carnivors that live off of a varied meaty diet. They do best with fish and shellfish, but as long as it's meat they will eat it. Spices are a very bad idea as they can poison them.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Solitary. They tend to avoid fighting each other, but when they do, it's curses and swearing rather than violent actions. They have some of the most creative and insulting curses (for example: "your mother was a disembodied shrimp and your father smelled of sulfur").

Uses, Products & Exploitation

They are mainly used as guides in deep dark caves.

Facial characteristics

Imagine a human head that the eyes were removed and the extra space was taken up by the mouth and nose. Now, I want you to picture the snout being elongated to a cat-like proportion. This head is covered in pink skin which is covered in white fur. That is what the head looks like. The cave midget has neanderthal-like teeth with fangs for canines. The ears are large and a bit bat-like.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Originally just the caves of Cloudshame, but they spread to many cave systems and mines around the world.

Average Intelligence

Very high, almost equal to humans.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Cave midgets have excellent hearing which they use to detect ambient noise and for echolocation. Their sense of smell is superb and they can recognize different streams and chambers by smell. They also have a good sense of touch which allows them to see things with their hands. They are capable of recognizing subtle differences between certain textures that humans can't notice. However, Cave midgets are blind because they lack eyes. However, they don't need them because they live in areas which are so dark that they are completely useless.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Cave midgets usually don't choke on the carbon dioxide in the caves as they can tolerate high levels of it and because they have thermosynthetic bacteria that use heat, water and carbon dioxide to make sugar and oxygen. They are found in their intestines and they leave them in their dung wherever they go. These bacteria may only reproduce once in two weeks, but there are still immune system mechanisms there to prevent them from harming the cave midgets. Once they are left behind in the dung, they die after a day or two because they need a certain enzyme that only the cave midgets can produce to survive and the enzyme only lasts one or two days. in the meantime, they produce some amount of oxygen and leave behind a sweet delight.
Cave midgets also have a symbiotic relationship with both humans and manderthals. They help them explore cave systems, check mineshafts, and rescue workers in exchange for food, water, territory and something to do.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

They are capable of grinding stones into mediocre stone digging tools. However, they really shine where they expand subterranean pools with life in them to make them larger and more sustainable for them to live off of.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Hobsch. A.k.a the language of the midgets.

Common Dress Code

None/ They don't wear any clothes.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Sitting in the dark eating all sorts of weird things and tend to subterranean habitats.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Working on their subterranean ecosystem farms.

History

It is thought that the cave midgets evolved from a bunch of midgets that got stuck in the caves of Cloudshame but never got out or died. Since after they were discovered by humans, they have gone through a golden age. Cave midgets got access to better technology and farming techniques and were brought to new environments where they flourished. Some cave midgets realized that they could trade their services as rescuers for good digging tools to improve their homes. Their knowledge of how a subterranean ecosystem works wasn't really appreciated until the 16th century A.B.

Historical Figures

Ubshli. Ubshli is a famous cave midget that has been the guide for countless subterranean rescue missions. He even made an acquaintance of Yu-Mai Ashawa during Berlintini I's Great War of Coalition and with Tlaxcal III the elected emperor of the Mankan Empire. Ubshli died at the approximate age of 1,003 in 293 A.B in Bashur (Yu-Mai Ashawa took him with her because she thought he was a bit cute).

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

They have an extensive relationship with humans and manderthals. They have proven very useful to them underground in locating corridors and people who need rescuing. Due to the fact that most of the known individuals are over 100 years old, they know their homes better than anyone and have an amazing talent for underground navigation. When it comes to war however, they are low achievers. They can't use any ranged weapons and the only weapons they might be able to use effectively are daggers which they can use while keeping a feel for their opponents' movements and exact locations due to their blindness. Instead, they prefer to lead them into dead ends or underground ravines where they can cause them to die of falling, starvation, drowning, dehydration or a simple ambush.
Cave hobbits aren't usually seen as human and are often bought and sold as a form of cave slaves to be used. their increased proportional strength and relatively ape-like bodies aren't useful in these situations.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Midget

Scientific Name

Parahomo Pumilio Subterranasus

Origin/Ancestry

Cloudshame

Lifespan

300 years

Conservation Status

Least concern. They have spread beyond their ancestral lands as a result being bought and sold and released into caves around the world. They have caused certain endemic cave species to go extinct before they were even discovered due to predation.

Average Height

80 cm

Average Weight

20 kg

Average Physique

Small and muscular.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

White fur on pink skin.