#andes mountains

Andes Mountains, Peru - by Cath Simard

Image © Victor-DT, accessed at their deviantArt gallery here

[The Creature Codex 2022 World Tour is moving south, to South America. South America has probably been the continent that has gotten the least attention in Pathfinder. Australia is the other contender, but there’s lots of Australian animals statted up, at least, and transported incongruously to the vaguely European Avistan.

We’re starting with one of the many Little People found in the lore of South America’s people. The muki appears throughout the Central Andes, in Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, under different names (I believe the name “muki”, spelled this way, is most common in Bolivia, but Wikipedia might be lying to me again). The muki fits into the wider family of mining faeries, along with such D&D staples as gnomes and kobolds.]

Muki
CR 2 CN Fey
This little man is the height of a human toddler, but broad shouldered and muscular. He has a long beard, and small horns growing from his head. He carries a lantern in one hand and a pick in the other.

A muki is a mining fey, constantly delving into the earth in search of precious metals. They provide copper, silver, gold and platinum to the fey courts, and guard their treasures jealously. A company of mukis will often mine the same mountain as mortal crews, and they will attempt to distract or misdirect the humanoids in order to keep the best treasures for themselves. Pranks played by the mukis include making strange noises, collapsing empty tunnels, stealing or moving gear, or even knocking out miners with toxic gas and leaving them to be found by their peers.

A muki will occasionally work with humanoids instead of against them, but only if suitably rewarded and only under certain circumstances. Mukis will sacrifice veins of tin and copper if it means keeping the silver and gold to themselves. They appreciate rewards of mortal intoxicants—alcohol and coca are favorites. The surest way to lose a muki’s help is to let others know that a muki is helping you. A muki that learns that its confidence is betrayed will often offer to guide their former friend to a new lode, only to leave them stranded and lost in the dark after hiking through miles of tunnels.

A muki can dig through stone as if it were paper, but their tools leave metals practically untouched—a valuable skill when seeking out ore. Any lamp touched by a muki radiates a light as clear as daylight, but only if the muki so wishes. Some mukis wear traditional robes, others steal mining garments and helmets from mortals and dress up as them, half in honor and half in mockery. They don’t particularly need the helmets—a muki can headbutt its way through a solid stone wall, given enough time. Few mukis are more than two feet tall, but they have brawny bodies. They walk with a waddling gait due to their short legs and wide feet.

Muki     CR 2
XP 600
CN Small fey
Init+1;Sensesdarkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +10
Aurabad air (Fort DC 14, 30 ft.)
Defense
AC14, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural, +1 armor)
hp16 (3d6+6)
Fort+5,Ref+5,Will+6
DR5/cold iron; SR13
Offense
Speed20 ft.
Meleeheavy pick +5 (1d4+3/x4), slam +0 (1d4+1) or slam +5 (1d4+4)
Statistics
Str16,Dex13,Con15,Int13,Wis14,Cha12
Base Atk +1;CMB+3;CMD14
FeatsAlertness, Great Fortitude
SkillsBluff +7, Climb +9, Knowledge (dungeoneering, engineering) +4, Perception +10, Profession (miner) +5, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +11
LanguagesCommon, Sylvan, Terran
SQdigmaster, magic lantern,no breath
Ecology
Environmentany mountains andunderground
Organizationsolitary, crew (2-6) or company (7-12)
Treasuredouble standard (Small padded armor, Small heavy pick, hooded lantern, other treasure)
Special Abilities
Bad Air Aura (Su) As a standard action, a muki can emit toxic fumes in a 30 foot radius. Any creature breathing in the area must succeed a DC 13 Fortitude save or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A creature that fails two saves in a row is staggered from coughing for 1 round. A creature that is unconscious from nonlethal damage begins to take lethal damage. A muki can stop emitting these fumes as a move action. This is a poison effect, and the save DC is Constitution based.
Digmaster (Su) A muki ignores the first 8 points of hardness when attacking stone objects or creatures.
Magic Lantern (Su) A muki can cause a lamp, lantern, candle or other light source to glow as per a daylightspell. It can activate or deactivate this ability as a swift action.