Duende

Duende Creature2

Uncommon CN Small Earth Fey

Senses Perception +7; darkvision, tremorsense (imprecise) 60 feet

Languages Gnomish, Sylvan, Undercommon

Skills Farming Lore +7, Intimidation +8, Labor Lore +7, Society +7, Survival +9

Str +1, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +3, Cha +4

Items toenail cutter

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AC 17; Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +9

HP 35

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Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] toenail cutter +10 (agile, backstabber, finesse), Damage 1d6+3 slashing

Occult Innate Spells DC 18, attack +10; 3rd locate; 2nd invisibility (self only); 1st fear, phantom pain; Cantrips (1st) daze, guidance, telekinetic projectile

Earthmound Dweller [three-actions] (primal, transmutation) The duende shrinks to the size of an ant, allowing them to enter very small tunnels within the earth such as anthills or termite mounds. Their Speed decreases to 5 feet. They can remain in this size until they end the effect by spending a single action, which has the concentrate trait. If the duende is underground and a creature hits the space they’re occupying with a Strike (hitting automatically) that deals 5 damage or more, the duende is expelled from the tunnels, returns to their normal size, and takes bludgeoning damage equal to the damage from the Strike.

Fool’s Gold [two-actions] (occult, illusion) Frequency once per day; Requirements The duende is holding brown or yellow earthen objects, such as ginger or animal dung; Effect The duende makes the objects look, feel, and smell like gold trinkets of a similar size. A creature that touches or Interacts with an affected object can attempt a DC 18 Perception check to disbelieve the illusion, and a successful DC 20 check with Crafting or an appropriate Lore skill (such as Mining Lore) reveals their true nature. The effect ends if the objects are exposed to sunlight.

About

Duendes fancy themselves as lords of the land-which is true, in a literal sense, these spirits embody the very soil upon the ground. Unlike most other fey, duendes have learned from the society that grew around them. They’ve come to accept the mortal understanding of what being a landlord means, so they expect rent from their perceived tenants. However, their notions of acceptable rent-and the acceptable role of a landlord for that matter-don’t really line up with those of most societies.

Duendes’ natural abilities allow them to dwell in termite mounds, but as societies arose, they adopted the habit of sleeping in their tenants’ homes. This tendency can be bothersome, as duendes don’t clean up after themselves, lock doors behind them, or have the basic decency to be visible.

On top of that, they act like they own the places they settle, casting spells on anyone they find annoying. These quirks are usually tolerated, though, as keeping duende happy means that crops grow well and that their magic protects the families in their care. Families aware of their presence are careful to warn invisible duendes before doing things like tossing bathwater out the window or entering a seemingly empty room. These warnings are usually polite but firm, in the vein of “Please move aside!”

More prone to making trouble or being a nuisance than to violence, duendes can still prove dangerous if they feel they have no other recourse.

Each one carries a toenail cutter, with full awareness that they can use it to cut other things.

Duendes don’t hold mortal currencies in high regard. They strongly prefer toenail clippings over gold. If they don’t receive them often enough, they enter their tenants’ homes and help themselves. They aren’t very good at doing so and occasionally cut off entire toes during collections.