Hejkin
Image by John Stanko, © Wizards of the Coast.
[Originally, hej-kin was hyphenated, but the hyphen was dropped in 4e. 4e also gave these little guys electrical powers. This may seem odd in the usual 3e/PFRPG paradigm of “air = electricity, earth = acid”, but it makes sense to me. Crystals generate electricity, after all.]
Hejkin CR 1 NE Aberration This stunted creature has pointed ears, oversized claws on its hands and feet and a patchy, shaggy coat. Its body is distorted, as if some of the bones were too large and others too small.
Hejkins are strange earth-dwelling creatures, xenophobic and violent. They despise anyone and anything that disturbs solid rock, which they view as sacred. They live only in natural cave formations, typically around a water supply, and attack miners, stonemasons and any other entities that try to carve into the earth. Hejkins are awkward in motion, but surprisingly strong for their size. They never fight with weapons, instead using their claws and bursts of electricity. A hejkin can move through solid rock, but only slowly, which they use to escape from danger or gather reinforcements.
Hejkin society is theocratic, with a caste of priests that venerate beings of elemental earth, great old ones, and gods of monstrosity and deformity. These “priests” rarely have the cleric class—oracles and sorcerers are most common. Priests have the rare privilege among the hejkin of being allowed to go to the surface, which they do at night in order to read omens in the stars. Sunlight blinds the hejkin, but deals them no permanent damage. They are omnivores with a taste for insects and fungus. Hejkin value textiles and intricately carved wood as treasure, since neither of these things are common below ground compared to metals and minerals.