Gronglings

Gronglings are a race of fae often mistaken for house spirits. They live in caverns or cellars, and will often appear by farmsteads at night, performing odd chores and taking care of animals. While usually well-intentioned, they are easily offended, and an angry grongling might steal valuable items or start fires as revenge.

Appearance
While not actually shorter than other folk, Gronglings are rather crooked in stature, putting them lower to the ground. They are exceptionally hairy, have pointed ears and tails, and grow sharp claws in stead of nails on their hands and feet.

Dress
Gronglings tend to dress lightly in simple scraps of wool and hide. Some gronglings eschew clothing altogether, as their fur might cause them to overheat. Gronglings have an affection for shiny objects, and it is not uncommon to see a grongling outfitted with rings and trinkets, earned as gifts or stolen in the night.

Dwellings
Gronglings live in gronglets in their grongcaves (which are actually caverns, but the gronglings don't seem to care one way or the other). A gronglet is a loosely organized community where gronglings come together to share food and stories. Gronglings are individualistic by nature, and will be about their business with little regard for governance. Never the less, a bigger grongling might assert himself as the ruler of a gronglet, in which case he is referred to as the Greatgrong.

Values
As fae go, gronglings are considered among the most well liked and well-intentioned. Though a grongling rarely ventures to deal openly with Men, those who do become staunch allies in times of strife. Being faeries, however, gronglings have rather odd and specific values that vary from grongling to grongling. This often leads to gronglings making choices that, while perfectly reasonable to them, are seen as odd or confusing to others.

Notable customs
Gronglings tend to gather near the homesteads of Men, either for work in exchange for gifts (which is not uncommon for fae), or to thieve and play tricks. As gronglings have a shared fascination for shiny objects, they will almost inevitably appear near mines and smithies, and are wont to chase off other, more hostile fae.

Names
Gronglings names are all variations on the name Grong, in reverence to their racial ancestor, Grong "Great Grong" Grong. Gronglings do not use surnames.