Caterpillar Elevators (Part I)

Gnomish cities (or "skitter dens") are woven of web and sculpted of wax beneath bioluminescent lichen in vast underground grottos. In Cult of Aois the "deep gnomes" are the lords of insects. The deep gnomes' mastery of insect-husbandry is peerless because gnomes are taught at a young age the art of placating and commanding dire bugs. Dire wyrms and dire bees willingly cooperate with gnomes because they all expect to benefit mutually. By residing in the same delve they offer their partners communal protection from would be predators. Additionally, the gnomish presence seems to offer an uncanny boon to colony productivity. Gnome inhabited skitter dens have more resilient bug-labor, finer wyrm-webs, and purer honey than would be found in the natural environment.

Picture Link.

The bugs have long worshipped a bizarre pantheon.  Since joining the gnomes they have steadily impressed the influence of their alien mysticism. Even the dead are offered to the brood -- skitter dens generally offer corpses (both bug and gnome) to it's hungry. As I'm writing this article, I'm realizing that the Dune vibe lingers still. Well, no matter. Gnomes are generally against burial or cremation, and believe salvation is easier found from inside the digestive tract of a 20-foot-long millipede. Skitter dens usually consist of two or three family lines, but it is not unusual for a gnome patriarch or matriarch to have several spouses and dozens of children each. If the players aren't too intimidated by the gnome's inhuman cohorts, they might be able to hire some rather valuable hirelings.

Read Part II.