Description

  The Rumma are an underground mammal species native to Southern Dramor. They have a short stature of around 3 to 4 feet and are covered in a short, thick coat of fur that is primarily in earth brown hues but occasionally has more metallic hues. Their large eyes provide incredible low-light vision, but they are sensitive to bright lights above ground. Their snouts have several natural minerals that allow the Rumma to sense different metals while underground, although this ability becomes less helpful when there is more metal around. The Rumma have dark, hard nails on their hands and feet, but most of them keep them trimmed if they are craftsmen to keep them out of the way.

Culture

  Rumma live in several city-states deep underground. Finding food, maintaining safe living areas, and access to necessary lava rivers for their crafting are difficult, so the Rumma have very few villages or towns but instead have large cities with sporadic mining/fortress facilities that are not used for long-term living. The cities function separately but have trade, information, and people transfer between them. Each city is ruled in a slightly different way; however, for the most part, elected officials govern.

 The lifeblood of a city is its lava rivers that run through the underground. These lava rivers are built around as they support the growth of underground food, fuel the large forges and work centers, provide a source of warmth, and give off enough ambient light for the Rumma. A new city is only constructed when a sufficient lava river junction is found to build one around, and if something blocks or stops the flow of a lava river, the city will soon fall into decay. Many lost and abandoned cities are found where something has happened to their lava river.

  Rumma cities have constant light from the lava flow and no external light sources, so the concept of day and night is foreign to them. Instead, they function through “shifts” using timepieces everywhere, and this constant clicking adds to the continuous sounds of a Rumma city even in the quietest areas.

 Rumma families construct huge mausoleums to bury their ancestors, frequently burying them with great items they created or collected. These mausoleums have various protections built in, and the secrets of how to access them are kept limited within the family to avoid leaks.

History

  Before the Fuzang-Zhian invasion, the Rumma coexisted peacefully with many of the species of Southern Dramor. They established trade posts above their settlements to interact and trade with surface-dwelling species, which proved beneficial during the war against the Fuzang-Zhian. The Rumma settlements became forts and safe havens for other species to retreat to during the conflict, and the Rumma provided weapons and armor to the defending forces while shoring up surface defenses. However, the Fuzang-Zhian casters worked unimaginable earth magic that caused the entire continent to shake, collapsing many tunnel systems and causing the loss of some Rumma cities. After these heavy losses, the Rumma withdrew from the war effort, unable and untrusted to protect surface forces against the Fuzang-Zhian.