Pech

Pech were creatures of elemental earth.

Description
They bore a resemblance to gnomes, but had a skin tone that ranged from dark brown and dull grey skin, to pale yellow. Their skin also had a toughness comparable to that of granite. Their eyes were large, lacked pupils, and reflected light like an owl or cat. Their arms and legs were thin and gangly, ending in abnormally large and powerful hands. Their hair tended grow either wiry or as thick manes, the color of wet clay.

Personality
Pech were typically known to be stoic and reserved.

Biology
The large, pupil-less eyes of pech were sensitive to sunlight and could see in both the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums.

Abilities
When pechs gathered together, they could mould stone as if it were clay, conjure walls of stone out of thin air, as well as petrify and un-petrify living creatures. Though some pechs were known to be powerful enough to perform the first two things on their own, as well as cast the spell stone tell.

Outside of being able to petrify or un-petrify creatures, pechs themselves were entirely immune to the condition.

Combat
Pechs were generally known to wield pickaxes and peat hammers in combat. Their expertise in mining made them capable combatants against any stone creature, such as stone golems.

History
Pech were naturally affiliated with the earth, so much so that they were believed to be natives of the Elemental Plane of Earth.

On one of their adventures, the ranger Drizzt Do'Urden and Belwar Dissengulp encountered a pech who had been polymorphed by an evil wizard into a hook horror. They named him Clacker and together ventured through the Underdark.

Society
Pech spent much of their lives mining, filling their homes with a variety of gems. They were also known to form dishes and various ornamental goods out of stone or raw metal.

Outside of mining, they were well known for hunting cockatrices, being immune to their petrifying gaze. They also hunted khargra.

Homelands
Their affinity with stone and natural aversion to sunlight made subterranean habitats ideal for them.

Beyond their Elemental Plane of Earth, pech could be found inhabiting the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Minerals.

In the Unapproachable East, some pech could be found in the mountains and hills of Rashemen.

Relationships
Pech often competed for raw materials in their underground habitats with dao, tomb tappers, and various dwarven races. They traded what they mined with other creatures in return for food or services. They were also known to trade any cockatrices they caught with the svirfneblin.

Countless tribes had fought to remove a colony of neogi that had settled in their home plane, but each time they fell and were eaten.

When not in conflict or trade with another creature, pech generally kept to themselves. Those that lived in the Elemental Plane of Earth sometimes engaged in inter-tribal warfare with the aid of sandmen and earth weirds.

Notable Pechs

 * Clacker
 * Gallus

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #80, "Trouble With Trillochs"
 * Dungeon #151, "Iggwilv's Legacy: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth"
 * Novels:
 * Exile
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * Reclaiming Blingdenstone