Mites are wicked little creatures found in old buildings throughout the world. Their origin remains uncertain, but many people are keen to guess. They seem to have no gender differentiation and therefore probably are created some other way than the regular route for reproduction. The most common theory is that stones in old castles or dungeons or whatever other edifice of a certain age just achieve a kind of rude sentience after hundreds of years and becomes a Mite. This explanation conveniently explains why ruined castles are generally in a state of disrepair, lacking various stones or doors or what have you, without requiring the local innkeeper to explain where he got the stone he used to make the base of his tavern or the fireplace.
Mites rarely appear in uninhabited buildings, no matter how old they are; however it is not unknown to have one hiding in the darker corners of one's house. This is not to say that Mites are merely common house pests. They are quite dangerous, and even a lone one has a fairly good chance of killing a normal person. Compound this with the fact that they are found in great numbers in their ruinous homes, and one can see that Mites pose more than a nominal threat.
They are quite fond of traps, tunnels, and other things that general range from minor annoyances to deadly perils. Ones found in peasant houses, or in their own terrible context, will seek to jam doors, stall machines, remove axles from carts, and a number of of other things that could spell doom in the right, or wrong, circumstances. Often they use these methods as a way of subduing an victim so that they may rob them blind. What they do with the items they steal is unknown, and it seems as though they steal for the sake of doing so.
Mites seem to lack the power of speech. They are to make no noises at all. They bob their heads at each other and point and gesture as though they were talking, but they never open their mouths or utter a squeak or a murmur. This fact greatly perplexes scholars. Some believe that these are merely the tales of those madmen who are willing to travel to places where Mites could be found in the first place. Who would listen to such imbeciles? Others believe they have some primitive telepathy, but if so they never use it to communicate with those outside their own species.
Peasants have attached a strong social stigma to Mites. Husbands who feel their wife should step up their cleaning often wonder out loud if a Mite might be living in their house. Wives who observe what their husbands do when they return home are sure there is one.
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I'm more than a little tired of Kobolds. Since I started with 3e, I'm too use to the little buggars being associated with dragons and I can't seem to separate the two in my head. As such, I needed a replacement, and I found it in Mites and Pesties. I've combined the two for world building purposes because there is little to distinguish the two from each other, and a I gain nothing by doing so.
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