Kikimores

Origins
The world was young, and the forests were the dominant life. Wood ruled the earth, but the earth desired not to be ruled, and from her womb a plethora of species came to be, and they tore down the woods for fuel and food.

But the woods desired to be protected, and indeed their minds were powerfully wise, and from the wisdom life could be made. From that faithful moonlit night; all trees were dimwitted, for their sentence was sacrificed and poured into new life: the kikimores, and they spoke with dust and stone, bark and moss and all that was old and wise.

Powerful witches, they lived deep in the overgrowth, and protected the forests, but it was not enough. Magic fled the world as industry was born, and almost all kikimores were killed, their wooden bones used for charms and efiges. Very few still exist, but they still roam the land, as explorers and shepards to all that is green and grows.

Anthropology
Old tales and pottery confirm that Kikimores have been present in Kylorne since the early bronze ages, if not beforehand. They are descendent from a wild and strange type of now extinct bird and have migrated into Kylorne from a distant land named Adhen, or Kyttyxote in the mother-tongue.

They speak what is known as proto, or mother tongue, an extremely old dialect, thought to have birthed many other languages throughout Kylorne, which signifies that this is indeed a very old race. It is not known why they speak a Kylornian dialect, but it is speculated that Kikimores only recently, in historical terms, learned how to speak. They themselves say that when they first awoke they spoke like old willows and oaks bending in the wind, a form of communication that they used to speak with the various tree spirits that inhabit the world, and that has now been lost.

Legends say that they miggrated on top of great water spirits, but it is much more likely that they used some sort of primitive barge or canoe made of mushwood, a form of wood derived from giant mushrooms that they are fond of using instead of actual wood. Since mushwood is highly water resistant and boyant this isn't a big stretch.

Symbiosis
Because of their origins they are thought to be extremelly distant, evolutionarily speaking, from the common Homo sapiens species, and truthfully are alone in their branch of the tree of life. That said, kikimores have always militantly opposed any expanssion into their wooded turf and, as such, have waged guerrilla war against almost all races that walk the lands of Kylorne, with notable exceptions such as the greenskins of the Verdant Tide and nomadic tribes that roam the lands.

That said, they do have one companion: the Adhen Moth, which they use both as pets and livestock, the only agriculture that they truly practice.

Kikimores have a long history of skirmishes and tribal warfare against creatures of the night, such as Vampires and Werewolves, and 'tis quite well known that the kikimores from the Valley of the Witch expelled a group of settlers from the seldom seen race of the blemmies.