Parvulins

The call had gone out a fortnight ago. "WANTED: scrap thieves!" Someone was rooting through the smithies and armouries of Nuppershire, taking any bit of metal smaller than a dinner plate. A misplaced keg of gunpowder was by far the most troubling theft, but thankfully a trail of the stuff led the sheriff of Nuppers directly to Old Man Corgnelius's barn. The retinue threw the doors open, staring in awe at the rickety man-sized contraption being swarmed over by dozens of knee-height green imps. Sheriff Janus knew these troublemakers well.

"Parvs," he spat, as if the word was a curse.

-- Nail Chiqman, Flatplanet: Little Green Men!

A stunted offshoot of the Orcish race, parvulins (parv-you-lins, or "parvs") are notable for being a fraction of their forebears' size, while boasting a much more capable intellect.

Possessed by a frenzied drive to create and invent, that taller races call the "tinker's fever," parvulins tend to congregate in great orgies of mechanical and alchemical experimentation, often culminating in a dropped phial of Alchemist's Fire or an accidental spark near the gunpowder that blows their hiding place (and any unfortunate souls nearby) to kingdom come.

Unwanted And Outcast

Despite appearances, parvulins are orcs: they share genetics and can, in theory, interbreed to produce perfectly healthy orc offspring. However, the odds of such an event ever occuring are so slim as to be laughable.

Orcs detest parvulins, seeing them as hideous mutants with the gall to claim common birth. When it becomes clear that an orc child will grow no longer, the newly christined parvulin is either condemned to forever toil in the tribe's most menial tasks or consigned to outright exile.

...Like Rabbits

When a male parvulin meets a female, the race is notorious for breeding out of control. Immediately after the mutation that creates parvulins presented itself, individuals were often isolated and found shelter in the civilizations of other, more altrustic races.

However, as the seeming "curse" of parvulinism cropped up again and again throughout orcish tribes across the realm, breeding pairs inevitably cropped up.

Female parvulins are extremely fecund in comparison to their mother race, and pregnancies last only 6 months on the long end. Twins, triplets and even quadruplets are not uncommon, and the parvulin race bred itself into cultural significance within the space of a decade.

Very rarely, a parvulin female will give birth to a normal orc, who quickly outgrows his tribe. Treatment of parvborn orcs varies unpredictably, from kind accomodation to the same cruel drudgery orcborn parvulins are subject to.

Psychic Tactics

Parvulins' most famous trait is the ability to quickly and telepathically coordinate simple ideas and directions between individuals, resorting to speech only when detail or emphasis is necessary. This instant communication makes parvulins quick to respond en masse to new threats, and allows small military units to punch far above their weight in combat.

Telepathy is by far the most impressive ability possessed by parvulins, but it was not in fact bestowed upon them at the race's conception. The ability to communicate mind-to-mind was a secondary mutation born into an unknown parvulin nearly a century after the race first arose.

The ability "infected" every parvulin in its reach, their overdeveloped brains connecting to one another as though finally opening a locked door. Every parvulin in existence now has this ability. And if they don't, they undoubtedly will soon enough.

Tinker's Fever

The average lone parvulin enjoys practicing hedge magic or mixing homemade explosive powder. In groups, however, this penchant for ad-hoc R&D reaches new and terrifying heights.

Large bands of chemical-mixing "Alch Parvs" or construct-loving "Mech Parvs" can set up shop in a basement or alleyway and begin churning out weapons-grade materiel by the kiloton.

Parv bands are often led by a dominant personality in the group, who is swiftly bestowed a title such as "Grandboss" or "High Tinker". Through parvulin telepathy, he directs his underlings as a larger craftsman might direct his hands and fingers. Parvulin Grandbosses are responsible for some of the most impressive and unsettling inventions of our time.