>>507123188Thing is, I made the fungal forests biologically plausible - gigantic pain in the ass - and the chitinous horrors that are the real subject of the matter are impolite but not willing to brutalize without reason. Upsets balance of the Stone, they have to deal with the body in a fucking cave, etc.
They know what diplomacy looks like.
Imagine eight-limbed, chitinous, eusocial dwarves with a dash of elven tendencies, not applied above ground unless it affects them, due to limited resources, including and especially air. Just chillin' under Appalachia, among various other mountain ranges. They have very weird guns, but recognizable ones. Alt-history fuckery, the colonists and a young America have to keep this (badly) covered up and are deeply alarmed. Small-scale incidents are frequent, black-market trade is a debacle, internal politicking in the Depths would make Machiavelli proud... and envious.