Crystal Mite

In the sunless recesses of the Underdark, the duergar are hard at work spelunking. As they descend into the expansive caverns, a glimmering object at the fringe of the torchlight catches a miner's eye. A lustrous crystal sits against a bare stone. The deep dwarf reaches an ungloved hand towards the crystal, as the crystal lurches forward and digs its jagged teeth into his hand. As the miner howls in pain, the crystal mite darts into the darkness.

Crystalline Camouflage. At first glance, the crystal mite appears to be a regular crystal. Appearing in a variety of hues, the mite can appear to be any crystal or gem, from a dull quartz to a shimmering sapphire. This camouflage allows the mite to hide from unwanted explorers like the drow and duergar, who forage for the mites to use as fool's gems. Despite their beauty, the crystals that form the mite's body are brittle and worthless. This does not prevent shifty drow traders from selling them to the other residents of the Underdark as if they were real gemstones.

Gemstone Hunters. While crystal mites are small and weak in nature, duergar miners keep an eye out for their presence in deep caves and unexplored caverns. As the crystal mite has no natural prey in the Underdark, it is able to maintain its sustenance from consuming gems and crystals. This natural attraction to precious gems causes miners to seek them out to lead them to nodes of valuable minerals. Some duergar miners even keep crystal mites as pets to help them find hidden pockets of crystal.