Stonemason Handlers

[JohnPaulB]

For eons, building dungeons has been an expensive, time consuming and conspicuous project.

Archeologists and Chief Constables have been confounded when they came upon vast underground complexes in seemingly remote, primitive areas or beneath their very city, respectively. Few know that they were made by insects controlled by arcane humanoids.

Under The Creatures of Cidri in ITL, Stonemasons are thumb-sized stony-shelled insect-like creatures that live in hives (which they build themselves), like bees. They can actually “chew” stone to make their tunnels; magic is involved. They eat organic trash. They create small tiles of perfect squares, hexagons and triangles for their structures. [Paraphrased ITL p 96]

Stonemason Handling is an ancient, arcane vocation trained by the Stonemasonian Guild, a selective, little known but elite profession.

Handlers are taught and apprenticed in the knowledge of coaxing and guiding these insects to do their bidding. They have tools like silicates solutions (sprayed in the area to be carved), crushed pumice (which acts like catnip to them), and carbonic acid or similar acids that are aversions (poured on ground to keep them from going past that line) and the like.

Stonemason Handlers are entrepreneurs that removes rock by controlling stonemasons. They are a specialized form of Animal Handler which works on stonemasons, but is at a penalty for normal animals (their roll for normal animals is 4/IQ) [Paraphrase of The Scorpion Handler Hexagram 9 p 9].

Handlers bring their small stonemason hive in a large wagon to a job site, set up and guide the stonemason into tunneling the rock. If the Handler does not have Architect/Builder talent, then he cannot build very safe, very esthetic rooms.

It takes 2 days for a small stonemason hive to carve out a hex of stone (or 2 week for a megahex). Projects will take months to years for stonemasons to do. A larger hive can increase the tunneling rate. Working in conjunction with regular humanoid tunnelers (as long as they are not in the same spot), project times can be greatly reduced.

Tunnels made by stonemasons need to be finished by a regular mason because the walls, ceilings and floors will be rough. When doing a dungeon construction job, these Handlers will often work in conjunction with Tile Setters to finish a room.

The detritus of stonemason tunneling are geometric tiles (used to build their hives), these tiles are by-products which the Handler can sell as a sideline at great profit. Because of this, Stonemason Handlers can charge much lower rates for tunneling than would be thought possible.

Stonemason Handlers are seldom Dwarven. These insects are not comfortable around Dwarves. Scholars surmise that in ancient times dwarves would wipe out hives because they were considered pests that burrowed into their delves.