Race:Mogma

Mogma is a playable race on Hyrule Castle. As one of the fourteen common races, any player can choose to make a Mogma character.

Canonically, Mogmas have only appeared in Skyward Sword.

Character Creation Brief

Mogmas are a race of mole-like humanoids capable of burrowing beneath the ground at incredible speeds. It is for this reason that Mogmas were able to avoid the surface for many years, being entirely capable of sustaining themselves below ground. Born with fur ranging many colors, though typically a light brown, the Mogma have small eyes and large snouts, adapted to the darkness of their tunnels. While generally kind creatures, they tend to be suspicious of the strange land that is above-ground Hyrule, leaving them sometimes socially awkward or even callous.

Because they dwell beneath ground, and dig using their claws in order to travel, Mogmas are tend to have much stronger upper bodies compared to other races. By contrast, their legs are so small to almost be vestigial, as they rarely stand, but instead sit on their solid tails. Though they generally prefer not to fight, Mogmas can use their claws as effective melee weapons. Notably, finding gems and hunting treasures is a particularly highly-regarded pastime in their society.

A Mogma begins with a PWC of 2/1/1, having a 2 in Power. This starting PWC can be defied by using the Exception racial perk during character creation.

A Mogma has an innate racial perk called Claws, which enables their natural weaponry to be used in tandem with other treasures. In addition to this, a Mogma character can have up to three additional racial perks of choice. In addition to the general perks available to every race, a Mogma can also choose from:

• Beastly Burrow: an ability used by nearly all Mogmas to dig at phenomenal speed
• Down to Earth: a trait which makes it easier for the Mogma to acquire Earth-based treasures
• Nightvision: a useful ability which enables a Mogma to see in the darkness of ungeround
• Nose for Treasure: a technique which enables the Mogma to earn an extra few rupees, or a material, per quest
• Quicksand: a cunning spell which can be used by the Mogma to place a trap in nearby ground

Recommended Origins

If you've never made a character before and intend to make a Mogma, it is highly encouraged that you base your character on one of the following two origins. If you've made a character before, these example origins may provide inspiration for your character.

Denizen of the Western Caves

For generations, you've lived in relatively peaceful conditions deep under the earth of Southern Hyrule among your Mogma brothers, likely spending your days searching for gems or other underground treasures. In recent years, the surface-dwellers began to find their way into the caves of your people, who called your home the Western Caves. At first, you and your kind were highly suspicious of these intruders, spending years out of their range of exploration, instead digging deeper away from them. In more recent years, your people have begun to intermingle with these Hylians, who turned out to be surprisingly peaceful. Some monster named Ganon invaded their land, driving them out, and your people have agreed to live together with them until peace returns to their land.

A Denizen of the Western Caves begins with a PWC of 2/1/1. Its racial perks include Claws, Beastly Burrow, Nightvision, and Nose for Treasure.

Tribal Mogma of Dragon Roost

Several decades ago, your ancestors made a great underground journey across the vast land of the world, knowing that there must be land somewhere beyond the lethal waters of the Eastern Sea. It took a generation to make the journey under the sea, supposedly, but your ancestors discovered a strange new world on Dragon Roost Island, discovering the avian Rito race you now peacefully live beside. While the island is indeed theirs, and their numbers here dwindle yours, your tribe likely takes refuge in the caves near the shores. Thankfully, your kind's amazing digging abilities have proved invaluable to expanding the cavernous structures the Rito call homes, proving yourselves to be assets rather than mooches.

A Tribal Mogma of Dragon Roost begins with a PWC of 2/1/1. Its racial perks include Claws, Beastly Burrow, Down to Earth, and Nightvision.

Resident of Mogma Ridge

The people of Mogma Ridge have lived undisturbed for longer than anyone can discern, peacefully farming and hunting treasure. Even today your people have had little contact with the outside world, though you have certainly heard of its existence through other tribes in the Western Caves and on Dragon Roost Island. The tunnel network in Mogma Ridge is very well developed, so you likely have little experience in digging, but this lack of need for expansion has given your people much time to pursue other interests. You may well be the only Mogma to have begun dabbling in magic, though you still have much to learn as a people.

A Resident of Mogma Ridge begins with a PWC of 2/1/1. Its racial perks include Claws, Down to Earth, Nightvision, and Quicksand.

Physiology

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's appearance and biology.

The Mogma are a race of sapient, humanoid moles hailing from the aptly named Mogma Ridge, south of the ruins of Kakariko. Unlike most intelligent races, Mogma produce litters of children which range from four to eight in number. Because of this, Mogma families rarely produce multiple litters, and most Mogma siblings are the same age as each other.

Mogma begin their lives small, blind, and hairless. Their young are some of the most defenseless of any intelligent race, and must be carefully protected. By the age of two, most Mogma children can see and have grown their hair and claws, making them capable of limited digging. They will continue to grow until around fifteen years of age, which is considered to be the age of adulthood for Mogma.

A Mogma adult is technically quadrupedal, but few Mogma ever even see the surface before they are adults, and long years lived purely underground leave Mogma with overdeveloped forelimbs and relatively useless legs. Mogma rarely even sit on their legs, preferring to use their bulbous tails for that purpose instead. When above ground, stronger Mogma move entirely by walking on their powerful hands, carrying their short legs and small torsos underneath. Weaker Mogma may resort to dragging their bodies along the ground, while pulling forward with their arms.

While Mogma are theoretically as tall as Hylians, Mogma are practically incapable of standing on their legs for long periods of time, and so they generally reach only up to an average Hylian’s chest. Mogma fur comes in a variety of colors, most commonly white or off-white, but is usually restricted to earthen tones such as brown, orange, yellow, and darker shades of red.

As subterranean creatures, Mogma senses lean heavily towards smell, although their small eyes are often capable of nightvision. Their powerful arms and sharp claws allow them to dig at incredible rates and make them dangerous in a close-quarters fight. Mogma are omnivorous, and can easily sustain themselves solely on subterranean animals, roots, and fungi, as well as almost any food available among Hylians, Moblins, and other mammalian races.

Culture & History

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's origins, development, and society.

The Mogma have no written history and rarely visit the surface, so they had little concept of time or its passage until making contact with surface races, most notably Hylians. This makes it incredibly difficult to pin down the age of their race, as they could have been living underground longer than Hyrule has existed, and no one would have known. They are not a xenophobic race, but are still somewhat unused to the idea that other races exist at all, and this has left them wary of the surface world and its peoples. Strangely, they speak a form of Hylian in spite of their first contact being only recently--which has led many to believe ancient Mogma and ancient Hylians may have met in the distant past.

Mogma settlements, if they can be called that, consist of vast underground tunnel networks with family burrows denoted by simple sigils which have no linguistic meaning. These burrows never have more than one entrance, although if another were needed the inhabitants could easily dig one. Their burrows can be found under almost any terrain, although they seem to favor mountains, as burrows in these locations are more easily defensible from predators.

Life in Mogma settlements is simple. Few of their race have any profession beyond farming the various forms of food their kind consume, and Mogma have little use for tools or furniture. They do employ limited clothing and use bags, but the demand for these things is very low, so few Mogma need devote themselves to their manufacture. They often entertain themselves by hunting for gems and other treasures hidden in the earth, and have elevated such treasure hunting the level of a sport.

Mogma government is a very loose and informal affair, as Mogma families are enormous and tightly interwoven. Since most Mogma in a given area are at least loosely related to each other, they consider themselves massive family units and often follow local matriarchs or patriarchs in fashion comparable to tribes.

The Mogma race was only introduced to the surface world when Ganon drove waves of refugees into the cave systems of Southern Hyrule. Mogma communities in these Western Caves initially avoided the unexpected intruders, but have gradually warmed up to them and welcomed them into their tunnels. Other Mogma have partially integrated into the Rito population on Dragon Roost Island. The last major grouping of Mogma--in Mogma Ridge has--only distantly heard of surface-dwelling races, and have so far experienced little formal contact with them.