Knockers

Knockers are fairy spirits which resemble dwarves and are found deep in mines and underground spaces. They are best known for calling miners in Germany and Eastern Europe to locations where there are rich veins of ore and by foretelling a miner’s death by knocking three times on the cavern walls. They are referenced as “little wights” in German and their movement is light and wispy, sometimes mistaken for ghosts or other mundane spirits. While they appear like ghosts, this is the knockers’ natural shape as they are primarily magical.

They become problematic in minor ways. They are known for throwing stones at miners and taunting them, though this seems to be in play or in a family sense. If miners feed them regularly and provide them with doll-sized clothing (usually a red coat), knockers are usually benign. If neglected, they become very noisy and more aggressive. Unlike many fae, knockers have no issues with iron or salt, being as they appear primarily near the sources of such things. They have been known to work iron and other metals into tools and appear to be the source of the Elves and the Shoemaker-style stories.

Removing unwanted knockers is tricky. They don’t appear to have weaknesses to any materials, though they can be placated and lived alongside. [Dex] which works GREAT when they infest the basement of a school. I was just lucky the janitor was a mage’s son and he believed me when I suggested he start leaving out food and doll clothes for them.