Brokkr

Brokkr is a diligent goldsmith from a colony of Robust Tunnelers that spends their entire lives underground, living in little caverns and carved-out tunnels. The tunnelers are distributed along the Scandinavian peninsula, forming colonies in areas where precious metals are most abundant. The colony is self-sufficient, with a queen at the helm. They are incredibly sturdy, capable of carrying up to 800 times their own body weight, and able to withstand the high temperatures of geothermal wells that they encounter underground. Their wide, flat paws are well-suited for burrowing, yet they evolved to make even sturdier pickaxes for this job. Their pickaxes can slice through any type of material, as evidenced by miners who found tunneler-sized holes in their excavator scoops after leaving them in the same spot for too long. They protect themselves against cave-ins by rolling up and taking cover under their five elytra, which are sometimes reinforced with iron. If they are trapped and no other workers are nearby to assist, they use this time to catch up on some much-needed rest. Their snoring can be heard through the mineral layers and alerts other workers. The tunnelers have a symbiotic relationship with mining bees, providing a place for the bees to nest underground while using some of the beeswax to make candles to light up their underground homes. Brokkr carries candles on his helmet as he switches between his heavy pickaxe and rockhammer. His long mustache serves as an air filter in the soot-ridden mines. He is always on the hunt for precious metals and gems like gold, lead, diamonds, and rhodonite. To locate precious metals, the tunnelers use a combination of their keen sense of smell and their powerful pickaxes. They can detect even the faintest traces of metal in the soil and rock, and then use their pickaxes to chip away at the surrounding material until they reach the source.

Gold miners operating in the Baltic Shield often come across traces of their activity. They find tunnels, little piles of discarded ores or some even claim to hear them singing at night. They take it as a sign that the bedrock is rich in gold.