Cavegnomes

The Cavegnomes are enemies encountered early in Fear & Hunger.

Location & Behavior
The Cavegnomes can be found flying around in the level 3 prisons and level 4 cavern. Unlike most other monsters, the cavegnomes will not directly chase the player and mostly move around in slow, random patterns. They will however veer in the direction of the player if they're nearby. Even standing still makes the cavegnomes unable to initiate a battle.

They also appear when called in the Cavemother fight.

Strategy
Cavegnomes are some of the weakest foes in the game. Their HP is very low (100) and they possess a single, low damage attack - Gnaw - which causes a tiny amount of damage and has a 25% chance to cause bleeding and 30% chance to infect an arm or leg. During their first turn, they will also call for help, making another cavegnome appear. They should therefore be disposed of quickly, or they can swarm the player in a group of five.

There is a surprising amount of tricks one can use to make the encounter easier. If one has the yellow vial (obtained from milking the Cavemother in the cavern), you can throw it at the gnomes (via talking), which will make them avoid you altogether.

Using the "Kueh~!" option while talking will confuse them for a turn. This can be used multiple times to keep the Cavegnomes from attacking while a party member takes them out. Saying "KAAW KAAW!" to them replicates their help call and will make more cavegnomes spawn.

The cavegnomes disappear upon death and drop no loot, so it is useful to avoid them altogether or run when encountering them unprepared.