Cavedwellers

Cavedwellers are NPCs and possible hostile encounters in Fear & Hunger.

Location & Behaviour
Cavedwellers are pale-skinned beings that dwell within the areas around the Level 6 mines. They inhabit a small village and mostly quietly walk around. The village's culture is extremely primitive and tribal-like. There are several human skulls in a ritualistic setting throughout the village's houses. Being tied off from sunlight and the world, their resources are scarce - their only source of food seems to be cave moss and they only use basic tools for attacking - rocks, or, in the better case, a spear.

They do not attack the player unless the player either:


 * interrupts the fight between them and D'arce
 * interrupts intercourse between two cavedwellers found in a small house
 * attacks one of them while they remain peaceful
 * picks up the Cube of the Depths

Doing any of these actions will cause the entire cavedweller village hostile against the player and attack on sight. The Cube of the Depths is an exception - the cavedwellers will not become angered if the player picks it up while they wear the Stone crown.

There's a 10% chance that all cavedwellers will be dead, massacred by 2 Moonless Guard, one just at the entrance of the altar of darkness, and one before the stairs to go to the altar of darkness. This is completely random and is determined at the beginning of the run, it has nothing to do with time or other factors. the two cavedwellers at the top left corner will remain untouched and it will still be possible to add D'arce to the player's party in said scenario.

Strategy
The cavedwellers are some of the easiest opponents. Despite living in a group, they only approach the player one at a time and can be easily defeated on their own. Their only source of damage is the hand holding the rock. Once it is cut off, the cavedweller has no means of attacking, and can be easily defeated

There is both male and female version of the cave-dweller. Interestingly, unlike most other enemies, cutting their feet will not make them lose balance. Instead, the player has to cut their genitals (penis or breasts) to make the head easy to reach.

There is a stronger version of the cavedweller spread more scarcely around the village. They wield a spear, which can cause bleeding and poison effects, and are able to tackle once their arms have been cut off. They are much more relentless, but still not particularly difficult to defeat.

Cavedweller Merchant
Among the beings in the village, a cavedweller wearing a yellow hat (resembling the hats of yellow mages) can be found sitting on a rug. If the player has not angered the cavedwellers, the player will be able to buy useful items from her. The merchant has two different sets of products that she can sell, this is chosen at the beginning of the run, each one with an equal chance of 50%.