Hurgeon

Proof positive that Dungeons & Dragons is weirder than many people think, Hurgeons are a race of small (1ft tall), shy, reclusive humanoid hedgehogs who dwell in underground burrow-cities within the forests of the D&D worlds.

A peaceful race, hurgeons are surprisingly advanced; their burrow-cities are camouflaged so exceptionally well that only powers capable of detecting invisible objects will find the openings without the hurgeon's permission, whilst the tunnels themselves are elaborate and surprisingly extensive. Hurgeons are tool-users and even perform some small acts of smithery, as well as producing work aprons from leaves or bark. Peaceful and inoffensive by nature, they have a strong connection to the small animals of the wilderness, and may have a touch of fey in their ancestry. Indeed, some claim to that "faerie rings" mark the spots where hurgeons perform ritualistic dances in springtime.

Hurgeons feed exclusively on vegetation, dining on nuts, fruits, berries, and edible roots. This is a bit strange seeing as how real hedgehogs also scavenge carrion and eat bugs, but is probably meant to emphasize how "nature-attuned" they are.

All hurgeons have a 50% resistance to magic, as well as a number of spell-like abilities. Any adult hurgeon can cast Animal Friendship, Invisibility to Animals, Faerie Fire, Locate Animals & Plants and Pass Without Trace at will, as well as Entangle 1/day, all at the power-level of a 6th level caster. If forced to defend themselves, they will wield small daggers and slingshots, but they generally prefer to avoid conflict.

They can communicate with other animals; an average of 20% know either Sylvan, Common or both, and 5% know the Druidic language. Indeed, hurgeons almost exclusively have contact with the outside world through elves, gnomes or druids, preferring to avoid the larger and more aggressive humanoid races. That said, as kindly souls, they have been known to offer aide to humans who have gotten lost in the forests. Such is the respect that hurgeons feel for druids that a powerful (12th+ level) druid who performs a great service for a hurgeon colony may attract a hurgeon acolyte.

Hurgeons were one of the multiple strange monsters, including Phase Dragons, Ekrats, Urisks, Bhaergalas and Lillendi, to appear in the "Creature Catalog II" article in issue #94 of Dragon Magazine. Sadly, like almost every star of that article bar the Lillendi, they never caught on and received an official writeup.