Elemental Earth city.

[SangoProduction]

I have plans to have a city in the Elemental Plane of Earth, which was set up to mine for valuable ores/diamonds. But the only experience I have with non-material planes is this one time I played a Shadowdancer and he had dreams of the shadow realm.

1) Aside from Earth Elementals, are there notable creatures native the this plane that can serve as effective guards?

2) Are there notable ones that are best used as "wild beasts"?

3) Are there any other interesting aspects I should make sure to include?

[Malimar]

Here's a bunch of creatures with the [earth] subtype that you might plausibly find on the Plane of Earth:

Elemental grues and elemental monoliths (Complete Arcane), elemental stewards (Complete Psionic), earth, magma, and ooze drakes (Draconomicon), elemental demons (Dragon Compendium), maulgoths and oreads (Fiend Folio), magma hurlers, stonechilds, and walking walls (Miniatures Handbook), blue and copper dragons, gargoyles, stone giants, earth and salt mephits, thoqquas, and xorns (Monster Manual I), amethyst and sapphire dragons, dune stalkers, elemental weirds, galeb duhr, mountain giants, gravecrawlers, rukarazyll, stone spikes, and tempests (Monster Manual 2), avalanchers, omnimentals, slaughterstones, and stonesingers (Monster Manual 3), avatars of elemental evil, craa'ghoran giants, greathorn minotaurs (Monster Manual 4), elemental mages, ruin chanters, and ruin elementals (Monster Manual 5), brown and deep dragons, and phaerlin giants (Monsters of Faerun), li dragons (Oriental Adventures), elementite swarms (Planar Handbook), earth whispers, hammer archons, and stone drakes (Races of Stone), glass and sulfur mephits (Sandstorm).

I don't know which of these would make good guards and which would be better as wild monsters.

As for 3, the only thing that comes to mind is heavy gravity (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/planes.htm#heavyGravity).

[DrMotives]

Classic things besides elementals are the Dao, or earth genies, that have huge cities filled with slaves who labor for their genie masters. The xorn are also a major common race. Something like a thoqqua serves as a dumb beast of labor, especially to Material Plane life who can use the tunnels they make. Don't overlook the earth creature template to make an earth version of things you might want to put in place. Also, many underground races will be completely at home in any areas with tunnels & caves.

[SangoProduction]

Thanks that's useful information.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Note that Earth Elemental's proper wouldn't really have cities that a PC could visit. Since the vast majority of the plane is solid earth and Earth Elemental's move through it without hindrance, any city founded and primarily populated by Earth Elementals would.... probably be indistinguishable from the rest of the plane to visitor. Because its just more solid rock.

That being said, most Elemental Plane of Earth residents would have some ability to navigate solid rock, so buildings would likely be of other material. Solid metal structures for most buildings while more ritzy places owned by the elite would be made out of (imported) Prime Material wood.

[SangoProduction]

Note that Earth Elemental's proper wouldn't really have cities that a PC could visit. Since the vast majority of the plane is solid earth and Earth Elemental's move through it without hindrance, any city founded and primarily populated by Earth Elementals would.... probably be indistinguishable from the rest of the plane to visitor. Because its just more solid rock.

That being said, most Elemental Plane of Earth residents would have some ability to navigate solid rock, so buildings would likely be of other material. Solid metal structures for most buildings while more ritzy places owned by the elite would be made out of (imported) Prime Material wood.

This city will be controlled by non-natives, thus the city.