Brownies are probably the most urbanised of all the fairy races, being the only ones that seem eager to set up shop within towns and cities, indeed, wherever humans happen to come together in large groups, eventually the tell tale signs of brownies become evident. Some religious institutions are happy enough to tolerate them as long as some kind of local vermin, but almost everyone is resolved to the fact that they are very difficult to get rid of.
Brownies attempt to gain an attachment to people. They will usually attempt this by first of all being as helpful as possible. Performing simple tasks around the house. They attempt to make sure the tasks are small, but noticable. Their aim is for their work to be noticed, then wait to see if some small reward might be left. If something is left, they will then begin to help about in more noticable ways. Small items will be repaired, items will be fetched and so forth. During this stage, brownies will attempt to remain as unobserved as possible. It is beleived they have powers of invisibility, which is helped by thier small stature.
The end result of all this assistance from the Brownies is a contract, which calls upon the person being assisted to return the favour in some fashion, this has been known to take the form of money, some kind of action and even children. Tales such as this have reduced the effectiveness of these tactics, but the brownies are an inventive sort and known to try other means.