Goblin
Goblins in the Wildlands are a small, cunning, and fiercely adaptive race, particularly notorious in the Icy Wastes, where they have carved out a niche of survival through ingenuity, scavenging, and sheer stubborn will. Though often underestimated by larger and more powerful species, the goblins of the north are resourceful survivors, thriving where few others dare linger.
They are not a unified people, but instead live in scattered bands, subterranean warrens, and frostbitten scavenger camps, often aligning themselves—willingly or under duress—with more dominant groups like orc warbands, minotaur clans, or even the witches of Castle Emberfrost.
Goblins of the Icy Wastes are crafty, unyielding, and often overlooked—a mistake many never live to regret. Whether scavenging battlefields, trailing warbands, or weaving frost-wrought contraptions in their subterranean warrens, goblins endure.
Basic Information
Anatomy
- Height: 3.5 to 4.5 feet
- Skin Tone: Ranges from ashen green and slate-gray to blue-tinged, adapted to cold environments
- Eyes: Large and luminous—yellow, red, or icy blue—offering excellent night and low-light vision
- Hair: Sparse or patchy, often covered by furs or frostbitten hoods
- Lifespan: 40–60 years, though many die young due to their dangerous lifestyles
Despite their size, goblins are quick, nimble, and clever, with sharp reflexes and sharper tongues.
Behaviour
- Inventive Survivors: Goblins can rig traps, makeshift sleds, or crude explosives from the frozen junk of old battles or shattered outposts.
- Opportunists: They are quick to flee from overwhelming odds, but just as quick to return for a fallen enemy’s gear.
- Beast-Wranglers: Many goblin tribes train small frostbitten wolves, burrowbeasts, or even mutated rodents as mounts, scouts, or guardians.
- Deal-Makers: Some goblins act as go-betweens, smugglers, or guides for dangerous routes through the Wastes—though their loyalties shift with the wind
Civilization and Culture
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Goblins are a fractured people, living in clans, burrow-tribes, or warren-packs. Their society is highly adaptable and centered around practicality, survival, and utility. Each goblin fulfills a role—tinker, trap-setter, beast-wrangler, or fire-keeper—and social status is gained not through birth or strength, but by cleverness, invention, or trickery.
Goblin groups often make use of salvaged tools, repurposed relics, and cobbled-together gear, some of which is surprisingly effective or dangerously unstable. While not natural magic users, some goblins have learned frost-binding tricks, talismanic hexes, or explosive alchemy, especially under the influence of frost witches or wandering necromancers.
Their shelters, often dug into glacier cliffs or snow-buried ruins, are filled with ramshackle contraptions, bone-laced totems, and ice-slicked tunnels lit by fungus-glow or glowing beetle lanterns.
Notable Clans
- The Ash-Ears: Known for their crude explosives and booming sled-rigs
- The Frost-Nibblers: Tiny, elusive goblins that specialize in sabotage and icy pitfall traps
- The Mawgrin Kin: Dwell near the Frozen Maw and are said to offer sacrifices to something sleeping beneath the ice
- The Skittertongues: Traders and information-brokers with a knack for languages and blackmail
Common Myths and Legends
Goblins are deeply superstitious, believing in spirits of the frost, echoes of old magic, and curses embedded in the snow. Their shamans—called Whisperspeakers—carry bone rattles, frost-scribed skulls, or icicle charms to ward off bad omens.
Many goblin tribes claim descent from the Snowthief, a legendary trickster spirit who stole fire from the storm gods and laughter from the dead.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
- Orcs: Often subjugated or allied with stronger warbands. Orcs tolerate them for their utility and ingenuity but rarely treat them as equals.
- Minotaurs: A mix of disdain and occasional trade—minotaurs value goblin trapsmiths but consider them dishonorable.
- Frost Dwarves: Complex relationship—some dwarves employ goblins for dangerous or degrading tasks, while others despise their presence as thieving vermin.
- Witches of Emberfrost: Many goblins fear the witches, but some serve them as hex-gatherers, bone-pickers, or familiars in training.
Comments